Scrabblicious

I am hosting (with much help from Aura) a scrabble tournament at my house next Sunday evening if that date suits all the competitors. We'll have several boards going at once with two people to each board and the winner at the end of the night is the person who wins the most games basically. So far we have 5 confirmed players and we need a sixth in order to balance out, so if you fancy joining us let me know and we'll squeeze you in.
I have to admit it I am "gamer", I love board games, card games, online scrabble, puzzles and jigsaws and so on (as long as they're humane, for example: Risk is way too cruel, the first people to be knocked out just end up sat there with nothing to do while everyone else gets slaughtered in slow motion). I have some good friends who also enjoy games so that has really fed into this passion of mine. I'm not particularly good at strategies or tactics but I love the process and the chit chat that goes on during the games.
We just finished playing poker (no money involved) and it was great fun, I went "all in" several times and kept winning by pure random chance. I don't even remember what order the good hands are but I have a laugh and pretend I know what I'm doing! Jenn was the overall winner but I stayed in until the final three and was pretty happy with that result considering my poor poker skills. It's just so fascinating watching how your friends play according to their personalities and how you start to read them better as you know them better. I remember as a child playing monopoly with my big brother and wondering how he managed to win every time, in hindsight I never watched his tactics or learnt from him. I just worried about how little property I had or how long it would be before I landed on one of his hotels.
I'm kind of sad when I think a lot of young kids now don't know how to play board or card games they only know how to play computer and playstation games. I have such fond memories of playing scrabble with my grandparents, chess with my dad and monopoly or cards with my brother and sister. I've decided to make a concerted effort to teach Gabe the value of non-computerised games so that he can share that hobby and maybe get to know his friends better through it too. I used to be embarrassed to suggest a card game as entertainment but now it's our back up plan whenever we're bored!