When playing a rematch game, who goes first, the winner or loser?

If I win the first Scrabble game, who gets to put the first word out on the board the next round? Does the winner skip so the loser gets the board first?

There is no official rule to cover who starts in a series of games. However the guiding principle used in tournaments is that players should each get an equal number of starts (or as close to it as possible).

The reason is that the player who starts in a game of Scrabble actually has a roughly 10% advantage over their opponent. Since we usually want the winner to win by skill rather than luck, we try to minimize the luck by giving each player the same number of starts.

In a simple one-on-one series of games, the recommended practice is therefore to take turns at starting.

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