Scrabble Showdown one of the first three rounds ends in a tie, both teams are awarded the prize and one "Bonus Scrabble Tile." The team that wins the final round wins the game and the trip. Games played in rounds 1 and 2 rotate from show to show and include, "Scrabble Babble", "Scrabble Knockout", "Scrabble Slam", "Scrabble Scream", and "Speedword". Winning a game wins the team a prize and two "Bonus Scrabble Tiles". A coin toss before the show determines which team has the option to play or pass for the first game. Subsequently the winner of the previous game gets the
Tile tracking player who can plan and calculate the best move while taking into consideration the other player's possible responses—winning a close game by blocking an opponent’s big play or setting up a high-scoring play the opponent cannot block. Scrabble champion John Holgate notes that tile-tracking is particularly important in tight "bobbing" finishes when the bag is empty, and that many games are lost through "just not knowing what tiles your opponent has on her rack. You simply cannot calculate possible permutations if you are unsure about which letters are relevant." Tracking can also tell a player if the bag is ‘vowel-heavy’