(The following is the letter I sent to Joe Edley regarding the conclusion of this weekend's Scrabble tournament in Phoenix.)

Before the events of this last weekend, I had played over 2000 tournament games of Scrabble and have never failed to finish a game and have never accused someone of cheating against me.

Prior to my round 20 game against Patrick Hodges, I had suspected him many times of cheating against me, but never said a word to anyone because these accusations are very serious. A 99% level of certainty is not enough for me to point the finger at someone. I am now 100% certain.

I sat next to Patrick several times during the tournament and was taken aback by the number of times he was laying down SATIRE-type bingos. In one game, he kept fishing one tile to a SATIRE rack, and then would miss the SATIRE 8-letter word when his opponent blocked the open area. It seemed hard to believe that this is one of the top 20 players in North America. So when I played him in the final round for the $500 second prize, and he began the game by saying how much he needed the money, I was wary. After he laid down ENTASIAS early on, I resolved to watch him like a hawk every time he drew tiles. Observing Patrick turned out to be an expensive use of time. With everything Patrick does during the game, he moves fast. He plays very quickly, then jumps immediately into the bag. At one point in their game, Lloyd Mills indicated to him to write down his score before drawing his tiles. It's like he's on cocaine. He usually has 19 minutes left on his clock at the end of a game. Despite hyperactivity while playing, he takes an INORDINATELY long time drawing tiles. It's like he has switched to luudes. A few turns into our game, he had his hand in the bag for 40 seconds on a two-tile pick. (I am certain of this because I write my remaining time to the second on my scoresheet after every play. When he completed his draw, I checked the clock to see how much time I had burned.) Next turn a J- dump off, and the turn after that a blank bingo.

It's difficult to see what he is doing because he holds the bag well above his head as the rules instruct. But I zeroed in on his face. I rarely could see anything above his chin though because his cap is pulled down low over his forehead and his neck probably leans at a 20 degree angle. After a three-tile play he was drawing for a long time and for whatever reason tilted his neck enough so that his eyes were exposed to me. They were almost in the back of his head such that they were straining to gaze one-o-clockward. He quickly tilted his head such that his eyes were again obscured from my view by his hat. The next turn, I could not see his eyes. The turn after that, I sunk quite low in my seat and his hat was up enough that I saw his eyes locked in on his hand at the aperture of the bag, not for a flash, but for an extended period of time. There is NO CHANCE that this was an accidental glance. It was a protracted conversation between his eyes, his hand and the contents of the bag. Eventually, his eyes caught mine and he dropped his head and turned red. I sat at the board for several minutes stepping through every detail and contemplating what to do. I then went and told the director that Patrick was cheating and I was not going to continue the game for his safety.


If Patrick had in fact been cheating against me for years, it should surely manifest itself as a bias in the data. With that in mind, I checked every game I've played against him the last four years.

Patrick              JG

2005-07-13-PSC-r1
ETCH(E)RS            0
ENROL(L)ED
2-? 4-S              0-? 0-S


2005-07-20-PSC-r3
ENDEARS              ETIOLATE
READOUT              CORKIEST
CL(O)SINGS
1-? 3-S              1-? 1-S


2006-06-28-PSC-r5
GASOLINE             ACRASINS
                     PEATIER
                     D(U)TEOUS
1-? 1-S              1-? 3-S


2006-07-05-PSC-r4
MAI(L)LOT            ESCOTING
THRIVES              AGONIZED
                     OUTEATEN
                     AGONISES
2-? 1-S              0-? 3-S


2006-07-12-PSC-r4
TARRIES              0
IRONI(Z)E
BAD(D)EST
MEWLING
2-? 3-S              0-? 1-S


2006-08-02-PSC-r1
(H)ONOREE            0
ENRAGES
2-? 1-S              0-? 3-S


2006-08-30-PonT-r2
(D)IVIDES            0
LISTENS
1-? 4-S              1-? 0-S


2006-08-30-PonT-r4
EASTERN              0
F(R)IZ(Z)LED
2-? 2-S              0-? 2-S


2006-09-20-PSC-r2
0                    BACLOFEN
                     E(V)ANISH
1-? 3-S              1-? 1-S


2006-10-18-PSC-r4
RANCHER              TERBATE
GLOWERE(D)
"TASTIN(G)S"
2-? 3-S              0-? 1-S


2006-10-25-PSC-r3
(S)ERVING            PROLATE
SO(U)TANE            WIREABLE
2-? 4-S              0-? 0-S


2006-12-tuc-r9
"CREMON(A)S"         DWARVE(S)
ESTERASE             BINARIES
1-? 3-S              1-? 1-S


2006-12-tuc-r12
SErRATED             DIOLE(F)IN
SCOUTER
1-? 4-S              1-? 0-S


2007-02-phx-r16
(T)EENAGER           SETTING
ESPOU(S)AL
2-? 2-S              0-? 2-S


2008-02-phx-r8
(A)GAINST            AZOTISE
                     PROPO(S)AL
1-? 2-S              1-? 2-S


2008-02-phx-r20 (incomplete game: forfeit)
ENTASIAS             0
COR(S)AGE
1-? 2-S              1-?
---------------------------------

24-? 42-S            8-? 20-S
 
?+S: 66              ?+S: 28

p(66/94) = 0.00006

The p(66/94) is the probability in a .5 binomial distibution that one person will win 66 out of 94 coin flips. Given that Patrick's non-bingo plays are usually dumps, the .5 figure may even be generous. Changing the number to .47, say, reduces the likelihood by another order of magnitude. I am not saying he cheats because of a bias in the data. I am saying Patrick cheats. I saw Patrick cheat. The data reflects it as one would expect.


Afterwards, several people told me that he has cheated many times, if not constantly. Had this been "public knowledge," to the degree that I knew, perhaps I could have avoided having the finale of my weekend Scrabble experience ruined by him. But even when I spent much time watching him, it still took a slipup on his part for me to catch him. I do not want to have to spend my precious time watching him draw. I have also since learned that he was accused and warned at a National Championship of all places. Apparently this was not enough to deter him from cheating. This is not about bad drawing technique. This is about a thief playing Scrabble. He has used this tournament (and probably many others) as an opportunity to steal money. He should not be allowed to continue to use tournament Scrabble to steal money.

====EDIT====
Here is the final ruling: Patrick Hodges, Thief: The Endgame