World Famous Scrabble Superstar Allan Simmons Banned for Cheating, Devastating the Sport

Source - The Association of British Scrabble players has banned a star player for three years after an investigation found that he had broken the rules. 

Allan Simmons, who had written books on the game, contributed game coverage to The Times. However the newspaper has said it will no longer use his work as a result of the ban. 

Three witnesses described seeing him put a hand with freshly drawn letter tiles back into the scrabble bag to pick new tiles – breaking the rules. Elie Dangoor, a committee member of the association, said: ‘The natural conclusion had been that he had been cheating.’ 

Simmons told the Times he denied cheating, and that he had suffered the same ‘untimely bad luck from the bag as anyone else.’ 

‘You have to remember that at the top level, games can be quite intense and there’s a lot going through one’s mind let alone remembering to religiously ensure tile drawing rules are followed meticulously,’ Simmons told the Times. 

‘From the outset I have said that no one is beyond suspicion and complied fully with the investigative process. There’s no one person bigger than the game,’ Dangoor said. The Times quoted him as saying he planned to concentrate on ‘more important things in life.’



Just an absolute bombshell out of the competitive board games community today as longtime Scrabble legend Allan Smmons was found guilty of cheating and banned from the very YMCA basements and high school gyms he dominated for such a long time.  I, like many of you, grew up idolizing Simmons and the way he played the tiles - marveling at his worded wizardy as he coasted to five British Matchplay Scrabble Championships, four Scottish Championships, three UK Masters titles, as well as the UK National Scrabble Championship once.  Who could forget?

I'm still absolutely reeling from the news, personally.  I never in a million years thought Simmons would become the Alex Rodriguez of the board gaming universe, it just seems so out of character.  Luckily the ban is only for 3 years so he should be able to make a comeback attempt as long as his body will let him.  Athletes bodies all quit on them eventually, it's just a matter of when.