Tile bag & tracking

Tile bag

The tile tracker starts from the standard 100-tile English Scrabble distribution and subtracts tiles that are already on the board or in your rack. The remainder is the unseen pool: it includes tiles still in the physical bag and tiles on the opponent's rack, which the app cannot see.

The summary card shows the total number of tiles in the unseen pool. It also calls out remaining high-value tiles (J, Q, X, and Z) when any are still in that pool.

How tracking works

TileTactician tracks three pools:

1. On the board — tiles placed during the game.
2. On your rack — your current tiles.
3. Unseen pool — all distribution tiles not accounted for on the board or your rack, including the physical bag and tiles on the opponent's rack.

As you update the board or rack, the per-letter count and total adjust automatically. Blank tiles are counted as blanks rather than as the letter they represent.

Next-seven-draw estimate

Each remaining letter displays an estimated per-letter chance of appearing in the next seven draws (or in all remaining draws when fewer than seven tiles remain in the tracked pool). Because the tracker cannot see the opponent's rack, this is an estimate based on the unseen-pool count, not an exact probability for the physical bag. It is not a bingo probability and it does not claim that the seven drawn tiles form a word.

The display applies a without-replacement calculation to the current unseen-pool counts:

P(estimated chance) = 1 - P(none in the next 7 draws)

A letter with no remaining copies shows 0%; a tracked pool containing only that letter would show 100%. The percentage is recalculated from the current board, rack, and unseen-pool count.

Using tile tracking strategically

• Watch the endgame threshold. When the unseen total is seven tiles or fewer, Endgame analysis can infer the opponent's rack from the remaining distribution.
• Compare exchange candidates. The estimates tell you how likely each letter is to appear over a seven-draw window, rather than only on the very next draw.
• Track high-value tiles. The summary callout makes it easy to see whether J, Q, X, or Z remains available.

Crossplay differences

The app uses the same standard 100-tile distribution for its Scrabble and Crossplay tracking. Switching board type changes the board layout, but the unseen-pool counts and per-letter estimates use this distribution in both formats.