Scrabble’s more than a game to H.B. club

If it’s Tuesday, it must be Scrabble day. At least at an IHOP in Huntington Beach, where the sound of small plastic lettered tiles being shaken in bags is accompanied by the smells of pancakes and bacon.

David Poder, a retired physician, said he joined Scrabble Club No. 34 as a way to pass the time after he retired. Also, playing the word-building game keeps his mind active.

“It’s a stress reliever, and I firmly believe — and I speak for a lot of us older folk — that I would probably already have Alzheimer’s if it wasn’t for Scrabble,” said Poder, 68, who has been a club member since 1996 and co-director since 2006. “In this game, you’re constantly thinking and using your brain cells. It keeps us mentally focused and pretty alert.”

Every Tuesday, about 20 people ages 30 to 70 meet at the IHOP restaurant at 18782 Beach Blvd. for Scrabble sessions at 1 and 6 p.m. Each session lasts two to three hours.

IHOP lets the club use space in the back, as long as the players order food while they are there, said restaurant assistant manager Alejandro Olivares.

There is no fee to join the 37-year-old club, and it is free to participate in the games, Poder said.

The group is among 14 official Scrabble clubs in California and one of three in Orange County; the others are in Anaheim and Laguna Woods, according to the North American Scrabble Players Association website.

The Huntington Beach club just completed its first Scrabble tournament, conducted over two Tuesdays.

Poder, who won the tournament and has competed in national and international championship events, said he’s considered to be at the expert level. To get to that point, he studied the dictionary nightly. But he says success in the game also requires other skills as well as luck.

“This is a game of words, but there are so many other things involved, like strategy, rack management and luck, because you’re drawing tiles from a bag at random,” he said.

Lynn Gunn, 65, a club member since 2008, said driving to the weekly sessions from her home in Mission Viejo is worth it because she gets to see so many friends.

She said the club offered her a place to be positive after being laid off from her computer support job in 2008.

“Scrabble saved my sanity,” she said. “It was very stressful losing my job and income. In 2008, it was really a bad time to find a job. But at least when I would come to the Scrabble club and be with my friends, I could chill out, hang out and relax for a little while.”

Najat Reikes travels even farther, from Riverside, to get to the gatherings every week.

The retired lawyer and doctor of public health said she has been part of the Scrabble club for 20 years. Playing the game has helped her English skills, she said.

“It’s a good exercise for the mind,” said the Iraq native, who moved to the United States when she was in college. “With English not as my first language, Scrabble makes me pay more attention to spelling. There are so many beautiful and highly intelligent people here. They’re very competitive.”