At 32, Samuel Kaplan is used to juggling disciplines.
By day, the Roslyn High School graduate works as a research associate at Icon Labs, training in flow cytometry and working toward a New York state license.
On weeknights, he might be found at a bowling alley in East Meadow, reading oil patterns and chasing 300 games. And on weekends, he studies thousands of obscure words — preparation that recently propelled him to one of the top Scrabble rankings in North America.
In November, Kaplan went undefeated in Division 1 at the Princeton tournament hosted by the North American Scrabble Players Association, capturing his 14th career tournament title and his seventh in Division 1. The victory boosted his North American ranking from 80th to 41st.
“This is now my 14th lifetime Scrabble tournament win,” Kaplan said. “Part of what I really enjoy about Scrabble is that pretty much after the first move, no two boards are identical.”
The Princeton win marked a turnaround after what Kaplan described as a “tailspin” stretch of uneven tournaments. His 7-0 performance reversed that slide in a single day.
“It felt great,” he said of the rankings jump. “I had a couple clunky tournaments, and then I came back with a 7-0 effort.”
Kaplan’s success this year extends beyond tournament standings.
In 2026 alone, he has recorded three “honor scores” — one 300-point game, his eighth sanctioned 300 and 14th overall, along with two 800-plus series of 812 and 816 out of a possible 900. In Scrabble, a 300 game is a benchmark of elite scoring, while an 800 series reflects sustained high-level play across three games.
His competitive journey began modestly. Kaplan’s uncle first taught him Scrabble, and he later attended a club at the Plainedge Library during middle and high school.
But it wasn’t until his early college years, when he ventured into a club of tournament-level players in West Babylon, that he realized the gap between casual and competitive play.
“My first time going to that club, I lost seven out of eight games,” he said. “I walked around the room and noticed there were a fair number of words I had never seen before. That’s when I thought to myself, I’d better get studying.”
Study, for Kaplan, means memorizing thousands of words — many unlikely to surface in everyday conversation — and keeping pace with dictionary updates. NASPA periodically revises its official word list, adding new entries and removing others.
“You almost have to treat Scrabble like it’s another college major,” he said. “It’s a continuing education field.”
That mindset has shaped not only his results but also his outreach. Kaplan recently taught a series of Scrabble classes at Bryant Library and led an additional session at the Plainedge Library. He will also supervise Scrabble play at four EAC centers and at Bryant Library, offering coaching and strategy tips.
Among the fundamentals he emphasizes are arranging tiles in alphabetical order to better recognize letter patterns, generating multiple candidate plays rather than fixating on one move, and tracking tiles as they are played.
“Even if people know the rules, they don’t always know the strategies that enable them to be successful,” he said. “Part of my goal is to try to grow Scrabble in this area.”
Kaplan’s competitive edge extends beyond the board.
He began bowling at age 4 in Havertown, Penn., and later competed for Roslyn High School, qualifying twice for the New York State Tournament after runner-up finishes at the county level. He now subs regularly in Long Island leagues and plans to enter two tournaments this spring at AMF East Meadow Lanes.
Since April 2023, Kaplan has rolled eight sanctioned 300 games and four sanctioned 800 series under the auspices of the United States Bowling Congress.
Whether studying oil distributions on a lane or scanning a Scrabble board for a nine-letter bingo, Kaplan sees parallels.
“Having a good mental game is key,” he said, recalling a national Scrabble tournament in which he started 3-8 before rebounding to finish 17-14. “It’s very hard to lose eight in a row like that, but you have to put it behind you.”
Looking ahead, Kaplan plans to expand his presence online with instructional videos featuring “Tip Tuesday” segments, opening rack analysis and midgame strategy breakdowns.
For now, though, he is content climbing the rankings — one word, one rack and one perfectly timed play at a time.
