Scrabble veteran banned from playing board game in Queensland
A die-hard Scrabble player has been banned from playing the board game in Queensland.
Gold Coast man David More, 65, has played Scrabble competitively for nearly two decades with 5000 tournament matches but cannot play the game in Queensland, A Current Affair reported.
Mr More, who has Asperger’s, recently received a letter from Scrabble Queensland banning him from any entry in state tournaments due to “unacceptable” behaviour.
But the 65-year-old claims he has not done anything wrong, or been violent or aggressive and is not aware of anyone else in Australia receiving a similar punishment.
“I’ve just got upset and it may have been misinterpreted by some people that don’t know me,” he told ACA.
He added he mainly plays with elderly women in their “70s and 80s” who might be scared of his Asperger’s.
He also says he has been antagonised with people “pressing his buttons”.
“They’d say something really nasty that they’d knew I would respond to,” Mr More told ACA.
Queensland Scrabble President Jane Brown did not give further details about Mr More’s ‘unacceptable behaviour’ to the Bulletin, but she said they did not have any personal problems with the 65-year-old.
However, a long-term Scrabble player, from the Queensland Association, told the Gold Coast Bulletin Mr More “can be a very difficult person at times”.
“(It got) to a point where his behaviour to other members was unacceptable,” the player told the Bulletin.
But a Scrabble NSW player took no issue with the Gold Coast man and said while he was “a bit different” Mr More is “friendly”.
Mr More said he missed the company and will now have to travel interstate to play competitively.
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