Joseph Okere earned the coveted crown as the new King of the Jungle after a blistering performance even with three games left.
He amassed unassailable 22 wins and 11 losses with a +1110 cumulative points to confirm his new status as the King of the Jungle.
The ‘Reporter’ maintained his firm control as the leader from day one scheming his way past other five contestants who threw every challenge at him in the three-day contest.
Okere subdued Fatai Bayo whom he faced in the King of the Hill (KOTH) which kicked in from round 31.
His overwhelming word-power grew with every challenge as he would complete the victory with 24 wins, 12 defeats with +1274 cumulative points in the 36-round tournament.
“It was a great pleasure to win this prestigious tournament. I never imagined I would be selected for the Scrabble In The Jungle. So when I was called, I saw it as an opportunity to make a good name for myself for people I started with are doing so well so, I studied the short words, the four and five letter words.i was calm minimising my errors as that’s how I survived the Jungle.”
“Scrabble In The Jungle is tasking! Playing so many games in three days. You have to be healthy to play in the jungle because it’s strenuous.”
“Many thanks to the organiser Scrabble Las Vegas. I’m happy they were able to pull this through. We looking forward to the next edition.”
Adedeji Khaleel fired his way to 2nd place (20,16, -858) ahead of Ahmed (18, 18,+27) who came third while Godsfavour Whiskey (16½,19½, -95 points) finished fourth.
Daystar Atti (16,20, -78) and Salau Samson (23½, 22½, -426) completed the standing.
Akeem Akanni, a member of the Las Vegas Management Committee expressed his satisfaction with the level of competition and organisation the tournament has witnessed in the past years.
” I’m very satisfied that we have kept the legacy on since 2022. We have different categories of players contesting in the jungle. In this edition we are also selective with the kind of players as we look at strength and ratings. We are delighted with everybody watching it from their homes. Every year we keep communicating on how to raise the stakes and keep it alive for every scrabble lover as we take every opportunity to promote the game,” he said.
