"Rules were meant to be broken" - Anonymous
They say you're supposed to start the game by pulling letters out of the velvet bag, and the closest person to the letter A goes first, but I call bullshit on that. Have you ever played a game that starts with the word 'AT' or 'ON'? The only benefit to that is there are way fewer tiles on the board when somebody flips it in frustration. The proper way to start a game of Scrabble is to go around the table and ask who has the longest starting word (maybe if there's a tie, we can get into that grab bag bullshit). Boom! Best possible chance for a game with lots of options. "What if someone cheats?" you ask, their lyin' ass will be found out in a matter of seconds – you can't say you have a five letter word, then not put down that five letter word. And if someone tries to pull that shit, make them play with all vowels.
UPDATE: Just played a game this weekend called Qwirkle, which carries a Mensa seal of approval, and they tell you to begin the game with the player who can build the longest line. So suck it Hasbro!