To much bot resources going for short one word domains
or sign up for inside track at some registries; you'll have to pay premium just for the try and no assurance of getting the name.
nowdays it's the timing that use significant resources and ties up slots for single or very few valuable domains that's it's expensive.
In other words they have the fast track and we the slow track
an other level by itself
[webmasterworld.com...]
[webmasterworld.com...]
As you can see from the theads, what you are trying to do is both difficult and highly competitive.
There are people, including one of this forum's moderators :), who bring tremendous computing power and knowledge to obtaining expired domain names. Take a look at the threads and reach your own conclusions about the effectiveness of name winner and similar services.
[added]By the way, play, welcome to the board![/added]