One of the things I realize about my own bridge game is that I end up playing for a lot of reasons. Sure, it’s a competitive sport for the most part, but that doesn’t mean it’s only played for the sheer sake of competition.

There are several different reasons to sit down and play a bridge game, and depending on your goal when you’re going in, it should dictate how you approach the game you’re about to play.

Here are a few good reasons to play a bridge game – and how this alters the approach you might take from the first trick.

1. Playing for Practice Against AI

Playing bridge for practice is important, and I’ve always thought that it bends the rules of what you’re allowed to get away with – just a little and just for a while – so you get to experience different plays in different situations.

When you play for practice, it’s okay to lose more often. It’s fine to come out with a bad score. It’s fine to sacrifice the good cards first. It’s OK to make awkward bidding choices.

Why?

Because you’ll never know what these things do during an actual bridge game if you don’t. It’s the same reason why Evil Knievel was legendary and at the same time broke most of his body on the way to this legendary status: Painful  trying and practicing – although much less broken bones in bridge.

For this kind of practice, either make sure everyone around the table knows that this is a practice run – or try your luck against an AI of the bridge world.

2. Playing for Stakes

When you’re playing for higher stakes, the air feels thicker and the cards somehow heavier. The approach is far more serious than practice, and more than your score is at stake.

Here, mistakes might be a little less than OK and you want to stay away from any high-stakes rubber bridge offers until you’re confident enough in your ability at the table.

At the same time, never let the excitement of playing for larger stakes backfire and force you to change your game towards a nervous, reckless, overly-excited playing style.

3. Playing for Learning or Teaching

Playing for learning purposes with a teacher at your side is a little different to playing for practice against an AI. When you’re playing to learn, the teacher is there to answer questions – and you don’t get this interaction when you’re against most types of AI.

It’s fair to say that practicing games against AI is where you get to make mistakes, games for the purpose of learning is where you get to find out what these mistakes mean.

4. Playing for Unwinding

Just as much as the game is played to win, it’s also played just as often to unwind. One of the first things I’ll do to relax after I’ve had a rough day is a game or two of Just Declare. Sometimes, it’s video poker or Reversi instead.

I’ll admit that my game isn’t always as sharp as it should be when the clock reaches past midnight, but I’ve also had nights and mornings where I was so tired I could barely see straight, but fared better than I expected.

Winning or not, there’s something about the sight of a card table that has a calming, unwinding effect.