If you’re not going to be the declarer, you’re going to be the dummy.

While it might sound like an insult outside of the bridge universe, it’s a perfectly acceptable sentence around here – and it’s just part of the rules.

There aren’t many bridge resources that speak directly to the dummy, and that’s probably because most players (especially ones new to bridge) will assume that the dummy player doesn’t have that much to do.

Cards are placed face up and played by the declarer, while the dummy is expected to keep a straight face. No microexpressions, no twitching and no flipping your table – or flipping anyone off.

The dummy’s job is actually far more important than this.

Here are tips for how to be a better dummy player.

What’s the Dummy’s Real Job?

What does the dummy really do during the game? The objective of the dummy is to sit there and stay there – and people assume that’s where the role stops.

This is incorrect.

The dummy’s real job is to observe.

Watch the Game Won – and Lost

The dummy player is sitting in one of the luckiest spots at the bridge table, even though a huge chunk of dummy players don’t realize it at the time.

This is because the dummy player gets to see the moves their partner and opposing team make without needing to be part of it.

Being the dummy player gives you a chance to observe the plays, playing habits and dynamics of the game without worrying about playing anything right now.

Doesn’t this – in theory – make the dummy player one who is doing a great deal of thinking at the table? Certainly more than most would have thought.

The Dummy’s Greatest Power

The dummy player’s greatest power is convincing the rest of the table that they are barely there – and then taking notes on strategy, plays, habits and bidding in a way that other players are too focused on the game right now to be able to do.

Then, suddenly, you’re no longer in the dummy seat within a rubber bridge game.

Eventually, the table turns – metaphorically – and the dummy will find themselves in another seat, but with all the knowledge that had previously gained about everyone at the table and the way they’re going to play.