Online bridge is a great time for introspection – especially when you’re technically playing with yourself (and, well, GIB).

I’ve wanted to get more serious about bridge strategy for a long time. It’s not just about bidding, but about learning how to think of better ways to play the cards faster. There’s no better way to get right to it than Just Declare.

I realized that my internal dialogue had no longer remained internal when my wife gave me The Look. 

Somewhat unintentionally, here are the things I said during a round of Just Declare games this week.

“Not bad.” 

The first game went better than expected. 

This led to a false assumption that I was the bees’ knees for a total of five minutes while preparing for the next game – and a sudden realization that I was not when, during game number two, I gave up particularly good cards twice in a row in a blindingly obvious oversight that had no doubt been caused by overblown confidence in the first place.

What I learned here is that it’s always better to say you’ve learned something than to assume you’ve learned everything. 

“What’s the lowest card I can get away with for this trick?” 

When having to follow suit when you have quite a few cards in the appropriate suit, what can’t your opponent trump? 

A handful of tricks for this round of games had to make me dig in order to remember what had already been played so far – and subsequently, what next play I could get away with.

“Who’s got that ace?” 

Few things are as powerful as an ace in the correct suit. 

Knowing who has the ace is an important part of the game (and remains one of the first things to think about at the start of any game).

Hint: If it’s not yours and it hasn’t been played yet, it’s with the other partnership.

“Oh, right…” 

I was wrong at least twice to the previous question.

Even though the war was won, this was like losing the battle. 

There’s a huge difference in assuming that you know where a certain card is and being sure. 

“Damnit. Diamonds?” 

Always pay special attention to your contract – especially when it gets selected for you.

Somewhere lost in thought, I assumed that I was playing a good card when it was in the wrong suit to be appropriate (or useful).

A diamond would have been better. 

Again, lost a battle with that bad play.

“Was this luck?” 

Overall, a few rounds of Just Declare went off pretty well. The last question I had to ask was this.

Had I actually gotten better since I played, or had I just been dealt the right cards? 

The only way to find out was to play another few rounds.