Statistics are more than numbers, graphs, and something that usually indicates prosperity and disaster (or life and death) when you see it in the news. Stats can also be a useful addition to your bridge game – and it can help you to see essential things about how you play it.

Using simple spreadsheet software, start keeping track of nuances around your game.

Within a few weeks of recording your first statistic, the same software should allow you to represent the numbers visually.

You’ll be impressed, enthralled, or immediately know which elements of your game to work on the most.

For the learning or more serious bridge player, these statistics can be as important to see as your amount of home runs in a different sport.

Here are 4 bridge statistics you should be recording.

1: Wins (Against Losses)

Graph your bridge wins against your overall losses.

While it might not always be fun to see, it does tell you a lot about your focus, your bridge game, and your general life’s circumstances at the time when the game was played.

If it’s up, don’t get too confident. But if it’s lower down, find out how you can work at your bridge game until the ratio goes up again – and rest assured that there are plenty of tips for better bridge practice at BBO Prime.

2: Game Scores (Over Time)

Record and graph your game’s overall score over time. Winning a game doesn’t always mean a particularly high score – and yes, it’s going to look a little different to the regular wins-losses ratio example that was mentioned above.

Scores are important.

Lower scores can point to signs of stress, fatigue, distraction, or even (in an extreme example) the beginnings of dementia and related conditions.

For bridge players, scores can reflect many things that go beyond the scope of just being a score.

Make sure you check.

3: Partners You’ve Had

Take note of the amount of partners you’ve had, and how you both played.

There are very well-matched (and some would even say golden) partnerships in the world, and that old friend you used to play bridge with might have well been key to your technique.

Just like life itself, some people match up better with others. They just produce better results as a team, and that’s that.

Graphing it could help you one step closer to the best partnership you can have.

4: Time Spent Playing

While playing time is an essential part of most gaming stat screens, that is not what I mean. Graph the total time you’ve spent in the world of bridge – since the start.

Some statistics can be purely related to the events which took place in your life at the time, and have less to do with your general aptitude at bridge. But it’s one of those things that a player might only notice once they see it as a graph.

Players are also likely to notice that there were specific times their bridge playing was better. Can you remember why?