Bridge Base Online has plenty of online tournaments and private club tournaments – and joining the BBO Prime Club gives you exclusive access to a few more. Just like any offline tournament or club game, there’s some preparation involved even if there’s no need to wear your good shoes to play online.

Here are 10 preparatory tips for making sure you have a great BBO tournament.

1. Freeing Up Space

BBO is designed to work on mobile and PC. With the right software, you could probably play bridge on a smart-fridge or TV, too.

The first thing you should do in preparation for an online tournament or game is freeing up space on the device you intend to use. Resource use can cause lag and crashes, and all you need to do to fix this is free up some space and make sure you don’t have any resource-intensive programs running in the background.

Most issues that you can experience with online gaming and lag can be fixed with this simple step.

2. Internet Connection Check

The second thing you should check right before any online game is your internet connection. Make sure you’re online, and make sure you can stay online for the duration of the game. Test this before logging on to BBO – and make sure everyone else in your partnership, team or club has done the same thing.

An internet speed test is free, online and fast: Here you can also usually see what your internet connection is like.

If your internet connection sucks, try restarting your router, restarting your device, moving closer to your wi-fi broadcasting device if you’re a few rooms away – or mobile users should navigate to settings and change their Internet Access Point Network (APN) to see if it makes a difference.

3. Battery Life

Make sure the battery life of your device can handle the duration of your club game or tournament, and ensure that your device is fully charged before the tournament is about to start.

This can seem obvious, but isn’t.

If your battery life runs down too fast, navigate to your settings or task manager to see what’s running in the background and remove any unnecessary stuff.

As an added tip, invest in a small power bank for your mobile devices and always keep this on hand. It’s as good for BBO tournament preparation as it is for a life-and-death emergency.

4. Comfortable?

Make sure you’re comfortable before the game starts, and make sure that you’re going to stay comfortable for its duration. While your local bridge club might not invest in the best and most comfortable chairs, playing on BBO usually means that finding seating is up to you (and you can only blame yourself if your right leg goes numb through the game).

5. Snacks and Drinks at the Ready

The last thing anyone wants to see through the table’s chat window is “brb snacks” and a disappearing bridge partner. Get your snacks and drinks at the ready before the game. Stack them in whichever way you like, but make sure that everything you need for the duration of your game or tournament is within an arm’s length at least. While it’s up to you, I’d also make sure these snacks and drinks are healthy ones: We don’t like losing bridge players to bad health.

6. Roll Call

A few minutes before your game it might be a good idea to do a club roll call for all the participating members on your side: Just forward this list to everyone if you don’t feel like explaining all of the preparatory steps yourself.

Make sure everyone is at the same level of preparation as you, and make sure that everyone is present for the game. If someone is – for any reason – not present, BBO has its own version of the partnership desk that can put you in touch with replacement players for your tournament or game in a pinch.

7. Ready, Partner?

Other than the usual roll call, most games from football through to bridge involve a team motivational discussion a few minutes before the game. It might just be a quick nod, or it might be an epic speech worthy of a Hollywood sports movie: You know the one with the coach and the warm-hearty feeling at the end of the scene.

It’s recommended for a bridge game, too, just as a respectful nod and motivation to your bridge partnership for the game about to happen. Similarly, remember to say thanks after the game, too: Even if you or your partner’s play was less than ideal for this one. It’s only good manners.

8. Stretching

Always stretch. This is not an option, but should be a requirement.

As a chronic patient with more health issues than I can list in one place, I go through a regular routine of having to put my joints back into place every morning, every night and several times throughout the day. What this means is that I’ve never undervalued stretching, and I’ve never skipped it before a walk, a jog or a bridge game.

It gets the blood flowing, it promotes the flow of oxygen to vital parts of the body and it can keep you from developing blood clots – or getting cramps halfway through the tournament.

9. Music

Do you incorporate music into your bridge games? If you’re playing your game or tournament online on BBO, you should. It’s one of the best ways to boost creative thinking, and there are enough studies to support the theory that it can also boost your bridge game.

Choose a suitable soundtrack for your game and you’ll notice that your entire game goes better. Metal, blues, rhythm and blues, rap: Whatever helps you get into the vibe of a good game.

10. The Just Declare Run

There are several varieties and versions of bridge available on the BBO server, and it can be very beneficial to your next tournament to run through a simple game of Just Declare before you get to the bigger game at hand. It takes just a few minutes for a quick game, and it can make sure your brain is a little more prepared for play. It’s the equivalent of studying right before a big test, and it can help your overall game be better, guaranteed.