Many clubs have dealing machines, or have access to boards dealt elsewhere. Apart from saving players the chore of shuffling and dealing the cards, players will then have access to printed and/or web-uploaded hand-record information, providing not only the hands themselves, but also an analysis of how many tricks can theoretically be made by each player in each denomination.

The hand-record file produced by the dealing-machine software can also be imported into BCS, either for display on the Bridgemate handsets [after the hand has been played!] or to be uploaded to the Bridgemate app [see below].

For clubs not having dealing machines or access to pre-dealt boards, there is a further possibility. The players at the table can enter the details of hands on their Bridgemate handset after they've played them. In this case, the players have the same access to printed and/or web-uploaded, analysed, hand-record information as is available at clubs with dealing machines. Although this might be thought to be an onerous task, it tends to be done largely by the quicker players in the field. And if there's a half-table, the job can be done by the sitting-out pairs.