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Playing Tips for Turnpike
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In each version of Turnpike you will be dealt 5 cards. In the Route 23 version you will only use 2 of those dealt cards to make your hand. There are therefore 10 combinations of 2 cards in your hand along with 4 sets of board cards, so each player has a total of 40 combinations of hands. In the Route 32 version you will use 3 of the cards dealt to you. You have six 3-card combinations in your hand along with 12 two-card combinations on the board, so each player has a total of 72 combinations of hands. With so many combinations available the winning hand will most often be the nuts, especially in Route 32. Another important thing to keep in mind is that in a 8 handed game all 52 cards will be used. If a card is not on the board or in your hand, somebody else has it.
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Route 23 Starting Hands
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As with most games, you want to have a been dealt a hand that gives many possibilities for winning. Having one or two high pair is a good start. Obviously, for low 2A is the best start. A protected low like 32A is even better. 3A or 32 will give you a one card draw to the nuts. Several connected cards will be helpful for straights. Suited cards provide only a small addition value to your hand, since a set of the board cards will be all suited infrequently. Trips are nearly worthless, since you can only use 2 cards.
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Route 32 Starting Hands
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As with most games, you want to have a been dealt a hand that gives many possibilities for winning. You must have a pair in your hand to get four of a kind or a full house, so having one or two high pair is a decent start. Obviously, for low 32A is the best start. A protected low like 432A is even better. 42A, 43A or 432 will give you a one card draw to the nuts and may even win without improvement. If they are also suited that is an added benefit. Several connected cards will be helpful for straights, but you will rarely win with it. Suited cards provide addition value to your hand, but flushes are usually plentiful. High trips are fabulous as you will have numerous draws to a full house or four of a kind. Low trips can be problematic if the pair on the board that you need to make your full house is of higher rank than your trips. Three to a straight flush is also a good starting hand, but completing it is not common.
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The Board Cards
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There are a hugh number of hand combinations available in this game. It can be very complicated and you need to pay very close attention, especially in Route 32. You must also be aware of all the board cards in order to help you in assessing the likely winning hands. A set of the board cards will only occasionally have all 3 cards suited, so flushes are not common in the Route 23 version. On the other hand, it is almost a certainty that at least one of the set of board cards will have 2 suited cards, so flushes in Route 32 are commonplace. In either case you will probably need the nut flush. Board cards with straight possibilities are very common even in Route 23 where you may win with the nut straight. In Route 32 forget about winning with a straight altogether. A set of trips on the board is about a 400:1 longshot. In Route 32 it's virtually worthless since you can only use 2 of them. But, in Route 23 it bears mentioning: A pair of aces in your hand will give you the best possible full house but it may not be enough. With 8 players, if the case card does not appear elsewhere on the board, someone has it in their hand.
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Additional Thought
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Route 23 plays very much similar to Omaha in that you can determine with certainty what the absolute best possible hands are. In Route 32 that is the case for the low hand, but not the high. The board cards could be completely un-coordinated and inocuous looking, yet someone could still have an absolute monster hand.
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4 Card Turnpike
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As mentioned earlier, when Turnpike is played with 8 players, all 52 of the cards are in play. If you wish to introduce some uncertainty into the outcome, try playing by dealing only 4 hole cards to each player. This will result in cards being left over.
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