Poker Run Punch Card Template
Poker Run F A Q WHAT'S A 'POKER RUN' ALL ABOUT? Poker Runs are akin to a TSD (time, speed, distance) rally with a car, except that your time isn't measured, so speeds aren't a concern. The route is already pre-determined and you just follow the route sheet. If you detour or short-cut the route, the only problem is you'll (possibly) miss a checkpoint and (for sure) miss out on the great scenery along the route. To ride in the Poker Run all it takes is a small entry fee and the ability to follow some written route directions.
TALLY SHEET RULES FOR RALLY POKER RUN USING MULTIPLE STOPS 1. No duplicate cards can be used. Participants must draw an additional card if an identical card.
To WIN the Poker Run prize takes no skill at all, just a lot of LUCK! At Americade, Poker Run participants travel a set route, getting their route sheets at the start of the run, and stopping at manned checkpoints along the route. Americade's Poker Run takes riders on a ride of 'about 100 miles' on some of the prettiest roads in the lower reaches of the Adirondacks. Each year the route is new, or at least somewhat new. As Poker Runs go, it used to be, as one got to a checkpoint, the rider would pull a playing card from a big deck. After pulling one card at the start, one card at each of three checkpoints, and a fifth and final card at the finish point, whoever had the 'best five-card stud hand' at the end of the run would win the prize, whatever it was.
Trouble is, some folks used to 'enhance' their hands enroute, and it was a bit hard to control, especially if it was windy or rainy at the checkpoint. Since many decks of cards were used, it wasn't all that hard to concoct a winning hand from decks of cards brought along on the ride. To prevent bogus hands, Poker Run organizers tried putting the playing cards inside sealed envelopes, where their pip values couldn't be seen. Instead of just picking a card, one would pick a sealed envelope.
Some bikers, being a smart (but devious) lot figured ways to get around that, too. It wasn't all that hard to find a few matching sets of cards and create a winning hand by carefully unsealing the envelopes, replacing the cards in the envelopes with new cards from a deck, and carefully re-sealing the envelope. Win at all costs! Nowadays at Americade, there are no playing cards involved.
Instead, there's only a manila card inside an opaque envelope. Card pip values are printed around the manila card's outside border. The card fits snugly into a special envelope; there are numbers around the perimeter of the envelope, one over each card pip value printed inside. At each checkpoint, the rider picks a numbered chip out of a container.
Poker Run Punch Card Template
The number on the chip corresponds to the place on the envelope to be punched, and determines where the checkpoint worker will punch the envelope around its perimeter. The hand-operated punches are unique, and not easy to duplicate. At the end of the run, an official unseals the envelope, checks the match of the envelope and manila card punching, sees which card values have been punched, and then determines the poker hands. Best hand from among the manila cards WINS. In the end, everybody wins. The kids win the most, with donated entry fees being given to Lake George area charities that help children. The riders win, because they get to take a leisurely ride on the most scenic of mountain roads, with or without their friends along for the ride.
Six lucky riders - three AMA members and three non-AMA members - get to take home trophies and maybe even some valuable prizes. At the Americade 'Meet The Press' Poker Run the checkpoints are staffed by members of the motorcycling press.
For a fee, one can buy a 'commemorative' T-shirt (with proceeds donated to charity) and the press members will autograph your T-shirt as you check through their checkpoints. You end up with a token to treasure and remind you of a special day's ride when you got to enjoy yourself and help the less fortunate at the same time.