I play almost exclusively three-player TTR, so am speaking primarily of that game. Feel free to add in thoughts about the topic for other numbers of players.
I have found myself keeping three tickets more and more often. I don't want to waste a turn later in the game drawing destinations, usually better to complete what you've got and then build more long routes to rack up points and end the game as quickly as possible. When I do not keep three routes it is usually because there is one that is on the east coast that would take some short routes to connect. A Boston-Miami sort of ticket. Short routes are bad! Especially when those short tickets are not easy to connect to the longer routes in the west. If I have only shortish routes that are not convenient to connect, then I will sometimes toss one back and draw a second set of tickets rather early in hopes of getting a coordinating ticket, especially a long one.
Anecdotal evidence suggests to me that higher rated players (~400+ ELO) tend to not get involved in ticket drawing games, they are mostly trying to end games quickly. So, I think I am on the right path!
I understand each game is different, not one approach is right all the time. But, does this sound about right for three players?
I have found myself keeping three tickets more and more often. I don't want to waste a turn later in the game drawing destinations, usually better to complete what you've got and then build more long routes to rack up points and end the game as quickly as possible. When I do not keep three routes it is usually because there is one that is on the east coast that would take some short routes to connect. A Boston-Miami sort of ticket. Short routes are bad! Especially when those short tickets are not easy to connect to the longer routes in the west. If I have only shortish routes that are not convenient to connect, then I will sometimes toss one back and draw a second set of tickets rather early in hopes of getting a coordinating ticket, especially a long one.
Anecdotal evidence suggests to me that higher rated players (~400+ ELO) tend to not get involved in ticket drawing games, they are mostly trying to end games quickly. So, I think I am on the right path!
I understand each game is different, not one approach is right all the time. But, does this sound about right for three players?