I could be mistaken but I was pretty sure it said in the instructions that you only have to have 2 caravans at top bid to win, is that right? Because I have played twice now and both times I had to have all 3 caravans higher that my opponent before it said I won. In one instance I had 2 piles at 26 even (all of his were still under 21), and I did not win until the 3rd one was above 21. Is that how it's supposed to work? I thought it only had to be 2. -Meg

I believe you have to have all three bidding above 21, if you are the highest bidder in two of the three you'll win.

Here's a guide:
http://www.strengthgamer.com/Fallout_New_Vegas_Super_Gui.html

All 3 caravans have to be bought (i.e. between 21-26) to win (whether by you or your opponent). The winner is the best out of those 3. The problem is the instructions aren't clear. There are only 3 caravans total. Each stack of your cards and the opponents cards above them is one caravan. All of them have to have at least one stack on the top or bottom at 21-26 for the game to end. Also you can't have a tied caravan. Something has to happen to break it.

Ahhh I gotcha. Thank you both for the info!

The cards aren't the caravan. The cards are the bid FOR the caravan. Basically you and your opponent are bidding on 3 caravans. The game isn't over until all 3 are sold. (i.e. someone's bid for each of the 3 caravans is between 21 & 26.

Isn't that just semantics? I think I was pretty clear. Each of the three sets of your cards vs the opponents cards above is a caravan. I didn't call one stack of a cards a caravan.

Possibly it's semantics. I think in reality there are no real "caravans" in the game... they're just made up things that you're bidding on. Your cards are your bids, and your opponents cards are their bids. I don't think referring to the bids as caravans or not is really semantics. Personal opinion though.

The written win conditions don't seem to entirely match up with what happens in the game.

I have had some games where I have just focused on 2 caravans, got them above 21 and won the match - ignored the 3rd all together.

Ones where I have encountered odd issues have usually been where I have played a joker or Jack to remove cards from my opponents stack - particularly if that stack was already above 21 it seems to cause issues, and that whole caravan seems to get stuck. I've had one game where I had got to 26, 26, 25 and was throwing cards away until the game granted me the win, despite beating the opponent on 2 of the caravans, and drawing on 1 for 3 turns each.

As for the logic of the win conditions - winning 2 caravans should be enough - the 3rd is irrelevent, and certainly from the speed at which the AI is able to win some matches they do not wait for all 3 to be "complete" before being granted the win

For your first one, if your opponent got the 3rd one between 21 & 26, then that means that all 3 caravans were sold.

For your second one, I haven't seen happen. If you're at 26, 26, 25 and the game wasn't over, that would tell me that one of the caravans was tied with your opponent.... which means all 3 caravans weren't "sold" even though the bids were high enough for it to be sold. There has to be a clear and decisive value on each caravan for it to be sold.

For your logic comment, that's how they made the rules, and I don't see an issue with it. If your opponent quickly gets 2, it gives you a chance to drop or tie one of his enabling you to go on to win. Assuming the AI would play smart (which they don't), changing the win conditions would completely change the game (in my opinion).

Maybe it's a bug. I haven't seen that happen. In my experiences all 3 caravans have to "bought" (i.e. either you or your opponent is between 21-26 without tying the opposing stack) before the game ends. You can just concentrate on two of your stacks but you won't win until the caravan your ignoring is bought by your opponent. Before I found out the game was broken I would sometimes actually help the opposing player with a K to push their stack into buying that caravan if I had the other two bought already.

Oh wow, is that broken or just good strategy? I wouldn't have thought of that, but I like it!

That's not the part that's broken. The fact that you can discard cards before placing a single one down is what makes it broken. You're not supposed to be able to do that according to he rules yet you can. This allows you to make the perfect hand and drop 3 26s in mere moments. It's unbeatable.

Yes, they need to make it so that "yes you can discard" but you forfeit your turn during the initial phase when you're laying down the three starting locations.

Or get rid of that phase entirely and simply make the rule, you must start a stack with a numeric card. So you could fill in stack 1, then move on to stack 2 if you really wanted.

All three caravans have to be sold for the game to end. 2 caravans is only required for winning, but all three have to be sold.

Yes, either of those options would be workable.