Fallout: New Vegas

All Credit goes to the guys over at Achievement Hunter, in this case Jack.

Pretty simple to get the 3 wins for this one as well for the 30 wins for the Caravan Master one as well, just build the deck Jack talks about and have some fun!

This video helped me quite a bit... and really it makes money a non issue when I can win so many caps from people playing Caravan!!

EDIT: Also posted this solution to the "Know When to Fold 'Em" achievement as well as adding to the flavor text above that I added there as well.

This is building off the information in the first solution - read that for background and general rules, or reference this website: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/111/1119257p1.html

As for strategy to win 30 games, I did it against the first three players I ran into - Goodsprings, Primm, and Mojave Outpost. My strategy kills all three of those players, and I've won 40 matches in a row and over 2,500 caps... so it should be really easy to copy or modify.

1. First, you only need to create one hand from the default deck to beat the early chumps. Once you pick the hand, you can use it in every match after that, so it takes a few minutes and you never have to do it again. Create your hand (30 cards) with all 4 suits, all 5-6-7-8 and J-Q-K, 4 each of all those cards... that's 28 cards, then 2 Jokers.
2. When you start, the first hand you're just laying down three cards as the basis of your caravans. Use the highest or lowest cards of different suits... like 5 of Clubs, 8 of spades, 8 of hearts, for example. If you don't have three number cards, discard a Queen, they're next to useless.
3. Once the three caravans are started, if you have a King, play it on the highest card you have - an 8, usually. That doubles the 8, giving you 16. You're aiming for 26 total in every caravan.
4. If the other player gets between 20-26 before you do in any caravan, play the King on their highest card, that'll make them bust (until they use a Jack to get rid of a card). Sometimes they get frustrated and fold that entire caravan, which is awesome. Basically, don't let the other player win a single caravan, and you'll be okay.
5. If the other player plays a King on one of his cards, they'll probably be close to that 20-26 range, so play a Jack on that card - removing that card and the King, dropping him back down to some low #.
6. Your goal is to have all three Caravans between 21-26, and with a higher # in that range than the other player. Once you do that, you win the game.

It's actually pretty easy if you follow that method - I won over 40 in a row. Remember, though, if you get stuck and can't play one of your numerical cards, use a Queen to reverse the order. Also, be careful with Jokers so that you don't sabotage your Caravans or drop down the other player's point # below the busting point (27).

Simple Strategy:

Build your deck down to 30 cards keeping all of your 10's, 9's and 7's. You only want 30 cards because you want your best chance of getting to these cards when you need them.

When it is your first turn keep discarding cards until your hand has three 9's and either three 10's and two 7's or three 7's and two 10's. You can chose which card you want to discard and do it as much as you like on your first hand so you should have the following to start.

7,7,7,9,9,9,10,10 or 7,7,9,9,9,10,10,10

Start with either 7's or 10's, whichever you have three of. Start your three columns with one each of these cards.

Then play one of each of your 9's in each of these columns.

Lastly. play whichever you didn't play in the first round ( 7's or 10's) as a third card in each of your columns. If you get to your last column and you are missing the card you didn't have a third of when you started, just keep discarding until you get it.

That will give you three rows of 26 points giving you the win every time.

Your first chance to play Caravan is in Goodsprings, the town you start the game in. Go to the bar and talk to Trudy - she'll tell you about Ringo, who's at the gas station. Say you'll go talk to him and you can go into the gas station - one of the dialogue options with him is to play Caravan. Ringo is not very good at the game so this is probably the best spot to get the achievement.

Note: You can hit X when decided how much you're going to bet - set it to 1 cap at first, then there's no risk if you happen to lose

Caravan confuses the hell out of me, so here are some basic tips - I managed to get this achievement and I still have no real idea how to play. But if you're smarter than me, you can also read the holotape Ringo gives you - it explains all the rules.

Basically, both you and your opponent have 3 piles - called caravans - of cards. The aim of the game is to getting the total these piles to be between 20 and 27 (or 21-26, if you will), and to outbid your opponents caravans by having the highest value.

General Info

- Numbered cards simply add their value to the pile. To play a numbered card, it needs continue in the same numerical direction - ascending or descending, and/or be the same suit as the previous card. Jokers placed on a numbered card remove all other cards of this value from the table.
- Aces add one to the pile. Jokers placed on an ace remove all other non-face cards of the aces suit from the table.
- Jacks remove the card it's placed on. (Tip - Placing a Jack on a King will also take away the card the King is doubling)
- Kings double whatever card you put them on.
- Queens add no value - instead, they reverse the current direction and the suit of that caravan.

How to Actually Win 30 Games

The first 3 turns you must start your 3 caravans. Try to put either high or low value cards, since you'll be either ascending or descending. Remember, aim to get the value between 20 and 27.

Also remembers you can put face cards on your opponents caravan. So if an opponent has a caravan with a value between 20 and 27, feel free to to put a King on and it will go over, or put a Jack on the highest value card to put it under.

If you've got a bad hand, you can hit LT to swap out the selected card from your hand. You can also hit RT to remove an entire caravan if you please.

So basically, just remember what face cards do, try to make all your caravans add up to 21-26, and put cards on your opponents side to 'sabotage' them. Since Ringo kinda sucks, it shouldn't be too hard.

(Also, there's a challenge for losing caravan 5 times, it gives you some XP so when you're done with the achievement you can quickly go for that as well)

For those having trouble finding players you can compete against No Bark, he is a somewhat crazed bum living in Novac. He can be found in his shack on the north side of town or often wandering b/w it and the medical tent.

The first few times you play him it will be for caps but once he is out he will continue to play for fun. At the betting screen simply hit 'Y' to accept the bet of 0 and away you go.

EDIT: This also applies to other NON-vendor players. Vendors will stop playing when they have run out of caps but others you encounter will continue to play for fun.

The goal of Caravan is to make piles with scores from 21 to 26 (inclusive). There are several different theories on how to do this. I'll provide another.

Remember, the goal is to basically hit 26 in each row. For those of you confused about how to actually play, here's a simplified version:

In your first three turns, you have to play one card on an empty row. Since you must then play a card higher or lower than the one under it, it's in your interest to play the highest or lowest card you have at first. If I get 10s, I'll play those first, else I'll try to start low.

Importantly, when you're building a deck, you will have a lot of cards that are useless, so don't include them in your deck. They're taking up space when you need certain cards to come up.

Kings are the important card, since they double whatever card they're played on. This gives you more options when you're trying to hit that magic 26. For example, if you are stuck with a 8-9, you can play a King on the 9 so that 8-9-9 = 26. Also, if you can get a 10-6 combination, the King on the 10 will give you a 26, and so on. Since you can't play the same card on itself, use the King to help you.

The ideal deck would be one that depends on a particular pairing of cards, 6-10 or 9-8, with a King doubling the high card and a Jack for defense. In a perfect world, I'd probably only play a deck with 6-10-J-K only, but since you need a minimum of 30 cards, that's going to be hard to do. The reason is that if you limit the different cards in your deck, you have a better chance of your next card being the one that fits your strategy. Therefore, in my case, my perfect deck would probably be nine 6s, nine 10s, nine Kings, and 3 Jacks.

However, since you probably won't be able to get that many of each card, mix it up a little. Create a deck with only 6-7-8-9-10-J-K. Leave out the Queens and the small cards. Also leave out Jokers, since they only work in conjunction with Aces, and can easily sabotage you as well. Jacks are your defense... hold them to knock your opponent out.

The bottom line is to base your deck on a strategy. Don't just use every card that you own; instead focus on about 3 cards that you can expect will turn up over and over, and make sure you have a few Jacks in case you need to slow down your opponent.

Kudos to Achievement Hunters in advance for an awesome tip.

1- When picking your cards make sure all 10s, 9s, and 7s are in your deck.

2- On your first turn, you may discard as many cards as you like, so discard until all you have are 10s, 9s, and 7s.

3- Play ONLY 10s, 9s, and 7s, starting piles with either a 10 or 7 (so you can still work up or down.

4- After all three (sometimes two) piles show a total of 26, You will win.

5- Repeat 29 more times.

FOR THOSE WHO WOULD RATHER READ THAN WATCH

Basically buy as many 6's, 10's and King's.
(You can get these from almost any vendor, random based)

You can equally set up your deck as 10 of each if needed.

Be sure to have at least three 10's and three King's before you start placing foundation cards

Place a 10, then a King beside it, to finish with a 6.

This will maximize your Caravan to 26.

Try and get each caravan to 26 as quickly as possible and you are sure to win 99% of the time!

I found it easier to keep all cards (4-10) of only two different suits (spades and clubs for example) keep your aces of the opposing suits. keep jokers, kings, a couple jacks, queens aren't that important. No need to reverse the direction if the cards are all suited. If your opponent is gaining the edge then play an ace that they seem to have a lot of suited and place a joker on it. helps to play the ace early. Use your jacks on their kings or high numbered cards if they are above twenty in any of their caravans. If you are stuck at a standstill where all of your caravans are at 26 and in the rare case you haven't won yet place a jack on one of their highest caravans and victory should be yours.

Going by sets of three - one of each type, stack your caravan deck with as many Kings, 10's, and 6's as you can find. You will need eleven of each to start with for this deck, but it is brutally simple and effective.

Lay down the 10 first, then either drop a King on it to double the value to 20, or lay a 6 on the next tier down off the 10 for a score of 16. You can start with a 6 if that is how the deal comes up... Rinse, lather, & repeat until you win.

Also, be "that guy"... Save before each game of caravan you are about to start just in case.