Critics of the game suggest that Three-Dragon Ante's major weakness is that the strategy varies so much according to the number of players [1]. It is particularly important to win gambits in large games (4+ players), whereas stealing gold from the stakes is effective in games with only 2–3 players. Strength flights are also relatively more important in large games. Also, because the deck size is fixed, the rule-changing cards like The Druid come up more often in large games. This non-linear scaling causes game time to vary radically with the number of players. Games with 4+ players usually end within an hour, but games with fewer players can continue indefinitely. House rules, such as adjusting the effect of the strength flights or the starting gold given to each player, can help alleviate these problems. Another solution is to set a certain number of gambits as a match; the player with the most gold at the end of the match wins.
Also worth noting: Three-Dragon Ante seems to play well with a variety of player numbers. I played with 3, 4, and 5, and enjoyed all the games. I thought the 4- and 5-player plays were slightly more interesting because of the larger number of players to compete against and the increased number of cards in the pot, but I was still very happy with my 3-player play.
