Three-Card Bounty

 is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Quick walkthrough
Violet, Cook-Cook, and Driver Nephi have been giving Major Dhatri a major problem and he wants their heads on a platter — literally. Dhatri will give you 250 caps per bounty (50 caps if the head is mangled) and 100xp per bounty.

Detailed walkthrough
Prior to beginning any section of this quest, remember that the full reward is only given for an intact head. Therefore, it is recommended to either take gun or melee-user companions (or have your companions wait out of range, especially Boone as he tends to go for the head), not use plasma or laser weaponry of any kind, and to go for body blows so as not to damage the head. Those with Bloody Mess should aim for the legs and use a weak weapon for the final blows to minimize the chance of a gory death.

Also note that while each section of this quest is distinct, in that Dhatri assigns each portion individually, you can kill any of the Fiends at any time. Dhatri will accept their heads and give you the reward even if you didn't specifically ask to hunt them down.

Cook-Cook
Cook-Cook is easily the closest of the bounties to the airport, located just north of the South Vegas Ruins West Entrance in a makeshift camp built out of a broken-down building. He is surrounded by around four to eight Fiends at all times, as well as his pet brahmin, Queenie. Cook-Cook himself is distinguished by his use of metal armor and an incinerator, as well as a flamer he'll fall back on if you get close.

There are several ways to approach the situation:

If you talk to Little Buster before setting out after Cook-Cook, you can learn that Cook-Cook has an attachment to a brahmin named Queenie, and that killing Queenie would incite Cook-Cook to fly into a rage, attacking anyone near him, including Fiends. Shooting Queenie from a distance (from the northwest of the ruins should be easiest) and waiting for the fighting to end is one option: sometimes the Fiends kill Cook-Cook, sometimes he kills the Fiends, but either way, the survivor(s) should be easy to handle. There is a risk with this, however, in that the Fiends may damage Cook-Cook's head if they win the fight. If the player is going for the full bounty, they should first even the odds by taking out the Fiends armed with ranged weapons. The simplest approach is probably just to shoot Cook-Cook with a scoped rifle. Because he wears metal armor, you should use armor piercing rounds. So long as the weapon has decent damage, it should only take a couple of hits to the chest for the full reward. You'll still have to clear the other Fiends to get his head. For melee-style players, it is simplest to just charge in and kill everything in sight. Cook-Cook's Fiends will engage you directly, while Cook-Cook himself will keep his distance. The rubble will provide decent cover, keeping you safe from his attacks while you dispatch his flunkies. Cook-Cook can then be dealt with. Because he uses large weapons, it is fairly simple to disarm him of both his Incinerator and Flamer. His health will deteriorate quickly under sustained attacks. As noted, body blows are recommended to avoid damage to the head. Weak melee weapons can usually be taken from the dead Fiends for the finishing blows.
 * 1) Killing Queenie.
 * 1) Sniper solution.
 * 1) The direct approach.

Once you have the head, turn it in to Dhatri for your reward. Additional rewards can be gained later by speaking to 1st Recon Sniper Corporal Betsy at McCarran and Pretty Sarah in Westside, who will reward you for your "service to humanity." In addition, the recipe for Cook-Cook's Fiend stew can be found on one of the shelves in his camp, as well as some vegetables.

Violet
Violet has no other Fiends to support her, but she does have a pack of dogs. Her camp is due south of the Poseidon Gas Station, which is a short distance southwest of Cook-Cook's camp. Her camp is built on top of an abandoned trailer park, allowing both Violet and her dogs to see you from a fair distance off. The number of dogs varies, but they're easy to kill. However, among them is Violetta, a unique dog with more health than the other dogs. Violetta's brain can be taken as part of Nothin' But a Hound Dog. Violet herself is relatively easy to kill, since she's dressed in standard Raider armor like any other Fiend. She has more health, but not significantly so. She's armed with a hunting rifle and is fairly accurate with it, so be careful closing in. Once you have her head, return to Dhatri.

There is also a Programmers Digest magazine on some shelves to the left of the Nuka-Cola Quartz.
 * If you have Level 2 of the Animal Friend perk, all of Violet's dogs become friendly to you.
 * Upon entering her shack, there are two ammunition cases and two super stimpaks on a shelf in the back. To the left of the cases there is a Nuka-Cola Quartz. There are also 3 more ammunition cases and a first aid kit around the other side of the shack containing various drugs along with a Future Weapons Today magazine.

Driver Nephi
Driver Nephi is the farthest away of the three, located northwest of the Samson Rock Crushing Plant. He will be guarded by Fiends, usually more than Cook-Cook had and probably better-armed, as well. Like Violet, Driver Nephi is not particularly tough because he wears Raider armor and is armed with a melee weapon. However, Nephi's skill with his namesake golf club is considerable, and melee-style players might have trouble bringing him down. Take him down as per the first two.

Prior to the mission, you are given the chance to assemble First Recon at the Samson Rock Crushing Plant. They will take up position at the plant and fire upon Nephi if you lure him into range. Merely assembling them is enough to get a 300 cap bonus even if you don't let them take a shot at Nephi, so it is recommended to call on their help in either case. Note that there is a minefield along their path to the plant, so you should wait a few hours so they can reach it before you do. If you follow them, Lieutenant Gorobets will likely cripple himself passing through the minefield. In addition, First Recon tends toward headshots, so they may prevent you from getting the full reward if allowed to do the job for you.

Journal entries
* The assassinations can be performed in any order, which will change the order of the journal entries.

Bugs

 * After killing Driver Nephi and returning the head to Major Dhatri by choosing the option to reclaim your bounty, Dharti may ask to see the head but nothing happens and the conversation ends. You must keep talking to him until the head is removed from your inventory and your bounty recieved.  This may take several attempts.
 * After completion, Major Dhatri will no longer speak to you, making it impossible to talk to him about Bitter Springs.
 * Dhatri may say that there are two targets left when there is only one and other slightly bugged phrases, caused by killing a target which you had not told Dhatri you were going to kill yet. This has no effect on gameplay, but can make speech options difficult to navigate.

Behind the scenes
The title of this quest is a play on the name of the confidence game, Three-card Monte.

Охота за головами