Of course, whales do not mean the same thing as a good player. This is why most games tend to lean into the "pay to win" side of things. As that is the easiest way to give whales an advantage. In a game like this, it is a bit different tho. Here the advantage would be more that they have access to all the cards as fast as possible.

It is perfectly fine to not agree with me. I just saying that these type of things are usually done with that in mind. And the original structure of paying only 20 players seemed to lean into that.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Always good to get input from others. It is the easiest way to find out if youre up the wrong creek without a paddle, or if youre actually on to something. =)