Our Favorite Side Games
There are not many things better than a Saturday afternoon 18 with your buddies on a perfect summer day. Everyone is on a heater, music is playing and the vibes are feeling right—but it still feels like something is missing … Enter our favorite golf gambling games.
Whether it is adding stroke-play or match-play format, simple side bets, skins or specific games (which we will feature here), there is no shortage of ways to add some extra incentive to your round. These popular games offer options for groups of as few as two golfers to a foursome and beyond. Whether you’re up for a monetary wager or random challenges, give these games a try the next time you’re on the course to raise the stakes! Besides, who doesn’t enjoy a little extra pocket cash taken off their friends?
Games for Foursomes
Let’s kick things off with a foursome game that is a favorite of mine.
Vegas (also known as Las Vegas)
Vegas is a betting game typically played for $1 per point. The key designation with Vegas is that scores are put together, not added together. The high score from the hole is put behind the low score for each twosome. For example, Player A and B comprise Team One, competing against Player C and D. Player A shoots a 4 and player B shoots a 3, making a team score of 34. Players C and D score a 5 and a 4, respectively, for a total of 45. At $1 per point, Team Two now owes Team One $11. You can play a full 18-hole match with your set teams or switch it up at the turn and reset the match to $0 and start again.
It is important to note that there are some exceptions to scoring when playing Vegas. If a player scores a 10 or higher on any given hole, the higher number goes first. This allows for a safeguard to be put into place to keep points, and money exchanged, from getting out of hand (e.g., Player A shoots a 10 and Player B shoots a 3, the score is recorded as 103 instead of 310).
The second exception, known as “Flipping the Bird,” is an option players can agree upon before starting a round to raise the stakes even higher. When flipping the bird is in play, any time a member of either team makes birdie and wins the hole, they have the ability to flip the opponents’ score for that hole. If each team birdies a given hole, both can flip. For example, Team One shoots a 3 and 4 on a par-4 while Team Two shoots a 4 and 6. The scores would be 34 and 64, respectively, and Team One would win $32 on the hole. Talk about raising the stakes!
Vegas has the ability, as you can see, to run up tallies in a hurry! Be sure to set your point values before the round at a number that all players are comfortable with. This game is best played with individuals of a similar skill set (four players near the same skill level or higher-handicap players paired against each other with a lower-handicap player as a partner).
Sticking with our Sin City theme, our next game puts your putting skills at the forefront!
Three-Putt Poker
Three-putt poker combines elements of two fun activities to play with your buddies: golf and, you guessed it, poker. In addition to your clubs, you’ll need a deck of cards to play this one. Three-putts are the bane of any golfer’s existence and this game will penalize you for them while, in turn, rewarding you for one-putts. Two-putts are neutral.
Before you start your round, you and your group will determine what the ante from each player will be for the round. Let’s take a conservative approach and say $5 for a total pot of $20. Once bets are placed, each player is dealt a card from the deck. Then it’s time to hit the first tee.
The action occurs on every green. Once you reach it, any player who has a three-putt or worse contributes money to the pot, typically 20 percent of the individual ante. Using our example above, it would be $1. A two-putt is neutral while a one-putt allows the player to draw another card from the deck.
This game is played as a front-nine and back-nine setup so everything resets at the turn. Once nine holes have been played, players compare hands. Whomever has the strongest poker hand wins the pot. Odds favor the player who collects more cards but, as luck always plays a role, a player with only one card could still theoretically win (e.g., the one card is an ace while all other players are not able to make a pair, three of a kind, etc.).
Wolf
Wolf gives players the opportunity to play individually against each other instead of in a team format like Vegas. The objective of Wolf is simple: score more points than your playing partners by the end of the round. How do you determine the Wolf? How does scoring work? How do you actually PLAY it? All fair questions so let’s get into it!
The first thing you’ll need to do is determine who is playing the role of the Wolf first. Players stand in a circle and flip a tee to designate the order in which you’ll play your tee shots, with the last player acting as the Wolf. Once the order is established, it rotates on all ensuing holes (1, 2, 3 ,4…2, 3, 4, 1..etc.). This is important as tee shots are not played by honors or a ready golf format. A rotating tee order allows each player to become the Wolf once every four holes, up to hole 16. At holes 17 and 18, the two players with the most points will be the Wolf (hole 17 goes to the player with second most, 18 to the leader).
Now that we’ve gotten our playing order established, we will get into the rules. After the first three golfers hit their tee shots, the Wolf must decide whether he or she wants to select one player as their playing partner for that hole or play as a “Lone Wolf.” If the Wolf declares they are going alone, they must shoot the lowest net score on the hole to win points. If they choose a partner, the hole is played in a net best-ball format between the two player teams (only the lowest score from each team counts). Points are distributed as follows:
- If the Lone Wolf wins the hole, they receive four points.
- If the Wolf adds a partner and they are the winning team, each receives two points.
- If the Wolf adds a partner and they lose the hole, the opposing team receives three points each.
- If the Lone Wolf loses, all three opposing players receive one point while he receives zero.
There are a few different ways to handle the payout at the end of a round.
The most straightforward way is to set a predetermined pot at the beginning of a round. The golfer with the most points at the end of the game wins the pot.
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Another option is betting on a hole-by-hole basis.
- Let’s use $2 per hole as an example. If you play as the Lone Wolf and win the hole, each player pays you $2.
- However, if you lose the hole, you pay each person $2.
- This can add up quickly, especially for the Wolf, and stakes should be determined before the round.
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You can also determine a pre-set dollar amount per point for the round. We will use $1 for our example
- Players finish with four, six, eight and 10 points.
- Using $1 per point, the player with four points owes $2, $4 and $6. The player with six points owes $2 and $4, the player with eight points owes $2 and the player with 10 points only collects.
The formatting of Wolf can be a little tricky and take some getting used to but it is a fun way to play solo golf while also adding a team element when a Wolf goes alone!
Games for Smaller Groups
Bingo Bango Bongo
A great game for the higher-handicap crowd, Bingo Bango Bongo is a dots-style game where points are awarded for three different categories on each hole. The game is played individually and can be played with as few as two golfers. Scoring for this one is easy and takes much less thinking than a game like Wolf. A total of three points can be earned on each hole.
- The bingo point is awarded to the first player who reaches the green.
- The bango point is awarded to the first player who is closest to the pin once all the golfers have reached the green.
- The bongo point is awarded to the first player who holes out
You may choose to wager on each point earned per hole or set a predetermined pot before the round begins, with the player accumulating the most points after the 18th hole winning the pot. Since point tracking is relatively straightforward, Bingo Bango Bongo can be a great game to add some “junk” bets as well. Payouts for junk bets should be set ahead of the round or you can add them in as bonus points. A few examples include:
- Greenies - hitting the green in regulation or scoring par or better on a hole
- Sandies - getting up and down from the sand to save par
- Chippies - chipping in from off the green
- Barkies - making par or better on a hole after hitting a tree
Split Sixes
A recommendation from my Tuesday league scramble partner (thanks, Lucas!), Split Sixes is a three-person game that allows golfers to compete head-to-head-to-head over 18 holes using stroke-play scoring. Another points-based game like Bingo Bango Bongo, Split Sixes involves splitting six points per hole between the three players. Here’s a breakdown when three golfers all card different scores:
- Low score = four points
- Middle score = two points
- High score = zero points
Inevitably, golfers will have tied scores on many of the holes throughout a round. In that case, the scoring goes as follows:
- If two golfers tie for lowest score, each is awarded three points while the high score is awarded zero.
- If two golfers tie for the highest score, each earns one point while the low score earns four points.
- If all three golfers tie, each earns two points.
At the end of the round, point totals are tallied to determine a winner. Points will typically carry a monetary value, as in Vegas, and the margin of victory translates into the amount due to the winner. Let’s use $1 per point for our example:
- Golfer A earns 58 points, Golfer B earns 30 points and Golfer C earns 20 points.
- Golfer C owes $10 to Golfer B and $38 to Golfer A
- Golfer B owes $28 to Golfer A
To level the playing field for golfers of varying skill, Split Sixes can be played incorporating handicaps, with higher-handicap players playing off the lowest-handicap player. You can also play handicap strokes as they lie by assigning appropriate strokes per hole to each player.
Rabbit
Another game that can be played with as few as two golfers, Rabbit is a straightforward game that requires no tracking of points. Rabbit is played as a nine-hole format, resetting at the turn. A pot is predetermined before the round and the player in possession of the Rabbit after nine holes wins the pot. If no one is in possession of the Rabbit at the turn, the pot rolls into the back nine, doubling the winnings.
The rules for Rabbit are simple. The first player to win a hole outright secures the Rabbit. This player holds possession of the Rabbit until another player wins a hole outright, setting the Rabbit free. It is then free until a player wins a hole outright. A common modification to the rules is to eliminate setting the Rabbit free. In this format, the Rabbit changes hands every time a different player wins a hole, keeping it in someone’s possession the entire round. The pot size may also be determined by the number of times the Rabbit changes possession in a round. Similar to Bingo Bango Bongo, Rabbit is a great game to add some “junk” bets as there is no point system to keep track of.
Conclusion
Side games or not, a day spent on the golf course is better than a day away from it. However, when you’re looking to add some extra action to the round, they can be a great way to get the competitive juices flowing. The next time you hit the course with your buddies, give one of these games a try and see if you can pad your pockets for a stop at the 19th hole!
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