Make Your Bet

[PlaidJacket]

What's your favorite gambling game? There are a lot of them the out there for sure. You can even find small books or websites with dozens and dozens of games explained. Some are good and others not. Some are too complicated while others are just jicky. I've even seen some where you use poker style chips and pass them around during your round. Who wants to do that? I'd assume like with me and my group that you play a lot of Nassau and Skins. Sometimes we play Wolf or Army. I think simple is best. Something you can keep easily on a score card. We've changed our Nassau slightly. Instead of the standard… $2, $2, and $2 for example; we play $2, $2, $6. (Pick your wager). 

[RookieBlue7]

MMA Parlays for me. .. Oh, you meant on the course.  depends on the group.  WOLF works well when there's a range of HC's.

[revkev]

I'm a Nasau guy. I particularly love them with some twists like a mulligan or better the ability to make an opponent rehit a shot.

[BIG STU]

I like a Nassau that is a small wager fun game for me. I like Wolf too of course it goes with my aggressive nature. I like the game we have going now. We have a variety of players mostly good players. A couple of the guys match the teams up and they do pretty good. We play 2 man best ball on 4 man teams. We also do $1 birdies total for the team (heck one hole yesterday our team had 3 birdies on one hole). We also do 2 man team side bets. this is not for big money the team bets go for $2. We had 24 players yesterday always a good group always fun

[revkev]

I like that Big Stu. I used to play in a regular game where you had between 20 and 30 guys, 2 scores out of 4 no handicap 5 front, 5 back, 5 for skins. The pro made the teams. Every weds at noon.

[revkev]

I thought of this thread at the end of today's practice session because I closed by chipping in twice from the same spot (that does not happen that often.)  The last time I played with call backs I got called back on a chip in - boy I would have loved to have put another one in there - alas twas not to be.

 

You guys really should consider incorporating the call back and the mulligan into your matches now and again - it forces you to rethink the game and that's a great thing.

[Kenny B]

I like that Big Stu. I used to play in a regular game where you had between 20 and 30 guys, 2 scores out of 4 no handicap 5 front, 5 back, 5 for skins. The pro made the teams. Every weds at noon.

 

Not sure how I missed this before.  Rev, you just described the "gangsome" matches that we had back when I started playing golf 23 years ago.  Sometimes the pro picked the teams, but sometimes he played too.  Most of the time the number of teams was set by the number of players signing up.  Team captains were selected by the pro, then captains chose their team like middle school dodgeball (I was the last one picked then; I wasn't even chosen here, just "you can have Kenny")       Cheaper games each day M-Thu at noon; more expensive ones F-Sun.  It really forced my to improve my game quickly, $$$!

[revkev]

I was in my mid 30's to early 40's when I played in those games Kenny - I became a golfer playing in them.  The guys that I played with were good - I was normally an A player but occasionally could drift to a B if all the young bucks were in the game - any way you sliced it (and I didn't because at that time I could not slice) I developed my reputation as a steady eddy playing in those games. 

 

Down here the most popular format is exactly the one we use in my league - individual, with handicap, modified stableford 1 for bogey, 2 for par, 3 for birdie, 5 for eagle - since you are using your handicap eagles happen most frequently when you birdie a hole where you get a stroke - skins are paid au natural though - we have a very nice Friday game that I will play in at the local muni that goes by that format - they will only let you in if you are a single digit guy and if they know you - Youngsters from the blacks, seniors from the whites but seniors are over 60 - since I'm 58 I play in that one a bit less than I used to - its tough for me to handle the blacks except in February, March and April where I get that extra roll.

[hckymeyer]

We play the same game 95% of the time.  Only time we change is if it's not a foursome.  Teams are high and low cappers together and then the middle two.  Most of the time that's pretty even so we don't give strokes.  We call the game Scotch, but I'm guessing there are many names for it.

 

So it's two teams.  Total of 5 points possible on each hole.  1pt for low individual, 1 pt for low team, 1 pt for birdie, 1 pt for closest to pin in regulation (a reggie) and if you get all 4 points you get a bonus point for 5.  Ties cancel so if a player on each team birdie's there is no point awarded for it that hole.  Same with low team and low individual.  If you 3 putt the reggie your team does not get the point for it.  On in 2 on a par five counts as reggie regardless of how close someone else may be in 3.

 

We start the game at level 3 (each point is worth 3 points) and every time there is completely tied hole it is an auto-press.  Otherwise the losing team can press at any tee box before shots are hit.  The game resets to level 3 at the turn.  We play 50 cents a point, but you could adjust that to any amount to make it a higher or lower dollar game.  If you win more than $10 you owe the other guy a beverage after the round.

 

It sounds complicated typing it out, but it's pretty simple to play once you get the hang of it.  Most of our games end in the 30-40 points or less category.  The highest point spread I've been involved with was a 180ish point whooping my partner and I put on.  I didn't feel too bad though because the round prior to that we lost by 140ish to the same guys

[mnfats95]

We play the same game 95% of the time.  Only time we change is if it's not a foursome.  Teams are high and low cappers together and then the middle two.  Most of the time that's pretty even so we don't give strokes.  We call the game Scotch, but I'm guessing there are many names for it.

 

So it's two teams.  Total of 5 points possible on each hole.  1pt for low individual, 1 pt for low team, 1 pt for birdie, 1 pt for closest to pin in regulation (a reggie) and if you get all 4 points you get a bonus point for 5.  Ties cancel so if a player on each team birdie's there is no point awarded for it that hole.  Same with low team and low individual.  If you 3 putt the reggie your team does not get the point for it.  On in 2 on a par five counts as reggie regardless of how close someone else may be in 3.

 

We start the game at level 3 (each point is worth 3 points) and every time there is completely tied hole it is an auto-press.  Otherwise the losing team can press at any tee box before shots are hit.  The game resets to level 3 at the turn.  We play 50 cents a point, but you could adjust that to any amount to make it a higher or lower dollar game.  If you win more than $10 you owe the other guy a beverage after the round.

 

It sounds complicated typing it out, but it's pretty simple to play once you get the hang of it.  Most of our games end in the 30-40 points or less category.  The highest point spread I've been involved with was a 180ish point whooping my partner and I put on.  I didn't feel too bad though because the round prior to that we lost by 140ish to the same guys

 

We play this too, we call it Abilene, I have no idea why.

If you want to make it even more interesting play it with snakes. If you 3 put you owe everyone else a pt.

[PlaidJacket]

I didn't mention earlier that we also play a group skins game. At the beginning of the round each player ponies up $20 to the pot. Everyone pays at the first tee and our course starter holds the money till after the round. After the round all cards are laid out and skins are awarded as they occur. Obviously the more players you have the more important birdies become. During the best part of the summer when we have the most players on any given Saturday birdies are usually the only scores that win a skin. No handicaps.

[revkev]

My course has several big tournaments a year, 150 players. Skins are super fun in those but it always seems to be the unlikely birdie or hole out on a par 4 that wins. I never remember a par 5 eagle winning, they always get cut.

 

I won a skin once with birdie on a 310 yard par 4 and nothing was going on out of the ordinary wind wise. $450! All the big boys tried to drive the green, miss left and you were in a deep trap, miss right and the pin was cut on the wrong side of a ridge, you couldn't two putt from 10 feet right. The only way to get at the pin was from the left side of the fairway far enough back to stop your approach between the trap and the pin and then hole a curling right to left putt. Guess I was the only one.

[Kenny B]

I didn't mention earlier that we also play a group skins game. At the beginning of the round each player ponies up $20 to the pot. Everyone pays at the first tee and our course starter holds the money till after the round. After the round all cards are laid out and skins are awarded as they occur. Obviously the more players you have the more important birdies become. During the best part of the summer when we have the most players on any given Saturday birdies are usually the only scores that win a skin. No handicaps.

 

I don't do well in these games since I am not one to make a lot of birdies.  My game plods along with pars with a smattering of bogeys.  Once in awhile i will string some birdies, but it seems like a double pops up along with them.  

[revkev]

The nice thing about playing in a wide assortment of games is that they will teach you how to do the things that you get paid to do.  I'm not generally a big birdie maker but playing in games with skins has taught me to me how to make birdies by selectively attacking pins.  Same thing with games that include closest to the pin - I don't often shoot at pins but through those types of games I've learned when I can and I will hunt flags if they are in the right place.