Need some new ideas for Money Games., 4 Players who need help. Options

[Golffabrik]

My buddies and I are in a horrible rut...we've run out of games or ways to gamble on our rounds. Round robin, blind partner, bingle bangle bungels, skins, nassau (compound or split)...we've tried lots of stuff out. But as it goes, I myself (as initiator) have run out of ideas and can't get my hands on a good "Gaming" book.

If you've got something that you like to play with your friends (or enemies) please post it here so I can talk my friends into trying it out. Thanks.

[jgreen88]

Have you ever tried wolf? That is a pretty fun game

[Golffabrik]

No. Can somebody explain?

[alex paik]

each of you put 50 to the pot.. its kinda like skins game but with four people.. if you win a hole outright, take 5 from the pot.. if ANY two people tie, it carries over to the next hole making the next hole 10.. for people who get strokes because you play better, just give them the hardest handicap holes.. i.e. if you give your buddy 5 strokes, give him a stroke for each of the 1-5 hardest handicap holes on the course.

there are 18 holes making the pot 10 dollars extra. with that 10 dollars, put 5 into closest to the pin on the first par 3 and the next 5 dollars to the first birdie.

only carry over 2 skins, because making one hole 20 dollars is not fair.. the overflow money can go to the next closest to the pin on the next par 3 or next birdie.


btw, this isnt wolf.. i dont know what wolf is, just a game i play with my dad and his friends..

This post has been edited by alex paik: May 27 2009, 10:44 AM

[tpariff]

We play a game called "Vegas" with 4 guys. On the first tee each player is given a number and we tee off in that order. For each hole, the teams are the two players on the right side vs. the two players on the left side after teeing off. Each player plays his own ball and the scores are recorded, lowest score first. For example, say Team A makes a 4 and a 5, so their total is 45. Team B makes a 4 and a 4, so their total is 44. Team B wins 1 point for that hole. We play $1 a point, but you can play for anything.

If one person (or both) on a team make birdie or better and the other team doesn't, then the other team's score is flipped. It's called "flipping the bird." For example, team A makes a 4 (birdie) and a 5 on a par 5 for a total of 45. Team B makes a 5 and a 6. Instead of scoring a 56, they score a 65. Team A would win 20 points (or $20 in our game) on that hole.

It's a good game because the teams can change from hole to hole. It involves strategy from the tee. If you're last to hit and you know someone is in deep doo-doo, you want to make sure you hit it far enough away from them to avoid being their partner. You also have to grind when in trouble. Since each person's score counts, you can't give up if you're facing double bogey, especially if the other team has a good shot at birdie.

Have fun!
Kevin

Here's a brief explanation on the game:

http://golf.about.com/od/golfterms/g/bldef_lasvegas.htm

[jgreen88]

sorry for the lack of explanation earlier on wolf. Here is a link to an excerpt from chi chi rodriguez's book on golf games (he explains it better than I could)

http://golf.about.com/cs/chichirodriguez/a/chichi_wolf.htm

[dsipos]

My friends and I call a game called snakebit. First guy that three putts owes every one .25 cents. Next guy .50 next guy $1.00. You get the point. You can obviously set your own starting point - it's pretty fun and really can make those putts coming down the stretch valuable.

[Richie18]

I got a good game called Umbrella and i usually play it along with Wolf, although i've played it just 2v2. (Typically we play wolf with 5 players and so it ends up 2 vs. 3 if you've read how to play it)

There are 6 points that can be had each hole for the teams

1. Longest drive in fairway
2. Closest to pin in regulation
3. Lowest team total putts
4. Lowest individual ball score
5. Lowest total team score
6. Birdie

If one team gets all six points on one hole you get "Umbrella'ed" and the team gets 12 points. You can play for 50 cents a point or however much you'd like.
Since the handicaps vary in our group we do play net scores, but a net birdie (if all other points have been scored) does not result in an "Umbrella" only six points, a gross birdie is required. If

We play this way since all of the players can score birdies in the group and it doesn't seem fair to get umbrella'ed on a net birdie.

This post has been edited by Richie18: May 27 2009, 11:47 AM

[SemperFi91]

Another good game is "Defender".

On the first tee, spin a tee to select the order. Stay in that order thru out the round.

First guy up has to 'defend' his hole. If he beats the other three outright, each person gives him a dot (3 dots). The dots can be as little as 25 cents or $1 or whatever. If there is a tie between the defender and another member, it's a push. If the defender loses the hole, each of the other three get one dot.

Then you just keep rotating the order and each player gets a chance to defend his hole.

On holes 17 and 18, we play the person that has the least amount of dots gets a chance to defend those holes in hopes to get more dots.

Throughout the round, we also play $1 closest to the pin on par 3's and $1 for specials (birdies, chip ins for par or better, sandy par) and $5 eagles.


Another buddy and I play $1 skins with carryovers, $1 for putts longer than the flagstick, $1 specials and $1 closest to the pin on every hole (closest in 2 on par 4's, etc). Really makes you think and concentrate on your approach shots and try to get it closer than your opponent.


A good handicap game is called "37". Each player subtracts their handicap from 37 before teeing off the first hole. I'm a 4 so I'd tee of with 33 points. My buddy who is a 14 handicap would start with 23. For each par you make, subtract 2 points from that. Subtract 4 for an eagle, 3 for a birdie and 1 for a bogey. At the end of the round, if you shot your handicap, you should be pretty close to 0 points. We play that each point is $1.

[randomhero1090]

It probably has an "official" name, but I call it "high-low."

2 man teams. Scoring based on stokes for the individual per hole. Person with the LOWEST score GETS his team 2 points. Person with the HIGHEST score GIVES the other team 1 point. So the most points you can earn per hole is 3. Ties cancel out, no carryover.

You can use handicaps, give/get strokes on the tuffest holes. However, we usually play NO strokes on the HIGH, but strokes on the low.

Each point is a buck. At the end of 9, pay up. The loosing team then gets a head-start on the back 9 of 1/2 the amount they lost the front 9 by. So if they lost by 6, they start +3 points on the back.

You can press the final hole if you like!

[Golffabrik]

Cool stuff here.

"Wolf" sounds like a real gas and is first in line, and then "Vegas" is next on the schedule. As I'm putting like a dog right now I think I'll steer clear of "Snakebit" for a couple days. Thanks for the feedback.

Anyone got more?

[azone]

To "spice up" any hole-by-hole game, just add "Jackhammer" to it. For "Jackhammer," you can double the bet on any hole while an opponent's ball is in the air (or moving on the ground, ie a putt).

[SemperFi91]

It probably has an "official" name, but I call it "high-low."

2 man teams. Scoring based on stokes for the individual per hole. Person with the LOWEST score GETS his team 2 points. Person with the HIGHEST score GIVES the other team 1 point. So the most points you can earn per hole is 3. Ties cancel out, no carryover.

You can use handicaps, give/get strokes on the tuffest holes. However, we usually play NO strokes on the HIGH, but strokes on the low.

Each point is a buck. At the end of 9, pay up. The loosing team then gets a head-start on the back 9 of 1/2 the amount they lost the front 9 by. So if they lost by 6, they start +3 points on the back.

You can press the final hole if you like!

There's a group of guys that play this at my course and they have the automatic press after 2 down rule in effect. By the end of the round, it can get pretty spendy even if you're play 25 cents a point.

[Mward2002]

Umbriago, which is very similar to previous poster's game umbrella.

Point for GIR
Point for low man
Point for low-team
Point for birdie.

One team gets all 4, you get 10 points. Holes where strokes are given only count for GIR and low man/team. Point for birdie (and umbriago) have to be true birdies.

50 cents to a dollar a point, it's always a high scoring game. Payout can vary. Most people aren't fond of getting their tail handed to them so since the friends I play with and I are poor, we normally give it a 10 dollar max loss. It keeps it fun for sure.

[Marbelizer]

When we are bored, me and my friends play a game we came across called animals.

Basicly, there are 4 animals, beaver, fish, camel and snake.

There is a running total kept of all the animals and whoever was the last to catch one has to pay out to all the other guys.

Works like this.
If you hit in the water, you get a fish, plus 1 quarter to the pot. Every subsequant fish after that is added to the pot.
If you hit in the woods, its a quarter for every tree you hit on the way out. With the number added to the pot.
Etc...for camel-sandtrap, and snake is a 3 putt.

If you are the last one to get either of the animals, ie you hit in the bunker on 18 then you would have to pay each guy the total number of ticks. So if 10 shots were made out of the bunker then you would owe each guy 2.50. You are usually safe untill the last 2-3 holes lol.

Its a fun game to mix it up. We play it about once a month.

[juanki]

i play one that is similar to the snakebit, but is only one price of about 10 dlls, its called the sh¡¡¡t. so the one that makes a 3 putt is the one that have the sh¡¡¡t, if other one 3 putts, he has the sh¡¡¡¡t, ans so on, the last that keeps the sh¡¡¡¡t pays 10 bucks to the other players.

[hbear]

2 man best ball....toss the balls up for teams, and play match play.
We play a long and short game, long game is worth $10 each and short game is worth $5.
Basically the short game only comes to play if the match ends before the 18th hole.

E.g. if the match is over on 15...then the short game is over the next 3 holes.
Simple, basic, and fun.

[CarloGolfer]

Three Putt Poker

(This is a good game for all skill levels to play against each other.)

Bring a deck of cards to the course. Shuffle and deal two cards to each player at the stat of the round. These first two cards will be each players starting hand.

For every one putt a player makes, he earns another card.

For every three putt he makes, he must contribute money to the pot.

At the end of the round, the person with the best hand wins the pot.

You decide what amount of money you want as the ante and what amount of money for the 3-putt contributions.

It's a fun game. You could one putt all day and end up with garbage, or you could three putt all day and win because you started out with a pair of aces.

[RRyders88]

i play a 5-point game, pretty standard at my course. buck a point. two man teams...whoever gets low gets two points, then if your high man has a lower score than their high man you get a point, one point for greenie(closest GIR, but gets lost on a 3 putt), and one point for "aggie" (if your teams combined score is lower than the other teams. One point for sandies if they occur...its a fun game. Any strokes that are given to one of the teams only count on the high man's ball.

[Gunga Lagunga]

A bunch of buddies and I used to play this, its called NEST.

Throw up balls at the first, two guys pair off, then rotate every 6 holes (two man teams). The idea is to earn the most points. We used to play for quarter a point, played for a dollar a point and won almost $100!

One point each for the following;
High ball (our high vs. your high, lowest of the highs wins a point)
Low ball (our low vs your low, lowest of the lows wins a point)
Closest to the pin in regulation
Long drive in fairway (only applicable on par 4's and 5's)

Par 3's only have 6 points available.

If you get all the points for a hole, you get the NEST and the points double. A natural birdie doubles the points again (if there are two birdies on the hole it only doubles once). A natural eagle quadruples the points on the hole.

Team with the highest point total always tees off first, and anyone can press anytime on the tee box, even the team who hits last and you can press back if you want.

Can be played by any skill level competing against any skill level. The higher handicaps tend to end up with all the money.

Sounds a lot like "umbrella" from above. Presses can really make things interesting, especially if birdies and eagles are made, points can be pretty lop-sided, but almost always only 4-5 points seperate the winners and losers.

[dude]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned 6 point. We play it as 2 vs. 2. Pick what you want the points to be worth, like $1 per point and go as follows
1 point for Greenie (closes in reg)
1 point for birdie
2 points for low (lowest of each teams low ball)
2 points for high (lowest of each teams high ball)

if you win all six points its a sweep and you get 12 points. Can only press when your down. It can get spendy in the end if there are a few presses.

[ClarkGrswld4]

We play a game called "Vegas" with 4 guys. On the first tee each player is given a number and we tee off in that order. For each hole, the teams are the two players on the right side vs. the two players on the left side after teeing off. Each player plays his own ball and the scores are recorded, lowest score first. For example, say Team A makes a 4 and a 5, so their total is 45. Team B makes a 4 and a 4, so their total is 44. Team B wins 1 point for that hole. We play $1 a point, but you can play for anything.

If one person (or both) on a team make birdie or better and the other team doesn't, then the other team's score is flipped. It's called "flipping the bird." For example, team A makes a 4 (birdie) and a 5 on a par 5 for a total of 45. Team B makes a 5 and a 6. Instead of scoring a 56, they score a 65. Team A would win 20 points (or $20 in our game) on that hole.

It's a good game because the teams can change from hole to hole. It involves strategy from the tee. If you're last to hit and you know someone is in deep doo-doo, you want to make sure you hit it far enough away from them to avoid being their partner. You also have to grind when in trouble. Since each person's score counts, you can't give up if you're facing double bogey, especially if the other team has a good shot at birdie.

Have fun!
Kevin

Here's a brief explanation on the game:

http://golf.about.com/od/golfterms/g/bldef_lasvegas.htm

sounds like an awesome game but what if somebody should disastrously get a 10 or higher? that would be very pricey or do you cap it at 9 being the highest score you can get?

[mwinklaw]

If you are playing for more than fun (i.e., trying to make money), you can alter wolf in two ways. One, you can alter the bets for going lone wolf. For instance if the person goes lone wolf before anyone hits, including himself, the bets triple. If he goes lone wolf after he hits but before anyone else hits, the bets double. And if he goes wolf after everyone hits the bets stay the same. The other way to alter it, is to play what we call "Texas" Wolf. Basically, it is the same game for the first 15 holes if you are a fivesome or 16 holes if you are a foursome. Starting at number 15 or 16, the person that is down the most is the wolf, gets to watch everyone hit, and gets to pick the best shot, or go lone wolf. No matter what the bets stay the same (i.e., not doubling or tripling), but the catch is that the hole is worth per man half of what the person that is down the most is down. For example, if Player A is down the most at $50, number 14 is worth $25 per person. It can add up fast.

Another game is 2-downs. Basically you pick teams on the first tee and this is the team throughout. You play match play and when a team is two down the bet automatically presses. For instance, if Team A wins holes 1 and 2, Team A is 2up on the bet so starting number two Team A is up 2 and even on the press. If Team B then wins holes 3 and 4, the bets become Even, Team B is up 2, and Even (a new press). Basically, if you can make a lot of birdies at the end you can flip the bets and really cash. You can play 2-downs in a Nassau format or just a straight 18 format. You can decide how much each 2 down bet is worth. (you can also pay for birdies made)

If you have a big game, say a group of 12 or so friends. You can divide up into multiple teams and play 2-downs. For instance, 12 guys could divide up into three teams of four. Each team would play their best two balls against the other teams best two balls. If Team A's best two scores on hole one is 4 and 5, Team B's best two are 4 and 4, adn Team C's best two are 3 and 5, the best would look like this:

Team A v. Team B
Ball 1: Even (push with 4s)
Ball 2: Team B +1 (5 v. 4)

Team A v. Team C
Ball 1: Team C +1 (4 v. 3)
Ball 2: Even (push with 5s)

Team B v. Team C
Ball 1: Team C +1 (4 v. 3)
Ball 2: Team B +1 (4 v. 5)

Word to the wise, even five dollar two downs can get into some serious cash when you are playing teams. It isn't uncommon to have three or four bets on each ball at the end meaning that you are responsible for a total of 12 to 16 bets at the end. You could lose $45 dollars and play great if you didn't win the last few holes.

[mizuno987]

We play with these Vegas golf chips (you can make your own chips if you want): http://www.vegasgolfthegame.com/ Basically, there are "good" and "bad" chips and at the 19th hole, you don't want to be the one holding the "bad" chips because you'll have to pay everyone; if you're holding any "good" chips, you get paid by everyone. in addition to the chips, we play $1 skins and closest to the pin on par 3's (must par) and pay $1 birdies/$5 eagles. The chips are fun because they are being passed around on every hole.

[tpariff]

We play a game called "Vegas" with 4 guys. On the first tee each player is given a number and we tee off in that order. For each hole, the teams are the two players on the right side vs. the two players on the left side after teeing off. Each player plays his own ball and the scores are recorded, lowest score first. For example, say Team A makes a 4 and a 5, so their total is 45. Team B makes a 4 and a 4, so their total is 44. Team B wins 1 point for that hole. We play $1 a point, but you can play for anything.

If one person (or both) on a team make birdie or better and the other team doesn't, then the other team's score is flipped. It's called "flipping the bird." For example, team A makes a 4 (birdie) and a 5 on a par 5 for a total of 45. Team B makes a 5 and a 6. Instead of scoring a 56, they score a 65. Team A would win 20 points (or $20 in our game) on that hole.

It's a good game because the teams can change from hole to hole. It involves strategy from the tee. If you're last to hit and you know someone is in deep doo-doo, you want to make sure you hit it far enough away from them to avoid being their partner. You also have to grind when in trouble. Since each person's score counts, you can't give up if you're facing double bogey, especially if the other team has a good shot at birdie.

Have fun!
Kevin

Here's a brief explanation on the game:

http://golf.about.com/od/golfterms/g/bldef_lasvegas.htm

sounds like an awesome game but what if somebody should disastrously get a 10 or higher? that would be very pricey or do you cap it at 9 being the highest score you can get?

Because we play $1 a point, we cap it at triple bogey. All the guys in our group who play this game are single digit handicaps. We're not immune to big scores, but anything more than a triple bogey is quite rare...and should be punished!!!!

Kevin

[mikpga]

Twosome - Forget the name, but involves bidding on what your score will be per hole.
- You can reply good bid, double the bid, etc.

Threesome - 9 Point Game

[scores]

raise the stakes

[ktbfsu]

we routinely play "carolinas".....which is a skins game with a twist.


upon winning a skin(s), you have to "validate" on the next hole by making a par or better to pocket the skins.....but there are some wrinkles......if somebody birdies your validation whole, you're cut, even if you par. to hold off a birdie cut, you'd also need to birdie. if you happen to birdie your validation hole (and nobody else birdies it) all of the skins you're validating are doubled in value. in the unlikely event of an eagle validation - all the skins are tripled.

it's a great game because it creates a lot of pressure. you face "must par" situations when you're holding the skins.....and sometimes you par and still get cut.

anybody winning 18 wins all of the outstanding skins without needing to validate.

This post has been edited by ktbfsu: May 28 2009, 09:27 PM

[hbear]

Skins with validation is such a great game!

[TAZMAN]

We play a game but its not got a name.
Its the same as a Stableford format with the only difference is the winner of the last hole gets to take a club from the other players bags.(Putter and Driver not to be taken)
What this does is teaches you to use's your iron's for different shot's.

At the end of the game the winner is the person with the most clubs in there bag,and this can be done with a price of a $ for every club.
Just make sure you have carts.

Its great knowing that the next hole is a 200 yard par3 and your mate has only a Driver and then the highest loft in irons is a 8.

[Richie18]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned 6 point. We play it as 2 vs. 2. Pick what you want the points to be worth, like $1 per point and go as follows
1 point for Greenie (closes in reg)
1 point for birdie
2 points for low (lowest of each teams low ball)
2 points for high (lowest of each teams high ball)

if you win all six points its a sweep and you get 12 points. Can only press when your down. It can get spendy in the end if there are a few presses.

Read my post above, my buddies call it Umbrella and there are actually 6 different things to score from, not 4.

You can play low ball/low total or you can play low ball/ high ball like you mentioned.

This post has been edited by Richie18: May 28 2009, 09:11 AM

[stevestrike]

My buddy introduced me to 2-downs, or whatever it's called. I hated it. It is true that you can play really well and still lose big money. Also, the number of bets going on at once gets confusing to me.

[hokey]

We play a game called "Vegas" with 4 guys. On the first tee each player is given a number and we tee off in that order. For each hole, the teams are the two players on the right side vs. the two players on the left side after teeing off. Each player plays his own ball and the scores are recorded, lowest score first. For example, say Team A makes a 4 and a 5, so their total is 45. Team B makes a 4 and a 4, so their total is 44. Team B wins 1 point for that hole. We play $1 a point, but you can play for anything.

If one person (or both) on a team make birdie or better and the other team doesn't, then the other team's score is flipped. It's called "flipping the bird." For example, team A makes a 4 (birdie) and a 5 on a par 5 for a total of 45. Team B makes a 5 and a 6. Instead of scoring a 56, they score a 65. Team A would win 20 points (or $20 in our game) on that hole.

It's a good game because the teams can change from hole to hole. It involves strategy from the tee. If you're last to hit and you know someone is in deep doo-doo, you want to make sure you hit it far enough away from them to avoid being their partner. You also have to grind when in trouble. Since each person's score counts, you can't give up if you're facing double bogey, especially if the other team has a good shot at birdie.

Have fun!
Kevin

Here's a brief explanation on the game:

http://golf.about.com/od/golfterms/g/bldef_lasvegas.htm

sounds like an awesome game but what if somebody should disastrously get a 10 or higher? that would be very pricey or do you cap it at 9 being the highest score you can get?

It gets worse. When we play, if someone makes double par, the difference in the score i.e. 105 vs 55 is doubled.

So, in theory, its possible to get flipped and doubled. Brutal.

[hokey]

We also play a game similar to "Defender" which someone has described already.

Its basically 3 on 1, with the appropriate handicapping. With the best score of the 3 counting against the 1. You can change every few holes, of keep the same guy throughout.

Because everyone gangs up on one guy (usually the best player), we call this game Saddam.