69 replies to this topic

[JLTD63]

The most I've ever won or lost is a couple hundred bucks maybe, not counting Calcutta's or derbys.  Nowadays I pretty much only play with close friends and/or family, so rarely anymore than $10-$20 changing hands...I agree with a couple guys who have posted about keeping your betting amounts low depending on who it is you're playing with...competition is great, but if you're not careful it can come between friendships sometimes.

[isaacbm]

Got asked to be the forth in a money game when I first turned pro.  I was working at an exclusive private club in Palm Springs and met a member that was a little questionable in the legal department but he seemed to like me and I was a naive kid.

  He was one of the owners  of the Flamingo Casino in Vegas.   Him and 2 of his buddies have a running money game that they play every 3 or 4 months.  They get together and each takes a turn bringing a young punk ringer (me in this case) as one of their partners.  They were all low single handicaps.

I drove up from Palm Springs with the girl friend and was put up in a pricey room.   My partner told me that they were playing for a lot of money, but I was going to get paid $1000 whether we won or lost and all the losses were on him.  I asked him how much they were playing for  and he told me not to worry about it, just play my best and if things go well, they might help me out with my costs on the mini tours.

So free room, free round of golf, $1000.  Perfect.

We start the round and I still have no idea what they're playing for.   I make a few pars and then hit it to a foot on a 150 yard par 3.  I figure that's good but my partner says: " Great bird, but try to birdie the long holes, they're worth more."  I'm thinking, ok, what does that mean?  

One guy chips in for eagle on a 540 yard par 5 and my partner swears pretty loudly.   One of the other guys high fives his partner and I hear him say: "$540,000.  Awesome!!"

I just about sh*t myself.   I ask my partner what they're playing for and he says:"it's $1000 per yard so play hard Dan!"  That's when my knees gave out. I started shaking pretty hard.  I asked him what the hell was wrong with him.  He said not to worry,  they've been buddies/business partners for 20 years and they need to play for a lot to keep them interested.

From the tees we were playing, they were playing for $6,750,000!!  

At the end of the round, they were all smiles and laughing and the guy gave me $2000 in cash and said "buy your girlfriend something nice."

I figured it out and he/we won $1.24 million!   I have no idea if they ever paid each other.  I did find out that he had pretty big mob ties.  Later he offered to put up a little money for me to go back on the road.  I declined and lied saying that I wanted to go out on my own dime.   He told me he respected that.  Quite honestly, I was terrified of the guy.  What sort of a lune pulls a stunt like that on a young kid?

I know for a fact that he put up $200,000 for a guy that also was one of their puppets.  This guy shot 62 in their money match.  I only shot 70 so I guess I didn't make the cut!  LOL!

Edited by isaacbm, 30 April 2013 - 02:58 AM.

[robbiano]

isaacbm, on 30 April 2013 - 02:57 AM, said:

Got asked to be the forth in a money game when I first turned pro.  I was working at an exclusive private club in Palm Springs and met a member that was a little questionable in the legal department but he seemed to like me and I was a naive kid.

  He was one of the owners  of the Flamingo Casino in Vegas.   Him and 2 of his buddies have a running money game that they play every 3 or 4 months.  They get together and each takes a turn bringing a young punk ringer (me in this case) as one of their partners.  They were all low single handicaps.

I drove up from Palm Springs with the girl friend and was put up in a pricey room.   My partner told me that they were playing for a lot of money, but I was going to get paid $1000 whether we won or lost and all the losses were on him.  I asked him how much they were playing for  and he told me not to worry about it, just play my best and if things go well, they might help me out with my costs on the mini tours.

So free room, free round of golf, $1000.  Perfect.

We start the round and I still have no idea what they're playing for.   I make a few pars and then hit it to a foot on a 150 yard par 3.  I figure that's good but my partner says: " Great bird, but try to birdie the long holes, they're worth more."  I'm thinking, ok, what does that mean?  

One guy chips in for eagle on a 540 yard par 5 and my partner swears pretty loudly.   One of the other guys high fives his partner and I hear him say: "$540,000.  Awesome!!"

I just about sh*t myself.   I ask my partner what they're playing for and he says:"it's $1000 per yard so play hard Dan!"  That's when my knees gave out. I started shaking pretty hard.  I asked him what the hell was wrong with him.  He said not to worry,  they've been buddies/business partners for 20 years and they need to play for a lot to keep them interested.

From the tees we were playing, they were playing for $6,750,000!!  

At the end of the round, they were all smiles and laughing and the guy gave me $2000 in cash and said "buy your girlfriend something nice."

I figured it out and he/we won $1.24 million!   I have no idea if they ever paid each other.  I did find out that he had pretty big mob ties.  Later he offered to put up a little money for me to go back on the road.  I declined and lied saying that I wanted to go out on my own dime.   He told me he respected that.  Quite honestly, I was terrified of the guy.  What sort of a lune pulls a stunt like that on a young kid?

I know for a fact that he put up $200,000 for a guy that also was one of their puppets.  This guy shot 62 in their money match.  I only shot 70 so I guess I didn't make the cut!  LOL!

Fantastic story. It's a different world out there sometimes...

[lumberman2462]

isaacbm, on 30 April 2013 - 02:57 AM, said:

Got asked to be the forth in a money game when I first turned pro.  I was working at an exclusive private club in Palm Springs and met a member that was a little questionable in the legal department but he seemed to like me and I was a naive kid.

  He was one of the owners  of the Flamingo Casino in Vegas.   Him and 2 of his buddies have a running money game that they play every 3 or 4 months.  They get together and each takes a turn bringing a young punk ringer (me in this case) as one of their partners.  They were all low single handicaps.

I drove up from Palm Springs with the girl friend and was put up in a pricey room.   My partner told me that they were playing for a lot of money, but I was going to get paid $1000 whether we won or lost and all the losses were on him.  I asked him how much they were playing for  and he told me not to worry about it, just play my best and if things go well, they might help me out with my costs on the mini tours.

So free room, free round of golf, $1000.  Perfect.

We start the round and I still have no idea what they're playing for.   I make a few pars and then hit it to a foot on a 150 yard par 3.  I figure that's good but my partner says: " Great bird, but try to birdie the long holes, they're worth more."  I'm thinking, ok, what does that mean?  

One guy chips in for eagle on a 540 yard par 5 and my partner swears pretty loudly.   One of the other guys high fives his partner and I hear him say: "$540,000.  Awesome!!"

I just about sh*t myself.   I ask my partner what they're playing for and he says:"it's $1000 per yard so play hard Dan!"  That's when my knees gave out. I started shaking pretty hard.  I asked him what the hell was wrong with him.  He said not to worry,  they've been buddies/business partners for 20 years and they need to play for a lot to keep them interested.

From the tees we were playing, they were playing for $6,750,000!!  

At the end of the round, they were all smiles and laughing and the guy gave me $2000 in cash and said "buy your girlfriend something nice."

I figured it out and he/we won $1.24 million!   I have no idea if they ever paid each other.  I did find out that he had pretty big mob ties.  Later he offered to put up a little money for me to go back on the road.  I declined and lied saying that I wanted to go out on my own dime.   He told me he respected that.  Quite honestly, I was terrified of the guy.  What sort of a lune pulls a stunt like that on a young kid?

I know for a fact that he put up $200,000 for a guy that also was one of their puppets.  This guy shot 62 in their money match.  I only shot 70 so I guess I didn't make the cut!  LOL!

I think we have a winner.  I've witnessed some obscene amounts of money change hands in gambling matches but yours takes the cake.

[RRFireblade]

That's rediculous.

[isaacbm]

The most I've ever personally  won or lost was under $500.  I won a set of irons off a guy once and another time a driver.  We usually play 5 dollar carry over skins or 5 dollar one-downs.  Nothing too serious. And if you win and don't buy a jug, it's looked down upon.

Edited by isaacbm, 30 April 2013 - 10:40 AM.

[lumberman2462]

isaacbm, on 30 April 2013 - 10:40 AM, said:

The most I've ever personally  won or lost was under $500.  I won a set of irons off a guy once and another time a driver.  We usually play 5 dollar carry over skins or 5 dollar one-downs.  Nothing too serious. And if you win and don't buy a jug, it's looked down upon.

I watched a guy lose his car and clubs in a game.  It was not pretty.  He was a good player - a club pro that had won a lot of amateur tournaments.   He just got outplayed by a guy.  No strokes - it was straight up golf.

The guy who lost his clubs was lefthanded and I really thought the guy was just going to take his car and let that be it.  Some words were exchanged and the guy threw his clubs in the back, asked the loser to sign the title and drove off into the sunset.

[KWheels]

That is a GREAT story isaacbm.

I used to be in the Golf business and would get to play private clubs around town each week.  My friend bailed on me last minute so when I arrived at the club they asked that I play with a few members.  I drive up to the first tee and 2 older gentlemen are there.  Based on clothes, clubs, bags and personal Golf cart these guys had some money.  They insist I play from the tips while they play forward tees.

The round proceeds as just a friendly day.  They are super nice and we are having a great time.  Meanwhile I'm playing well, about 1 under through 7.  8 is a short par 5 and I hit a really good drive and have a mid iron into the green.  I hit to about 20 feet for eagle.  I make the eagle and one of the guys is way happier than I expect.  He comes over and high fives me.  We proceed to the next tee and I see the other guy hand a wad of cash to the "happy" guy.

Playing the remainder of the round I notice they are betting on everything I do; drives, approach, putt, score, exchanging money on most shots.  I have no idea who won but I ended up shooting a great round.  Fun day and interesting experience having others bet on my game.

[markheardjr]

Most ever won was $820 in a strip club scramble. $400 for 1st place, $420 for a skin when I drained a 105y approach shot on a par 4 for eagle.
Most lost is maybe $60, can't remember. I was down like $90 once playing $10/hole & $50/side but rallied on the back with 4 straight birdies and took the back, overall and ended up winning $70.
I played in a lot of skins games and one particular game there was a visiting PGA pro. I didn't know him and agreed to $15/$15/$15 front/back/overall, it was my home course after all. Front 9 we both go -4 to shoot 32. I chipped in twice for Eagle on both par 5's, from about 40y both times. I also had two boge's and two birdies. The guy was pissed that we were tied. He said my shots were luck and he deserved to win. That really pissed me off which was my undoing on the back. I went 32-44 for a crowd pleasing 76. He beat me by like 8 on the back, lost $30. I was so exstatic to shoot 32, one of my best 9's ever. That guy was just looking to hustle and got all pissed. Really messed with me on the back.

[Awsi Dooger]

I don't bet on myself. But I've bet golf for decades. Most I ever won on a single event was $10,500 on matchups in the '96 Masters. Had a freakish Sunday in which everything fell my way.

In '07 I went 0-7 one week late in the year. At a dime apiece and some juice I lost more than $8000. I think Justin Leonard won that event. Valero? I was sitting in the racebook of the Imperial Palace and friends were congratulating me on my football picks that were winning. I had to force a smile. I was losing plenty more on golf than I won on the NFL.

Late season 1999 I lost a heck of a lot more than $10,000 over the fall swing. More like $28,000. I was getting crushed every week. I've never seen anything like it. I was losing on merit, but the 50/50 matchups, and ones with a small late edge, were collapsing also. If it took a double bogey for my guy on the final hole, combined with a birdie for the opponent, that's how it would play out. Eventually you had to laugh.

That experience prompted me to seek more of a stats based approach. Previously I was using some subjectivity, along with a basic money per event angle. I threw the basic stats into Excel and was astonished when it quickly spit out a combo system that was gold, a recent history above 70%. It held that way as I put it into play, and I really should have made more of a killing than I did. Somehow the sportsbooks caught on in 2001. The matchups drastically changed, and the edge was gone. Players with similar stats in key categories were matched against each other.

BTW, I've heard Las Vegas numbers like mentioned above, but it's nothing I've experienced personally. Some of the golf games are legendary.

In the sports betting circuit a lot of the sportsbook regulars take up golf, but seldom give it enough time. One friend of mine devoted six months to it and ended up tossing his expensive clubs into a lake at Desert Rose. The first time I played with those guys I happened to play above my typical level, in fact even par after 9 holes, so they wanted too many strokes whenever a game was proposed.

Edited by Awsi Dooger, 30 April 2013 - 07:03 PM.