Somebody in your group asks it on the first tee almost every week: “What are we playing for today?” Golf betting games are the answer. The formats that turn four hours of counting strokes into a round where every swing has a little weight behind it.
This guide covers every betting game worth a wager. The classics your grandfather taught you, the per-hole pot games that build all afternoon, the 2v2 team bets, the side action that rides on top of any format, and a couple of original Golf Games Hub formats you won’t find anywhere else.
Seventeen money games (and growing), each with its own rules, stakes, and reasons to play.
Use the finder to filter by bet type, group size, and complexity and then scroll down for the full breakdown on every game.
The Betting Game Finder
Use the finder below to filter all 17 betting games (plus 6 standard formats you can also throw a bet on) by bet type, group size, and complexity. Search by name, tap the filters to narrow the list, and click any game for the full rules and strategy guide. Or keep scrolling for a more dense breakdown on every game.
The Classic Betting Games
Start here. These are the money games people actually mean when they say “golf betting games”. These are the four formats every group should know and try before they try anything fancier.
Nassau
Players: 2–4 (4 ideal) · Team: Optional · Bet Type: Classic · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes, with handicaps
Nassau is the gold standard of golf betting. It breaks an 18-hole round into three separate bets? the front nine, the back nine, and the overall match. Typical stakes are $2, $5, or $10 a leg. A blow-up on the front never sinks the whole day, because the back nine is a fresh match and the overall keeps everyone engaged to the 18th.
Most serious groups layer in “presses” (automatic double-or-nothing side bets when a side goes two down) and junk bets for birdies and greenies. It’s the bet your dad played, his dad played, and the one your group will settle on more than any other.
ORIGINS
Born in 1900. Nassau traces to Nassau Country Club on Long Island, where members wanted a way to keep a lopsided match interesting. Three bets instead of one did it. A hundred-plus years later, nothing has replaced it.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Nassau Official Guide →
Skins
Players: 2–6 (4 ideal) · Team: Optional · Bet Type: Classic · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes, with handicaps
Skins is one of the most dramatic betting formats in golf. Every hole is worth a “skin” (a certain unit of money), and the lowest score wins it outright. Tie the hole and nobody wins. The skin then rolls forward and stacks with the next hole. By the back nine, after a few carryovers, a six-foot putt can be worth six skins with the whole group watching.
It works with or without handicaps, scales past a foursome, and rides happily on top of a Nassau as a side bet. Easiest format to explain on the first tee, hardest to walk away from.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Skins Official Guide →
Wolf
Players: 3–5 (4 ideal) · Team: Yes (rotating) · Bet Type: Classic · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Medium — use handicaps
Wolf is the original decide-in-real-time betting game. Each hole, one player is the Wolf. They tee off first, watch every other person drive, and after each one make an immediate call: take that player as a partner, or pass. Pass on everyone and they go Lone Wolf, taking on all three solo for a bigger payday.
The rotating partnership means nobody gets stuck with the same partner all day, and every tee shot matters because the Wolf is watching. It’s the most strategic money game in the rotation.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Wolf Official Guide →
Vegas
Players: 4 only · Team: Yes (2v2) · Bet Type: Classic · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Rough — scores compound fast
Vegas replaces simple hole by hole score with a little bit of math chaos. Two teams of two, but instead of adding partner scores you concatenate them into a two-digit number. Meaning, a 4 and a 5 becomes 45. Lowest combined number wins the hole, and the swings pile up fast.
One bad swing flips a winning hole into a disaster. Start with small stakes until you feel how fast the math moves.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Vegas Official Guide →
Per-Hole & Pot Games
These games put money on every hole or build a pot that grows all round. The pressure compounds — by the back nine, the stakes on a single putt can make your knees rattle.
Acey Deucey
Players: 3–6 (4 ideal) · Team: No · Bet Type: Pot · Per-Hole · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes, with handicaps
Acey Deucey settles two pots on every hole: one for the lowest score (the Ace) and one for the highest (the Deuce). The Ace collects from everyone and the Deuce pays everyone. Standard ratio is 2-to-1, with $2 Ace / $1 Deuce a common starting stake, and most groups roll unpaid pots forward and double them.
THE COUNTERINTUITIVE PART
Avoiding the Deuce beats chasing the Ace. Steady pars almost never make you the high scorer, so you rarely pay the Deuce and the Deuce owes the Ace bet on top of paying everyone. Conservative golf quietly wins this one.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Acey Deucey Official Guide →
The Bounty
Players: 3–4 · Team: No · Bet Type: Pot · Per-Hole · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes, with handicaps
The Bounty is a Golf Games Hub original built on a rolling jackpot. Every hole has a bounty, usually $1, that goes to the lowest outright score. Tie the hole and nobody wins. The bounty rolls forward and doubles until somebody takes a hole clean.
On paper it’s simple. In practice, by the time you’re on hole 12 with $32 riding on a six-footer, everyone is locked in. Optional variants like the Birdie Multiplier and the Outlaw Rule crank the swings even higher.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the The Bounty Official Guide →
Bogey Tax
Players: 3–4 · Team: No · Bet Type: Pot · Per-Hole · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes, with handicaps
Bogey Tax is a Golf Games Hub original built around a punishment pot. Every net stroke over par on a hole costs you cash into the pot ($2 a stroke is the standard sting) and after 18 the lowest net total takes everything. Most games reward your best hole. Bogey Tax punishes your worst.
It hits hardest with a full foursome, where the pot grows fast. Pairs cleanly with Nassau or Skins, and the Birdie Rebate variation pulls money back from the pot for every birdie (feel free to adjust this to par).
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Bogey Tax Official Guide →
Nines (5-3-1)
Players: 3 only · Team: No · Bet Type: Pot · Per-Hole · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes, with handicaps
Nines is the best money game for a threesome. Nine points are up for grabs on every hole and always sum to nine: a clean 1-2-3 finish (no ties on the hole) splits them 5-3-1. Most points after 18 takes the pot, settled on the point differential between you and each opponent.
Win a hole by two strokes or more and you “blitz”. Meaning, you take all nine points, and the other two get zero. That single rule turns par 3s into the most volatile holes on the course and keeps a trailing player alive to the end.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Nines Official Guide →
Split Sixes
Players: 3 only · Team: No · Bet Type: Pot · Per-Hole · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes, with handicaps
Split Sixes is the sharper threesome game. Six points are distributed every hole on a 4-2-0 base. Low score takes four, middle takes two, last gets nothing. There are 108 points in play across the round. Ties split cleanly (3-3-0 for a tie up top, 4-1-1 for a tie at the bottom).
Because a blow-up only costs you that one hole, higher handicappers love it. The grind is real, though: third place pays both players above them, so consistency beats hero golf every time.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Split Sixes Official Guide →
2v2 & Team Betting Games
When you’ve got four and want to play partners for money, these are the formats. They reward a steady partner and punish a coat-tailer, so pick your teammate carefully.
If you need to settle handicap strokes first, run everyone through the free automatic golf handicap calculator, and if anyone’s arguing about their number, here’s how a golf handicap is calculated.
Hammer
Players: 2 or 4 · Team: Yes (2v2) · Bet Type: Team 2v2 · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Rough — bets compound fast
Hammer is a match-play betting game where any player can double the bet at any point in a hole — even with a shot in the air. Throw the Hammer and the opponent either accepts (and it doubles) or declines (and forfeits the current bet). The right to throw passes to whoever accepted, so a hole can be hammered and re-hammered until someone backs down.
Run it 2v2 with best-ball or aggregate scoring. A $1 base climbs to $32 after five accepted Hammers on a single hole, which is exactly why every group sets a per-hole cap on the first tee.
WORTH KNOWING
You’ve probably seen it on TV. The Birdie Doubles variation which is when the running bet auto-doubles on any birdie. This is the version featured on Netflix’s Full Swing. Great theater, fast money.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Hammer Official Guide →
Daytona
Players: 4 only · Team: Yes (2v2) · Bet Type: Team 2v2 · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Rough — scores compound fast
Here you go — plain text, ready to paste:
Daytona
Players: 4 only · Team: Yes (2v2) · Bet Type: Team 2v2 · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Rough — scores compound fast
Daytona is Vegas with teeth. It starts out the same as Vegas where two teams of two pair each team’s two scores into a two-digit number instead of adding them: a 5 and a 6 becomes 56. The payout is the gap between the two team numbers times the agreed value, so keep it to a nickel or a quarter a point, because it escalates fast.
The twist that separates it from Vegas is par protection. If at least one partner makes par or better, the low score leads (a 4 and a 7 is 47). But if nobody on the team breaks par, the high score leads instead. That same 5 and 6 becomes 65, not 56. Failing to make par doesn’t just cost you strokes; it inflates your own number and blows the gap wide open. That’s the whole engine: one wreck on a hole, with no par to protect you, can swing the round.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Daytona Official Guide →
Low Ball Low Total
Players: 4 only (2v2) · Team: Yes (2v2) · Bet Type: Team 2v2 · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Good
Low Ball Low Total puts two points up on every hole. One goes to the team with the lowest single score (low ball), one to the team with the lowest combined total (low total). That second point is the whole game. Your partner’s blow-up actually counts, so nobody gets to check out.
Most groups play $1–$2 per point, with birdie doublers and carryovers as common add-ons. If your foursome likes Four-Ball but wants more accountability, this is the upgrade.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Low Ball Low Total Official Guide →
Golf Side Bets & Junk
Side bets ride on top of whatever you’re already playing. No extra scorekeeping, no setup — just more action. Stack one or two of these on a Nassau and every shot suddenly has a extra-layer bet riding on it.
Snake
Players: 2–4 (4 ideal) · Team: No · Bet Type: Side Bet · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes — anyone can three-putt
Snake is the three-putt hot potato. First player to three-putt picks up the Snake. Every new three-putt passes it along. Whoever’s holding it when the last putt drops on 18 pays the group. It makes every four-footer you’d normally tap in feel like it costs something.
The doubling variant is where it bites, too. The value doubles every time the Snake changes hands. Some groups hang an actual rubber snake on the current holder’s bag. Highly recommended.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Snake Official Guide →
Murphys
Players: 2–4 · Team: No · Bet Type: Side Bet · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Neutral — short game wins
Murphys puts your short game on public trial. Before you chip from off the green, you announce it: “I’m getting up and down.” Make the chip-and-putt, collect from everyone. Miss, pay up. It layers on top of any format without a single piece of extra scorekeeping.
BEHIND THE NAME
Named for a real one. Murphys is named after PGA Tour winner and broadcaster Bob Murphy, one of the best short-game players of his era. If you save par from 30 yards while everyone else hacks, this is how you get paid for it.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Murphys Official Guide →
Flaps
Players: 2–4 · Team: No · Bet Type: Side Bet · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Neutral — short game wins
Flaps is the gutsiest side bet in golf. You’re off the green with a chip or pitch. You make contact, and while the ball is still in the air you can call “flap”, effectively wagering you’ll hole the next putt and finish the up-and-down. Get it right, you collect from everyone. Wrong, you pay out the same.
The twist: any other player can double the bet before the ball finishes its first bounce. That’s two seconds to read your own shot with the whole group watching and waiting to double. No scorekeeping necessary. It rides on top of any format.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Flaps Official Guide →
Low Putts
Players: 2–4 · Team: No · Bet Type: Side Bet · Complexity: Simple · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes — putting is the great equalizer
Low Putts is the simplest side bet there is. Count only your putts for the round. Fewest total wins. No ball-striking, no handicaps, no running math. Just who played the flat stick best for 18 holes.
It’s the great equalizer, because a 20-handicap can out-putt a scratch on any given day. Perfect bolt-on when someone in the group claims they’re the best putter.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Low Putts Official Guide →
Dots
Players: 2–4 · Team: No · Bet Type: Side Bet · Complexity: Medium · Mixed Skill Level Friendly? Yes — you build the menu
Dots — also called Junk, Garbage, or Trash — is the most customizable bet on the list. Before the round, your group agrees on a menu of “dot events,” each worth a set value: birdies, sandies, chip-ins, greenies, longest drive in the fairway. Some groups add negative dots for three-putts and OB. We have a full menu for you to choose from in our official guide.
Because it rewards moments instead of cumulative score, Dots keeps everyone engaged even after a blow-up hole. Plays solo or stacked on top of a Nassau.
Read the full rules, variations, and strategy in the Dots Official Guide →
Standard Formats With a Betting Option
These aren’t betting games in the gambling sense. They are more traditional scoring formats. But groups attach money to them all the time, usually per point or per match, and they’re some of the fairest ways to wager across a wide skill gap.
HEADS UP
Add handicaps before you add money. Played gross, most of these hand the scratch golfer a free win. Played net, they turn into a genuinely even bet. Settle the strokes first.
- Match Play — Hole-by-hole, win or lose one at a time. The cleanest format to bet as a straight match.
- Stroke Play — Count every shot. The base most betting games sit on top of. Bet it straight up with handicaps.
- Stableford — Points by score relative to par, blow-ups capped. The PGA Tour runs a modified version at the Barracuda Championship.
- Quota — Each player chases a personal target off their handicap. A scratch and a 24 get an even match.
- Chicago — A quota variant that starts everyone in a points hole. Levels handicaps and bets cleanly.
- Bingo Bango Bongo — Three points a hole that don’t favor the better player, so a per-point wager stays fair.
Frequently Asked Questions
For a foursome, the big three are Nassau, Skins, and Wolf — Nassau for the most structured bet with the lowest downside, Skins for rollover drama, and Wolf for rotating-partner strategy. Vegas is the high-volatility pick. For the full set of foursome formats (betting and beyond), see our golf games for 4 players guide.
Nines (5-3-1) and Split Sixes are built specifically for a threesome, and Wolf works great with three as well. All three keep every player live on every hole. More options live in our golf games for 3 players guide.
Heads-up, it’s Match Play or a Nassau, with Skins as a fun alternative since rollovers create drama even between two players. For more two-player formats, check the 2-player golf games collection.
Quota, Stableford, and Bingo Bango Bongo are built to level skill gaps, and Nassau, Skins, and Wolf all play fair once you apply handicaps. Decide the handicap method before you tee off — our handicap calculator and the breakdown of how a handicap is calculated will settle any first-tee math.
A betting game is the main event — it decides who pays whom based on the whole round (Nassau, Skins, Wolf). A side bet rides on top of it with no extra scorekeeping (Snake, Murphys, Flaps, Low Putts, Dots). Most groups run one main game plus a side bet or two for more action.
Penalty strokes count exactly as they do in stroke play — add them to your score for the hole before any points or pots are settled. For a full breakdown of when and how penalties apply, here’s every golf course penalty explained.
Final Thoughts
Most groups play the same one or two betting games every week because it’s what someone taught them a decade ago. You’re now sitting on seventeen, plus the side bets to stack on top of them.
Pick one that sounds fun, agree on the stakes before the first tee, and run it this weekend. Small money keeps it friendly and keeps everybody honest. Bet a little. Pay attention a lot.
