Every club has a regular group that cannot play a round without something riding on it. The money is rarely the point. A two-dollar Nassau gives a dead back nine a reason to matter, and a Skins game that carries over four holes can make a fifteen-foot putt on the twelfth feel like the last hole of a tournament. The six golf betting games below are the ones most groups already know or will pick up within a hole or two.
Choosing golf betting games by group size
The first question is how many players are on the tee. Some games are built for a foursome and fall apart with three; others work with any number.
- Two players: the Nassau is the classic head-to-head game, three bets in one. Skins also works as a straight match, hole by hole.
- Three players: a threesome is best served by points games that split every hole, such as Nines and Split Sixes, covered in the guide to three-player games. Wolf also plays well with three.
- Four players: a foursome of 4 players is where Wolf and Vegas shine. Both put two against two, but in very different ways.
- Eight or more: a group of two or three foursomes usually plays one game across the whole field, such as a Skins pot or a team Nassau, and keeps the smaller games inside each group.
A good rule is to choose one main game and, at most, one small side bet. Running three games at once sounds fun on the first tee and turns into an accounting exercise by the turn.
The six best golf betting games compared
The table puts the games side by side. Complexity is a rough guide to how long it takes a new player to understand the scoring, and pace is how much the game slows a group compared with ordinary ready golf.
| Game | Players | Complexity | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nassau | 2 or 2 v 2 | Low | Head-to-head matches |
| Skins | 2 to 8+ | Low | Mixed groups, any size |
| Wolf | 3 or 4 | Medium | Foursomes who like strategy |
| Bingo Bango Bongo | Any | Low | Mixed abilities |
| Vegas | 4 (2 v 2) | Medium | Low handicappers, birdie hunters |
| Nines and Split Sixes | 3 | Low | Threesomes |
Only Bingo Bango Bongo ignores the score on the card. That single fact makes it the best game for a group with a 6 handicap and a 30 handicap playing together, and the weakest game for two scratch players who want a straight test.
Golf betting games for 4 players: Wolf, Vegas and the team Nassau
A foursome has the most choice, and the best golf betting games for 4 players all turn the round into two-on-two contests.
Wolf rotates the role of captain. On each hole one player, the Wolf, watches the others hit and picks a partner, or decides to take on all three alone as the Lone Wolf. Because partners change every hole, a bad start for one player does not sink a team. Points carry the game, so a group can keep the stakes at a few cents a point and still have a close finish.
Vegas is the sharper game. Partners combine their scores into a two-digit number with the lower score first, so a 4 and a 5 become 45. The difference between the two teams’ numbers is the margin on the hole, and a birdie can flip the other team’s number. Vegas swings hard, which is exactly why it suits strong players and why the per-point value should be tiny.
The team Nassau is the calm option: fixed partners, best ball on each hole, and three bets for the front nine, the back nine and the full eighteen.
Side games for threesomes and mixed groups
Three is an awkward number for most team games, and that is why threesome games exist. In Nines, each hole is worth nine points: five for the low score, three for second and one for third, with fixed splits for ties. Split Sixes works the same way with six points, split 4, 2 and 0. Both keep everyone in the game until the eighteenth, because a player who falls behind on the front nine can pick up five points a hole on the back.
For mixed groups, Bingo Bango Bongo is the friendliest choice. A point goes to the first ball on the green, a point to the ball closest to the pin once every ball is on, and a point to the first ball in the hole. Order of play decides most of it, so the long hitter does not win every hole. Skins also works for any group, from a pair to a whole society day.
Handicaps and strokes in golf betting games
A side game is only fun if both sides think they can win it. Handicap strokes are how groups get there.
- Work out each player’s course handicap for the tees being played.
- Decide on the allowance. Many groups give the full difference in match games and a share of it in team games.
- Give strokes on the holes with the lowest handicap index on the scorecard, starting with the hole marked 1.
- Write the stroke holes on the card before the first tee, so nobody has to remember them later.
At Rancho San Marcos, for example, the original card ranked hole 6, Long View, as the number one handicap hole for men, and hole 13, Mesa, as the easiest. The full table is on the Rancho San Marcos scorecard page. Bingo Bango Bongo is the one game in this guide that needs no strokes at all.
Keeping the stakes small and the game friendly
Golf betting games began as a club tradition, and the best groups keep them that way. A few habits help.
- Agree on the value of a point, a skin or a bet on the first tee, and keep it to an amount that nobody would notice losing.
- Settle up straight after the round, in cash or in drinks, and do not carry debts from week to week.
- Write the house rules on the scorecard: gimmes, presses, carryovers and what happens to ties after eighteen.
- Let a guest or a new player play for points only if they prefer, without any pressure.
Side games between playing partners sit under local law like any other private wager, and clubs and courses have their own policies, so the guests in a group should know the plan before the round. The friendlier the stakes, the less any of that matters.
Presses, carryovers and the other common add-ons
Most golf betting games come with optional extras, and the same few names turn up at almost every club.
A press is a new bet that starts mid-match. In a Nassau the side that falls two holes down usually has the right to press, which opens a fresh bet on the remaining holes of that nine for the same stake. The leading side can normally decline, though plenty of groups play automatic presses so nobody has to ask.
A carryover keeps a tied hole alive. In Skins, a tied hole is worth nothing on its own, so its skin rolls on to the next hole, and a run of ties can build a single hole worth five or six skins. Wolf usually works the other way: a tied hole simply scores no points.
A flip belongs to Vegas. When one team makes a birdie, the other team’s number is reversed so the higher score goes first, which turns a 45 into a 54 and doubles the swing on that hole. Some groups add an eagle rule on top. Treat every one of these as a house rule. Write it on the card before the round, because the most common argument in a side game is about an extra that only half the group knew was in play.
Keeping score: one card and one scorekeeper
The simplest way to keep a side game honest is to give one player the job of scorekeeper and use a single card. Draw a narrow column next to the gross scores for points, skins or the running Nassau status, and update it on the next tee rather than on the green, so the group behind is not kept waiting.
For a Nassau, many players write the match status as a plus or minus number on each hole: +1 means one up, -2 means two down. For Skins, a small tick on the hole that was won and an arrow for a carryover is enough. Points games such as Wolf, Nines and Bingo Bango Bongo are easiest with a running total after every hole, so a quick glance at the card on the sixteenth tee shows exactly what each player needs.
Which golf betting game to try first
For a group that has never played a side game, start with Skins. It takes one sentence to explain, every hole is a fresh contest, and the carryover rule creates drama without any extra scoring. Once the group is comfortable, the Nassau with presses adds a little strategy, and Wolf is the natural next step for a regular four.
Threesomes should go straight to Nines. It is quick to score, every player earns points on every hole, and it handles three players better than any team game can. Groups that like a quieter round, or that mix very different abilities, will get the most laughs out of Bingo Bango Bongo.
Each game has its own page with a worked example over several holes, the common variations and the questions that come up most often on the course. For a full round at a course with history behind it, the Rancho San Marcos golf course in the Santa Ynez Valley has long been a place where a friendly Nassau on the back nine is part of the day.