It happens on every first tee. Somebody says "five-dollar Nassau, auto-press?" and three people nod like they know exactly what that means. Two of them are bluffing. By the 7th hole, someone's down two bets they didn't know existed.
Golf betting games are half the fun of a round with your buddies, especially on a trip, where the same group plays five rounds in a row and the grudges compound daily. Here's how the games you'll hear about most work, and which ones fit your group.
One thing up front: house rules vary a lot. Every group tweaks the scoring, so treat these as common setups and agree on the details before anyone tees off.
Two ground rules before you bet
Settle stakes and handicaps on the first tee. Decide the dollar amount, whether you're playing gross (raw scores) or net (with handicap strokes), and how presses work. Ten seconds of clarity saves eighteen holes of arguing.
Keep it small enough to laugh about. The best golf games are about bragging rights. If the stakes make anybody tense over a three-footer, they're too high.
Nassau
The classic. A Nassau is three bets in one: the front nine, the back nine, and the full 18. A "$5 Nassau" means $5 on each, so the most you can lose without presses is $15.
The press. This is where it gets spicy. When a player or team falls two holes down, they can "press," which starts a new side bet for the remaining holes of that nine. Some groups make presses automatic at two down. Presses can stack, which is how a $5 Nassau turns into a $40 afternoon.
Best for: Any group. It works one-on-one or as two-man teams.
Watch out for: Unclear press rules. Decide on the first tee whether presses are optional or automatic.
Skins
Every hole is worth a "skin." The player with the lowest score on a hole wins it outright. If two or more players tie for low, nobody wins and the skin carries over to the next hole, so the pot grows until someone wins a hole by themselves.
Best for: Groups of three or four with similar handicaps, or any group playing net.
Watch out for: Long carryovers. One birdie on the 16th can win five holes' worth of money, which is either thrilling or devastating depending on who made it.
Wolf
Wolf is the strategy game, and it's built for exactly four players. The tee order rotates so everyone takes a turn as the Wolf. The Wolf usually tees off last and watches the others hit.
After each player's drive, the Wolf decides on the spot whether to take that player as a partner. Pass on someone and they're off the table. The Wolf can also skip everybody and go "Lone Wolf," playing one against three.
A common scoring setup:
- Wolf and partner win the hole: 1 point each
- Lone Wolf wins: 3 points to the Wolf
- Lone Wolf loses: 1 point to each opponent
Some groups add a "Blind Wolf," where the Wolf goes solo before anyone hits, for double points. Many groups also let the player in last place be the Wolf on the final two holes, which keeps everyone alive until the end.
Best for: A group of four that likes strategy and a little chaos.
Watch out for: The Wolf has to decide right after each drive, before the next player hits. No waiting to see how the second shots go.
Bingo Bango Bongo
The great equalizer. Every hole has three points up for grabs:
- Bingo: first ball on the green
- Bango: closest to the pin once every ball is on the green
- Bongo: first to hole out
The trick is that order of play matters. The player farthest from the hole plays first, so a short hitter often gets the first crack at Bingo. Because two of the three points have nothing to do with your score, a 20-handicap can clean up against a 5.
Best for: Groups with a wide spread of skill levels.
Watch out for: Playing out of turn. The whole game falls apart if people don't wait for whoever's away.
Vegas
Two teams of two. On each hole, each team combines its two scores into a two-digit number, with the lower score first. A 4 and a 5 becomes 45. The low team wins the difference in points, so 45 against 56 is 11 points.
In many versions, a birdie flips the other team's number, so their 4 and 7 becomes 74 instead of 47. That's how one hole can swing 30 points.
Best for: Teams who want every shot to matter.
Watch out for: Stakes. Vegas gets expensive fast, so most groups play for a quarter or less a point.
Snake
A putting game with a grudge built in. The first player to three-putt "holds the snake." Every time someone else three-putts, the snake passes to them. Whoever's holding the snake at the end of the round pays everyone else, and in many groups the price goes up with every three-putt in the round.
Best for: Any group. It runs alongside any other game.
Watch out for: The silence on the 18th green when two people are tied to the snake.
The side bets (or "junk")
Plenty of groups add small side bets on top of the main game. A few you'll hear:
- Greenie: closest to the pin on a par 3, and you have to make par to collect
- Sandy: making par after a bunker shot
- Barkie: making par after hitting a tree
- Arnie: making par without ever touching the fairway, named for Arnold Palmer's scrambling style
Which game fits your group?
| Game | Players | Good for mixed skill? | How swingy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nassau | 2 or 4 (teams) | With handicaps | Medium, high with presses |
| Skins | 3 to 4 | With handicaps | High |
| Wolf | 4 | Yes | Medium |
| Bingo Bango Bongo | 2 to 4 | Very | Low |
| Vegas | 4 (teams) | With handicaps | Very high |
| Snake | Any | Yes | Low to medium |
On a multi-day trip, rotate games. Play a Nassau on day one, Wolf on day two, and save Vegas for the round where somebody needs a comeback. If you're still choosing the crew, start with who you're calling first.
Settling up
Settle at the 19th hole, not three weeks later on a payment app with a passive-aggressive emoji. A lot of groups have a tradition where the big winner buys the first round, which is the best rule in golf.
And if your crew is planning a trip around all this, here are the bucket list golf trips worth a full week and how to do it on a budget.
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