Vegas is a popular golf betting game for four players that turns team scores into two-digit numbers. It is fun, competitive, and can create big swings quickly, which is why it is often played for small stakes.
Unlike a normal team game where two scores might simply be added together, Vegas combines the scores of each two-person team into a number. The lower score goes first, and the higher score goes second. For example, if one teammate makes 4 and the other makes 5, the team score is 45.
This is a simulation, not a live round. Tap the gold Sim button on each hole to learn the game and watch this made up match unfold one hole at a time. Just like in our app, you'll see a summary of the drama below the holes and a leaderboard.
The scores above are invented, but the scoring is not: this is the same card and the same live leaderboard your group sees on DeucePot while you play.
Play VEGAS Now! Pick your teams, and DeucePot builds the numbers for youVegas is usually played as a two-versus-two game. Partners can stay the same for the whole round or rotate, depending on the group's preference.
On each hole:
The exact origin of Vegas is not clearly documented, but the game has been played by recreational golfers for decades. It likely became popular because it adds a gambling-style twist to team golf while still being easy to understand.
The format is especially popular on golf trips and casual rounds because it creates dramatic swings without requiring complicated scoring.
Vegas is best with four players split into two teams.
Before the round starts, agree on:
For example:
Hole scores:
In Vegas, the lower score always goes first to create the smallest possible team number.
A 4 and a 6 becomes 46, not 64. A 3 and a 5 becomes 35, not 53.
This keeps scoring consistent and makes it easy to compare teams.
Many groups add a popular variation called the birdie flip.
With the birdie flip rule, if one team makes a birdie, the other team's score is reversed so the higher number comes first.
For example:
Vegas can create large point swings because the scores are treated as numbers, not totals.
In normal scoring, a team score of 4 and 7 might add up to 11. In Vegas, that becomes 47. If the other team scores 3 and 4, their number is 34, creating a 13-point difference on one hole.
Add birdie flips or uncapped scores, and the totals can grow quickly. That is why most groups play Vegas for small stakes or use a maximum score per hole.
Before teeing off, agree on:
DeucePot uses one rule for both the flip and the value of the hole, and it is worth knowing because it is the part that empties pockets.
Count how many shots under par each side is, net, across its two counting balls. A net birdie is one, a net eagle is two. Now cancel them off against each other. Whatever is left over does two things at once: it flips the losing side's number, and it multiplies the whole hole by that same amount.
The cancelling is what keeps it honest. Two eagles against their birdie leaves three, so it settles like an eagle and a birdie and the hole triples. A birdie and an eagle against their birdie leaves two, so it settles like two birdies and the hole doubles. Two birdies against their birdie leaves one, so it is a plain flip at 1x. And a birdie each way cancels clean: no flip, no multiplier, play the numbers as they lie.
In DeucePot the side that is down can press, on any tee, at any point in the round. A press does not open a second bet the way a Nassau press does. It doubles the value of every hole from that tee to the end of the round, and presses compound: one press and the run in is worth double, two and it is worth four times, three and it is eight.
Put it in money. Play a quarter a Vegas point, press once, and every point from that tee in is worth fifty cents. Press again and it is a dollar. The app doubles the points column rather than the rate, which comes to exactly the same number at the end, and the hole by hole ledger says so on every pressed hole.
Only the trailing side gets the button, and it is one press a hole: once a tee has been pressed, the next press has to wait for the next tee. A press can never cover a hole that has already been scored, and the scorekeeper can take one back off the book the same way he fixes a wrong score.
Calling a press never moves the score. It is a bet on the holes ahead, not a stroke and not a point. What it changes is what those holes are worth when you win them.
Vegas gets away from people faster than any other game on the card, so DeucePot has an optional handbrake called Mercy Strokes. It is off by default.
Vegas is a net game either way, and every man gets his ordinary handicap strokes whatever you decide here. Mercy Strokes are an extra stroke on top. Switch them on before the round and once a side falls more than 100 points behind, both of its players get one extra stroke on every hole until the gap is back inside 50. Then it switches itself off again.
It keeps a beaten pair in the game without anybody having to renegotiate on the seventh tee. Leave it off and the only strokes anybody gets are the ones already on his card.
If you are playing Vegas for the first time, use this simple version:
Vegas is a great golf game for groups that want a team format with excitement and strategy. It is easy to learn, but the scoring creates bigger swings than normal match play or stroke play.
If you want a golf betting game that rewards teamwork, punishes blow-up holes, and keeps every shot interesting, Vegas is a fun format to try.
Keep score automatically and settle up in the app Every team number, every flip, every point, tracked for youTwo teams of two play the hole, then each team turns its two scores into a two digit number with the lower score first. A 4 and a 6 is 46. The lower team number wins the hole, and the hole is worth the difference between the two numbers, so 46 against 55 is worth nine points.
If one team makes a birdie, the other team's number is reversed so the higher digit goes first. A 45 becomes 54. It is the rule that turns a small hole into a large one, and it is why a single birdie can swing a Vegas match on the last green. Most groups agree before the round whether flips are on.
Many groups do, and DeucePot scores it either way. With handicaps the team number is built from net scores, which keeps a high handicap partner from being a liability on every hole. The demo round above uses full handicaps.
Most groups cap the number that goes into the team score, usually at 9 or at double par, because a 10 turns a two digit number into a three digit one and the hole becomes unplayable for money. Agree the cap on the first tee.
Yes. With five it is two against three, and the side of three counts its best and its worst score to build the number, which keeps the odds fair. DeucePot scores the five player version as well as the standard four.