Banker

What is the Banker golf game?

Banker is a golf side game for three or more players in which one player holds the bank on every hole and plays a separate one on one match against each of the others at the same time. Every other player picks their own number between the minimum and the maximum the group set, and that number sticks from hole to hole until they change it. Beat the banker on the hole and you win your number off the banker. Lose and you pay it. The banker collects or pays every match at once, so the banker's hole is the sum of all of them.

The bank does not go to the low score. It goes to whoever takes it off the banker, and the only way to take it is to beat the banker. Nobody beats the banker and the bank stays. That one rule makes the banker a defender, and it makes the choice of number on every hole the game. Points during the round, dollars only at Settle Up.

Players	Three or more, no maximum. Every extra player is one more match for the banker.
The bank	One player holds it each hole and plays everybody else one on one, net by default.
Your number	Each player picks their own between the minimum and the maximum, hole by hole. It sticks until you change it.
Who banks next	Whoever beats the banker. Nobody does, or the banker ties for low, and the bank stays. Two beat the banker and tie, longest putt among them.
The press	One per player per hole, called by either side. Doubles the number, triples it on a par three. Net birdies double a match, net eagles triple it.
The last three holes	The bank goes to whoever is last on Banker points, worked out again on each of those tees.
Scored by	The Big Fairways app, free, on any phone, with the bank badge on the row that holds it.

How do you play Banker?

You play a normal round and every hole is the banker against the field. Here is the whole game in seven steps.

1. Before the round, agree the minimum and the maximum number, and who holds the bank on the first hole. Every player picks their own number inside those bounds.
2. Play the hole and post every score. The banker plays each other player one on one, net.
3. Beat the banker and you collect your number. Lose and you pay it. Tie and nothing moves.
4. Either side can press a match once on the hole, which doubles that number, or triples it on a par three. A net birdie doubles a match and a net eagle triples it, and the banker's own lifts every match on the hole.
5. The bank moves to the player who beat the banker. Nobody did, or the banker tied for low, and the banker keeps it. Two or more beat the banker and tied each other, and the longest putt among them decides.
6. On each of the last three holes the bank goes to whoever is last on Banker points.
7. At the end the app takes every player's Banker points one for one into Settle Up.

Why does the banker keep the bank on a tie?

Because a tie is a successful defence. The banker took on everybody and nobody got past. Handing the bank to the low score on a tie stops the round every other hole to ask a question whose answer usually cannot change anything, and it punishes the banker for a hole they did not lose. Big Fairways plays it the other way: the bank only ever moves to a player who beats the banker, and when two players beat the banker with the same score, the longest putt among those two decides. The banker is never in that conversation, because the banker did not beat anybody.

Why do the last three holes go to whoever is last?

Because Banker is a game where one hot player can run away with it by the twelfth, and a game that is over on the twelfth is no fun for the other three. Giving the bank to the player who is furthest behind on each of the last three tees hands them the one seat where they can win big, three matches at once, and it means the leader has to defend a lead by beating the bank rather than sitting on it. Last place is worked out on Banker points alone, again on every one of those tees, so a player who wins the sixteenth can hand the bank straight back on the seventeenth.

What is an example of Banker scoring?

Four players. The banker makes a net par. One player makes a net birdie for a number of five, so the banker pays five, doubled to ten by the birdie. Another player makes a net bogey for a number of three and pays the banker three. The third ties with a net par and nothing moves. The banker is down seven on the hole and the player with the birdie takes the bank, because that player beat the banker and nobody else did. On the next hole the new banker defends against three new numbers, and the numbers stick from the hole before unless somebody changes them.

How does a press work in Banker?

One press per player per hole, and either side can call it. A player can press the bank, or the bank can press a player, but it is the same single press on that player's match, and once it is declared nobody presses it again. A press doubles that player's number, and triples it on a par three. It can be called at any time on the hole, on the tee, after the scores are in, or later with the hole open for editing. The app prints what the press does to the number right on the button, five to ten, so nobody is doing arithmetic on a tee box.

What is the best Banker strategy?

Banker is a game of numbers as much as golf: how much you put against the banker, and when. A few things win Banker more often than good scoring does.

• Pick your number by the hole, not by the mood. A stroke hole for you is where your number goes up. A hole the banker owns is where it goes down to the minimum.
• The banker is a defender. When you hold the bank, a par usually keeps it. Play the hole for a par, not a birdie, and let the field take the risks.
• Press when you get a stroke. A press doubles your number, and on a par three it triples. Press where the strokes fall your way and the banker is on a hole that scares them.
• Watch the last three tees. The bank goes to last place on each of them. If you are last with three to play, your numbers against you are about to matter more than anything you did all day.
• A net birdie is worth double. It lifts your own match by itself. A high handicap with a stroke on a hard hole is one par away from doubling the number against the banker.

What are the wrinkles in Banker?

• The banker's birdie lifts every match. A player's birdie doubles only their own match, because that is the only match they are in. The banker's birdie doubles all of them, and an eagle triples them. When both sides have one, only the bigger applies once.
• A tied hole waits for the longest putt. When two players beat the banker and tie, the hole does not settle until the group says who holed the longest putt. The app asks on the keypad, and the dice is there if nobody remembers.
• The numbers lock at the first score. Both bounds lock the moment the first score goes on the card. A player's own number can still change from hole to hole inside them.
• The scorekeeper can move the bank. By hand, on any hole, and put it back on the rule. Only the phone running the card can do it.
• Presses on your own phone. A player can press from their own phone. The app announces the press on every phone in the group.

How does Banker compare with other golf side games?

Banker is one against the field, with the seat moving to whoever earns it. Here is how it lines up against the other side games. Every one of them is scored in the app, and you can run several at once on one card.

Game	Players	In one line
Banker	3 or more	One player takes on everybody else each hole. Presses allowed.
Midnight	Any	Twelve holes count, your best eleven plus the last. Lowest card wins.
Elevens	Any	Eleven holes count, your best ten plus the last. Seven throwaways.
Skins	Any	Win the hole outright to take the skin. Ties carry over or die, your call.
Nassau	2 or 4	Three matches in one: front nine, back nine and the full eighteen, with presses.
Wolf	4	The Wolf picks a partner after the tee shots or goes alone for double.
Vegas	4	Two teams, scores paired into a number, low number wins the difference.
Junk	Any	Points for the little things: sandies, greenies, woodies and more.
Match Play	2	Head to head, hole by hole, up or down.
TILT	Any	Points on the net score with a multiplier that climbs on birdies and resets on a par.
Train	Any	A net par puts you aboard and every hole after it pays until two bogeys in a row.
Mulligans	Any	Your handicap strokes become do overs, then everybody plays gross.
Gridiron Golf	4	Two on two played like football. Win the hole to march the ball, reach the end zone to score.
Hammer	2 or 4	Either side can double the hole while it is being played.
Nines	3	Three players, nine points a hole, split five, three and one.
Hi Lo	4	Two on two. A point for the best ball and a point for the worst.
Snake	Any	Three putt and the snake is yours until somebody else does. No points.
Bingo Bango Bongo	Any	First on, closest, first in. Three points a hole, played gross.
Stableford	Any	Points for every hole, most points wins, a blow up costs you nothing.

Looking for the full list? Every side game the app scores, each with rules and a demo round, is on the golf side games page.

What do the Banker words mean?

The bank

The seat that plays everybody else on the hole. The player holding it is the banker.

Your number

What you have against the banker on the hole, picked by you between the minimum and the maximum.

The stakes

The minimum and maximum every number has to sit between.

Press

Doubling a match on the hole, or tripling it on a par three. One per player per hole, either side can call it.

Defence

A hole where nobody beats the banker. The bank stays.

The catch up holes

The last three, where the bank goes to whoever is last on Banker points.

What should a group agree on before playing Banker?

• The minimum and the maximum number, and whether it is a flat game with one number for everybody.
• Net or gross. The app plays net by default.
• Who holds the bank on the first hole.
• Whether par threes pay triple on a press, and whether birdies double and eagles triple. Both are on by default.

The rule that changes the game most is who gets the bank. Big Fairways plays it one way: beat the banker to take it, a tie stays, and the last three holes go to last place. Say it on the first tee and the app holds everybody to it.

Why do golfers love Banker?

Banker is the game where everybody is in every hole. Three players are trying to beat one, the one is trying to hold them all off, and the numbers on the table are different for every match. A good banker can clean up a hole and lose the bank on the next, the player who is buried gets the seat for the last three, and every press is a conversation.

How does Big Fairways score Banker for you?

Pick Banker when you set up the round, set the minimum and the maximum, and start playing. The bank badge sits on the row that holds it, every player picks their number right there, the press button says what it does to the number, and after every hole the app settles all three matches, says who takes the bank and why, and asks for the longest putt only when it has to. On the last three tees it hands the bank to whoever is last.

Run other side games at the same time and the totals never get tangled. At the end Banker points go one for one into Settle Up, you get one list of who owes what, and every round posts to your own lifetime scorecard, which only you can see. Send one link and the whole group follows the leaderboard live from their own phones.

Common questions

More golf side games