Vegas

What is the Vegas golf game?

Vegas is a two on two golf side game in which each side's two net scores are paired into a single number, low ball first. A four and a five is 45, a five and a six is 56. The low number wins the hole and the difference between the two numbers is the points. A net birdie or better on one side flips the other side's number high ball first, so a 56 becomes a 65, and if both sides have under par balls they cancel each other out before anything flips.

It is the game with the biggest swings in golf. A quiet hole is worth a point or two. A hole where your partner birdies and their side falls apart can be worth thirty. Play it net, get ready for the rollercoaster, and never assume a lead is safe.

Players	Four, two on two. Five plays two against three, and the three count their best and their worst.
The number	Each side's two net scores, low ball first. A 4 and a 6 is 46.
What wins	The low number. The difference between the numbers is the points for the hole.
The flip	A net birdie or better flips the other side high ball first. Under par balls on the two sides cancel first. Two birdies on a side, or an eagle, flips and pays the hole twice.
The press	Only the side that is down can press. It doubles every hole from the next tee to the end of the round, and presses stack.
Scored by	The Big Fairways app, free, on any phone, with the number built for you on every hole.

How do you play Vegas?

You play a normal round in two pairs and every hole makes two numbers. Here is the whole game in six steps.

1. Split into two sides of two and agree what a point is worth.
2. Play the hole and post every net score. Nine is the highest any one score can count for.
3. Each side pairs its two scores into one number, low ball first. A 4 and a 5 is 45.
4. If one side has a net birdie or better, the other side's number flips high ball first. If both sides have under par balls, they cancel each other out first, and whatever is left over does the flipping and pays the hole that many times.
5. The low number wins the hole and the difference between the two numbers is the points.
6. The side that is down can press on any tee, which doubles every hole from there to the end. At the end the side ahead collects the difference.

Why does a birdie flip the number in Vegas?

Because without the flip, Vegas is just addition. The flip is what makes a birdie matter more than a stroke. When one side makes a net birdie, the other side's number turns around, high ball first, so a tidy 45 becomes a 54 and a scrappy 47 becomes a 74. That is where the thirty point holes come from. And because both sides can birdie, the under par balls cancel each other out first: one birdie each and nothing flips. Two birdies on a side, or an eagle, is two credits, so it flips and pays the hole twice. The app works all of it out and tells you in a sentence.

Why is nine the highest score in Vegas?

Because a twelve would make a number like 512 and the game would stop being about golf. Capping every score at nine keeps every side's number to two digits and keeps a horror hole survivable. A side that posts a 4 and a 9 is 49, flipped to 94, which is punishment enough. Big Fairways caps a score at nine, and never above twice the par, before it builds the number.

What is an example of Vegas scoring?

Your side makes a net four and a net five, so your number is 45. The other side makes a net five and a net six, 56. You win eleven points. On the next hole your partner makes a net birdie, a three on a par four, and you make a five. Your number is 35. The other side posts a four and a six. Your birdie flips them high ball first, so their 46 becomes 64, and you win twenty nine on one hole. On the hole after that both sides have a birdie, they cancel, nothing flips, and it is a plain 46 against 45, one point.

What is a press in Vegas?

A press is the side that is down asking to double the stakes from the next tee to the end of the round. Only the side that is behind can call one, and presses stack: one press is double, two is four times, three is eight. It is how a side that is thirty down with six to play gets back in it, and how a side that is thirty down with six to play ends up sixty down. Big Fairways keeps a press book and multiplies every hole from the right tee, and the scorekeeper can take a press back the same way they fix a score.

Two options at setup change the day. Mercy strokes, off by default, give both players on a side that is more than a hundred behind an extra stroke on every hole until they are back within fifty. Winner take all makes the side that finishes ahead collect one agreed amount instead of paying by the point.

What is the best Vegas strategy?

Vegas is a partner game where the worse ball matters as much as the better one, because it is the second digit. A few things win Vegas more often than good golf does.

• Never make the big number. A seven as your high ball turns a 47 into a 74 the moment they birdie. When you are out of the hole, get the ball in for a six, not a nine.
• Birdies are worth more than they look. A net birdie does not just make your number small, it flips theirs. A player with a stroke on a hard hole has a net birdie in reach with a par, and that is where the swings come from.
• Press with a plan. Down twenty with nine to play is a press. Down twenty with two to play is a prayer for the same points. Look at the holes left.
• Both balls count. Vegas punishes the partner who gives up. A bogey next to your partner's par is a 45. A double is a 46. A quad is a 48, and flipped it is 84.
• Watch the cancel. If the other side has a birdie coming, your own birdie only cancels it. A par might be the smarter play when their number is already small.

What are the wrinkles in Vegas?

• Birdies cancel. One under par ball on each side and nothing flips. What is left over after the cancel is what flips and multiplies.
• An eagle flips and doubles. Two credits: the other side flips and the hole pays twice. Two net birdies on one side do the same.
• Nine is the cap. No score counts for more than nine, or more than twice the par, when the number is built.
• Only the side that is down can press. And presses stack, so three presses is eight times the hole.
• Mercy strokes. Off by default. On, a side more than a hundred down gets an extra stroke a hole for both players until it is back within fifty.
• Five players. Two against three, and the three count their best and their worst ball.

How does Vegas compare with other golf side games?

Vegas is a team game with a points swing on every hole. 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
Vegas	4	Two teams, scores paired into a number, low number wins the difference.
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.
Banker	3 or more	One player takes on everybody else each hole. Presses allowed.
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 Vegas words mean?

The number

A side's two net scores paired low ball first. A 4 and a 6 is 46.

Low ball, high ball

The better and the worse of a side's two scores. The low ball is the first digit.

The flip

Turning the other side's number around, high ball first, because your side made a net birdie or better.

Cancel

Under par balls on the two sides wiping each other out before anything flips.

Press

The side that is down doubling every hole from the next tee to the end. Presses stack.

Mercy strokes

An optional extra stroke a hole for both players on a side that is more than a hundred behind.

What should a group agree on before playing Vegas?

• The sides, and what a point is worth.
• Whether presses are on, and that only the side that is down can call one.
• Whether mercy strokes are on.
• Winner take all, or pay by the point.

The flip rule is the one groups argue about, because every clubhouse has its own version. Big Fairways plays it one way: a net birdie or better flips, under par balls cancel across the sides first, and what is left over flips and multiplies. Say it on the first tee and the app holds everybody to it.

Why do golfers love Vegas?

Vegas is the game that turns a quiet Tuesday into a story. Your partner is on the green in two and you are in the trees, and suddenly the number is not 46, it is 68. Nobody is safe until the last putt drops, a side that is forty down can be twenty up an hour later, and every hole has a number on it that the whole cart can argue about.

How does Big Fairways score Vegas for you?

Pick Vegas when you set up the round, put the four names on two sides, and start playing. After every hole the app builds both numbers, works out the cancel and the flip, says in a sentence who flipped whom and why, and adds the points. The side that is down gets a press button on the tee, and the press book multiplies every hole from the right place. Nobody does two digit arithmetic in a cart.

Run other side games at the same time and the totals never get tangled. At the end the side ahead collects the difference, or the agreed amount with winner take all, you get one Settle Up list, 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

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