How to play Vegas in golf
Vegas is a fast, swingy game for two pairs. On every hole each pair turns its two scores into one number, and the lower number wins the difference. One big number can swing the whole game, so nobody’s out of it until the 18th.
- Players
- 4 (two pairs)
- Scoring
- Points: the difference between the pairs’ numbers
- Best for
- A four-ball who like a bit of action
Making your number
Put your two scores together, lower first. A 4 and a 5 make 45; two 4s make 44. If one of you scores 10 or more, that score goes first: a 4 and a 10 make 104, which is why blow-up holes hurt so much.
Winning points
The pair with the lower number wins the difference in points. 45 against 56 wins 11 points; 44 against 45 wins 1. Same numbers, no points. Add up the points over the round: the pair ahead wins.
Birdie flip
A popular extra: if one pair makes a birdie, the other pair’s number is flipped, high score first. So 56 becomes 65, and a 1-point hole can turn into 20. If both pairs birdie, nobody flips. It’s an option in LiveBirdies.
Handicaps
Played net, the lowest handicap plays off scratch and the others get the difference (strokes off the low), and each pair makes its number from net scores. Plenty of groups play it gross instead.
Men and women on cards with different pars? Whoever’s on the higher-par card gets the difference as extra strokes (the World Handicap System rule), and LiveBirdies does it for you once the pars are in.
Playing for money
Agree a value per point, say 50c or $1. At the end, each player on the losing pair pays one winner the points difference times the value: lose by 18 points at 50c and you each owe $9. Points add up quickly, so keep the value small. LiveBirdies works out who pays who, but never handles money.
Scoring Vegas with LiveBirdies
Everyone enters their own score. LiveBirdies makes each pair’s number (net, with the 10+ rule and birdie flips), shows the points on every hole and the running total, and at the end shows who pays who. Someone has to leave? The host taps “Someone left?” on the Standings tab, and their holes without a score count as pick-ups so the game carries on.