Side game · 4 (2v2) players
How to play Vegas
Also called: Las Vegas golf game · Vegas scoring
Two-person teams turn their two scores into one two-digit number each hole. Low number wins the difference, and a birdie flips the other team's number against them.
The rules
- Two teams of two. On each hole, each team writes its two scores as a single two-digit number with the lower score first. A 4 and a 6 make 46.
- The team with the lower number wins the hole. The difference between the two numbers is the number of units won.
- Birdie reversal: if any player on a team makes birdie or better, the other team's number is written high digit first instead. A 4 and 6 become 64.
- If both teams have a birdie or better, both numbers reverse.
- Each losing player pays half the difference to each winning player, so a 17-unit swing is $8.50 per player at $1 a unit.
A worked example
Setup. $1 per unit, par 4.
- Team A scores 4 and 5: 45.
- Team B scores 3 and 7: 37. B wins by 8.
- But B's 3 is a birdie, so A's number reverses to 54.
Result. B wins by 17 units. Each A player pays $8.50 to each B player.
This is exactly how Bagpipe Golf settles it: hole by hole, zero-sum, no arguing at the 19th.
Variations and house rules
- Flip on eagle only: some groups reverse only on eagle. The app reverses on birdie or better.
- Net or gross: play the numbers off net scores with handicap strokes, or gross. The app has a toggle.
- Cap the swing: house rules sometimes cap a hole at 10 units. Not in the app; settle by hand if you cap.
How it works in the app
- Add Vegas at setup. Exactly four players in two teams.
- Enter scores normally; the app builds both numbers, applies the reversal rule, and shows the swing per hole.
- Settlement lists every hole's numbers and who reversed whom.
Vegas FAQ
- Why is Vegas considered dangerous?
- Because one blow-up hole is written as the high digit and a birdie by the other side reverses it. A 4 and 9 is 49; reversed it is 94. Swings of 30 or 40 units on one hole are normal, which is the point.
- What if a team's two scores are equal?
- The number is the same either way. A 5 and 5 is 55 with or without reversal.