Games & Bets
How each game settles, with plain examples.
1. Presets, or build your own
When you set up a new round, you can pick a preset that stacks several games together, or tap Custom and pick the games yourself.
- Easy Money — Stroke Play only, low stakes.
- Real Money — Nassau and Skins, the classic combo.
- All the Smoke — Nassau, Skins, Wolf, and Snake — the full menu.
2. Nassau
The classic three-bet structure: Front 9, Back 9, and Overall (all 18). Each segment is its own bet at the same stake. You can win the Front but lose the Back.
Match or medal
Each segment can be played one of two ways:
- Match play — most holes won wins the segment.
- Medal play — lowest total score over that segment wins.
Most groups pick one of three presets in the Nassau info sheet:
- MMM — all three segments match play.
- MMD — front and back match, overall medal.
- DDD — all three medal.
Presses
A press is a new bet that runs alongside the original at the same stake. Anyone losing a segment can start a press during play — typically when they're down 2 with a few holes to go.
You can press a press, too. Declare one from the ••• menu during the round — it appears as a new line on the Standings sheet, and every phone in the round sees it instantly.
You and Bryan are playing a $5 Nassau (MMM). You win the Front 9 match (+$5). On the Back, Bryan is down 2 holes after hole 14 and presses — that starts a new $5 bet from hole 15 forward. Bryan wins the press on hole 18 (+$5 for Bryan) and wins the regular Back 9 (+$5). The Overall ties.
Net: Front +$5 for you, Back −$5 for you, Press −$5 for you, Overall ties. You owe Bryan $5.
3. Match Play
The simplest version: most holes won across the round wins the match.
Pairwise — every pair plays their own match. If two opponents tie at the end of 18, no money exchanges between that pair.
4. Stroke Play
Lowest 18-hole total wins. Each loser pays the winner the stake.
5. Skins
One hole = one skin. Lowest score on the hole wins it.
Carryover
If two or more players tie for low, the skin carries to the next hole — it adds to the pot. Carries can pile up across multiple holes until someone wins outright.
Two ways to win a skin
- Low — lowest score on the hole wins. The default.
- Low par-or-better — you only win if your low score is also par or better. If everyone bogeys, the skin carries even though somebody had the lowest number.
Escalating multipliers
If your winning skin score is a birdie, the skin pays double. An eagle pays four times. So a birdie skin on a hole with a 2-skin carry pays 6 skins, not 3.
6. Wolf
The role of "Wolf" rotates one player per hole. With four players, Wolf rotates every hole, repeating after hole 4 — so over 18 holes, each player is Wolf either four or five times.
On your hole as Wolf, you have one decision after each opponent tees off:
- Take a partner. Pick one opponent right after their tee shot. Your team (you + partner) plays the rest of the field for that hole. Lowest team score (best ball) wins.
- Lone Wolf. Skip the partner pick and go solo against all three opponents. The stake doubles for every pairwise edge.
If you wait until everyone has teed off and don't pick a partner, you're committed to Lone Wolf for that hole.
In a foursome with a $1 Wolf stake, you go Lone Wolf and win the hole. The pairwise stake of $1 doubles to $2 per opponent, so each of the three opponents pays you $2. You collect $6 total.
Lose the same hole as Lone Wolf and you pay $2 to each — $6 out.
Hole ties between sides push — no money moves for that hole.
7. Snake
A side bet on three-putts.
The first player to three-putt picks up "the snake." The next three-putt passes it to them. Whoever's holding it when the round ends pays every other player the stake.
Foursome, $5 Snake. Bryan three-putts hole 7 (he picks up the snake). Ravi three-putts hole 14 (snake passes to Ravi). No more three-putts the rest of the round. Ravi pays each of the other three players $5 — $15 out.
8. Handicaps & strokes
When handicaps are on, the lowest-handicap player in the group plays scratch (zero strokes). Everyone else gets strokes equal to the difference between their handicap and the lowest.
Strokes are allocated by Stroke Index — the hardest-rated hole gets the first stroke, next hardest the second, and so on. For very high handicaps, strokes wrap: you get a second stroke on the hardest hole before a first stroke on the easiest.
Strokes appear on the scorecard as small red dots above each hole.
Net score = your gross score minus the strokes you receive on that hole. You'll see both numbers in most places — the big number is gross, the small green number underneath is net.
9. A universal rule: ties void the bet
In Nassau, Match Play, Stroke Play, and Wolf — if the top is tied at the end, the bet doesn't settle. No money moves between the tied players or anyone behind them. Skins handle ties differently: they carry to the next hole.
Questions on a specific game? Email support@forepaid.app with the round details and we'll walk through it.