Banker Golf Game Rules

What Is the Banker Golf Game?

Banker is a betting game for three to five players where one golfer, the Banker, plays against everyone else on each hole. Nobody plays against anyone but the Banker. Each of the other players makes their own bet with the Banker before the hole, and each of those bets is settled one on one when the hole is finished.

That structure is what makes Banker different from a flat game like Skins or a team game like Wolf. The stakes aren't fixed. A player who likes the hole can bet the maximum; a player facing a long carry over water can bet the minimum. Over eighteen holes, reading when to press and when to lay off is half the game.

The Rules, Hole by Hole

• Pick the range first. Before the round, the group agrees on a minimum and maximum bet, for example $1 to $5. Every bet on every hole has to fall inside that range.
• One Banker per hole. On the first hole, choose the Banker however you like: a coin flip, the longest drive, or the last round's winner.
• Everyone else bets. Before anyone hits, each non-Banker names their stake for the hole.
• Play the hole. Each non-Banker's score is compared with the Banker's. Low score wins that matchup. Use net scores if your group plays with handicaps, gross if not.
• Settle each matchup. If the Banker wins, that player pays the Banker their bet. If the player wins, the Banker pays them their bet. If they tie, it's a push: nobody pays and nothing carries over.
• Pass the bank. Whoever had the lowest score on the hole becomes the Banker for the next one. If two or more players tie for low, the group picks the next Banker.

A Worked Example

Four players, $1 to $5 range, net scores. Dan is the Banker on the 4th hole. Before the hole, Amy bets $5, Ben bets $2 and Cal bets $3.

• Dan makes a net 4. Amy makes a net 3, so she beats Dan and collects $5 from him.
• Ben makes a net 5, so Dan wins and Ben pays Dan $2.
• Cal makes a net 4, a tie with Dan. Push: no money moves.

Dan finishes the hole down $3 ($2 in, $5 out). Amy had the low score, so she banks the 5th hole.

Every transfer is between one player and the Banker, so the money always balances: whatever the Banker wins, the other players lose, and the other way round.

Strategy: When to Bet Big

Because each player chooses their own stake, Banker rewards knowing your game. Bet the maximum on holes that suit you and the minimum when the Banker has the advantage, such as a Banker who gets a handicap stroke on the hole when you don't.

Being the Banker is a mixed blessing. You're exposed to every player at once, and a single bad hole can cost you against the whole group. The reward is that you're collecting from everyone when you play well, which is exactly when the bank comes to you, since the low score on the previous hole takes the bank.

Common Variations

• The Banker pays double. Some groups make the Banker pay twice the bet when they lose, to make the bank riskier. It speeds up the swings; agree on it before the round.
• Rotate in order. Instead of the low score taking the bank, it rotates through the group in a fixed order so everyone banks the same number of holes.
• Closest to the pin banks. On par 3s, the player closest to the pin off the tee takes the bank for the next hole.
• Banker sets the ceiling. The Banker names the maximum for their hole, and the others bet up to it.

In Settle Up Golf, Banker plays the most common way: flat payouts both ways, ties push, the low score banks the next hole, and the group picks the Banker on the first hole or after a tie.

Playing Banker in Settle Up Golf

Add Banker to a round of three to five players and set your minimum and maximum bet. On each hole the app shows who has the bank. The scorekeeper enters everyone's bet on one sheet before the hole, and the bets and the Banker lock once the hole has a score, so nobody can change a bet after seeing the result. When the low score on a hole is clear, the app hands the next hole's bank to that player automatically. At the end of the round, every matchup is settled and the app shows who owes whom.

Banker also mixes with everything else. Run it alongside a Nassau or Skins, and one settle-up screen covers all of it.