Best Golf Side Bets + Tools to Play With Swagger

Golf has always been a game of skill, etiquette, and mental toughness, but anyone who has played more than a handful of rounds knows the real juice often comes from what happens on the side. The friendly wagers. The little digs at your buddy's putting stroke. The adrenaline of a press on 18. Side bets aren't just optional-they're the heartbeat of a round that matters. They turn every hole into a stage and every putt into a chance to either win cash or get roasted for the next week.

The classics never go out of style. Nassau is still one of the most iconic ways to gamble on the course. Break the round into three matches-front nine, back nine, and total 18-and set a wager for each. Ten bucks a side is enough to make a sloppy double on 7 sting a little more. Add automatic 2-down presses and the heat ramps up fast. Skins works the same magic in a different way: every hole is worth a set amount, and you only win the skin if you take the hole outright. If there's a tie, the skin rolls over, and suddenly a basic par four is worth a small fortune. Then there's Wolf, the strategy game where players rotate as the Wolf each hole and decide whether to go it alone or team up with someone else. Go solo and win? You get double. Get burned? You eat it. Even the lighter games like Bingo Bango Bongo keep everyone engaged with three simple points per hole: first to hit the green, closest to the pin once everyone's on, and first to hole out. You don't have to be a scratch golfer to rack up points, which makes it the great equalizer.

Then there are the little side bets that add spice to specific moments. Greenies reward the player who hits a par 3 green and makes par or better. Sandies go to the golfer who escapes a bunker and still cards par. Barkies are for the masochists: if you hit a tree and still make par, you've earned it. And of course, Chippies pay out when you chip in from off the green, the ultimate dagger to your opponent's morale.

If you really want to go big, step into games like Vegas, where two-player teams combine their scores into a two-digit number-say a 4 and a 5 become 45-and the lowest number wins the hole. A single blow-up can swing the match by dozens of points. Umbrella piles on even more action by awarding five possible points each hole: longest drive, closest to the pin, lowest score, birdie, and the overall win. Then there's Three-Putt Poker, which turns misery into entertainment by giving each player a card for every three-putt; at the end of the round the best poker hand takes the pot. You might play your worst golf of the year and still walk away the winner.

But betting is only half of the story. The other half is how you show up on the green. Pulling out a quarter as a ball marker says nothing. Pulling out a $100 brass bill marker, a Tiffany blue inlay die, or a limited Kraken drop says everything. The marker itself becomes part of the psychology of the game-your presence stamped on the green. Betting dice take things even further, settling arguments, creating new side games, or just adding chaos with a single roll. And keeping everything organized in a leather wallet or case instead of fumbling through your pockets? That's how swagger looks in practice. The tools you carry should match the energy of the bets you're making.

Of course, all of this only works if the game stays fun. Keep it friendly. Agree on terms before the first tee shot. Always pay up at the end. Know your group before pushing higher stakes. Don't let a couple bucks ruin the round or the friendship. The point isn't the money-it's the competition, the adrenaline, and the stories you'll be telling long after the scorecard is gone.

Side bets transform golf. They take a regular round and turn it into theater, filled with laughs, tension, and unforgettable shots. The right bet with the right crew changes everything, and the right tools make the whole experience even sharper. Kraken Golf was built for players who crave that swagger. Our gear is heirloom-quality, bold by design, and unapologetically different. So the next time you tee it up, think hard. Are you just playing the course, or are you really playing the game?

Disrupt tradition. Play different. Bet with swagger.