Golf games
Parful runs thisAces and Deuces
Also called Acey Deucey, Aces & Deuces.
Aces and Deuces is a golf betting game for three or more players in which every hole stands alone: the outright lowest score, the Ace, collects one unit from each other player, and the outright highest score, the Deuce, pays one unit to each other player. A tie for low means no Ace; a tie for high means no Deuce.
- Players
- 3 or more, in one group
- Scoring basis
- Gross or net (net by default)
- Ace
- Outright low on the hole collects 1 unit from every other player
- Deuce
- Outright high on the hole pays 1 unit to every other player
- Ties
- A tie for low or for high cancels that side; nothing carries over
- Winner
- Highest unit total at the end
How Aces and Deuces works
On each hole, compare everyone's score. The single lowest score is the Ace and the single highest score is the Deuce. The Ace is paid one unit by each of the other players, and the Deuce pays one unit to each of the other players. The players in the middle collect from the Deuce and pay the Ace, which usually nets to nothing for them. Then the next hole starts fresh.
If two or more players share the lowest score there is no Ace on the hole, and nobody collects. If two or more share the highest score there is no Deuce, and nobody pays. Both can happen on the same hole, in which case nothing changes hands. Nothing ever carries to the next hole.
The result is a zero-sum ledger. In a four-player game an Ace collects three units and each of the other three pays one; a Deuce pays three and each of the other three collects one. A player who is both the Ace on one hole and the Deuce on the next is back where they started.
Counting the units
The size of the swing depends on the number of players. With three players an Ace is worth two units, with four it is worth three, with five it is worth four. A player who is the Ace and nobody is the Deuce gains the full amount from the field; a player who is the Deuce while someone else is the Ace loses twice, one unit to the Ace and the Deuce penalty to everyone.
- Ace only: the Ace gains n minus 1 units, everyone else loses 1.
- Deuce only: the Deuce loses n minus 1 units, everyone else gains 1.
- Ace and Deuce on the same hole: the Ace gains n, the Deuce loses n, the players in between are level.
- Tie for low and tie for high: no units move on the hole.
Try it
Can we play Aces and Deuces in our format?
Derived from the same compatibility rules the scorecard uses, so it cannot drift from the product.
Own ball, individual
Available
Four-ball, best ball, counted scores
Available
Shamble, bramble, cha cha cha
Available
Scramble, foursomes, greensomes, chapman
Needs a score per player; this format keeps one per side
Where the game is won
Because the Deuce costs as much as the Ace earns, the game is won by avoiding the worst score in the group more than by chasing the best one. A steady par is often enough to collect from a Deuce and never be one. Net scoring evens the field, so a high handicapper receiving a stroke on a hole is a real threat to be the Ace and much less likely to be the Deuce.
How Parful scores it
A member starts Aces and Deuces from the group scorecard for three or more players in the same group. Gross or net is set at creation; net uses each player's handicap strokes from their Course Handicap™ on each hole. There is no other setting: no carryover option and no separate values for Ace and Deuce.
A hole counts only once every player in the game has a score on it, so live standings never punish a hole that has not been entered yet. From there the hole scores decide everything and there is nothing extra to record. Standings show each player's units, the number of holes on which they were the Ace and the number on which they were the Deuce; equal units share a position. A corrected score reruns every hole.
Units are already zero-sum stake units, so a stake per unit maps straight onto the standings. Parful shows who owes whom at the end and never moves money. The game works on any format where each player records their own hole score, including four-ball and shamble; it is not available on a scramble, foursomes, greensomes or chapman.
Worked example
A worked example: six holes, four players, net
Ana, Ben, Cal and Dee play net Aces and Deuces at one unit. With four players an Ace collects 3 and a Deuce pays 3.
| Hole | Ana | Ben | Cal | Dee | Ace | Deuce | Units this hole (Ana, Ben, Cal, Dee) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | Ana | Dee | +4, 0, 0, -4 |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | None (tie) | None (tie) | 0, 0, 0, 0 |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Ana | None (tie) | +3, -1, -1, -1 |
| 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | None (tie) | Dee | +1, +1, +1, -3 |
| 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | None (tie) | Cal | +1, +1, -3, +1 |
| 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | Ben | Dee | 0, +4, 0, -4 |
- On hole 1 Ana collects 3 as the Ace and 1 more from Dee's Deuce for +4. Ben and Cal pay Ana 1 and collect 1 from Dee, so they finish the hole level. Dee pays Ana 1 and pays 3 as the Deuce.
- Hole 3 has an Ace but no Deuce: Ben, Cal and Dee tie for high on 4, so Ana collects 3 and nobody pays the Deuce penalty.
- Hole 5 has no Ace because Ana and Dee tie on 4, but Cal's 6 is the outright high, so Cal pays 1 to each of the other three.
Common variants
- Carryover
- Some groups carry an unclaimed Ace to the next hole so that the next outright low collects double. Parful scores each hole on its own with no carryover.
- Different values
- The Ace is worth more than the Deuce costs, or the other way around. Parful uses one unit for both.
- Two-player Aces and Deuces
- With two players the Ace and the Deuce are the same bet, so the game collapses to one unit per hole. Parful requires three or more players.
- Money per unit
- A stake per unit is the normal way to settle. Parful can carry it on the game, shows who owes whom at the end and never moves money.