A Calcutta is a tournament betting format often used at golf events to raise money for charity. Before the event begins, teams (or players in individual events) are brought to the “auction block” and the high bidder for each team becomes the “owner.” Half of each bid goes to the charity; the other half goes to the pot. I have also seen Calcuttas where entire bid went into the pot.

In most formats, bidders can purchase as many teams as they like. In really cut-throat Calcuttas, players form consortiums, spreading their money over multiple teams. At clubs where player and team skills are known, the sums bid on teams can get quite high.

One variant allows players or teams to purchase a fractional ownership of their own team for a percentage of the total bet at auction. The only action I’ve seen on this is for half-ownerships, but I suppose that it could be for any percentage. In the half-ownership scenario, a team would pay the winning bidder back half his bid, and thus would reap half of any winnings.

After the event is over, the pot is distributed to the owners of the top three teams according to the predetermined formula. The tournaments I’ve seen distribute the pot on a 70-20-10 basis.

Calcuttas actually can be used for a variety of sporting events, such as the NCAA basketball tournament, the World Cup or horse races. At the beginning of a college football season, for example, you could hold a Calcutta on the final rankings in the BCS. It apparently is also popular in backgammon tournaments (of all things). In fact, it works with any event involving a large number of participants who finish in ranked order.

There are all kinds of interesting strategic considerations in betting on Calcuttas. Since the size of the return depends upon the total bid on ALL the teams, an investor can never know until after the last team has been bought whether he has any possibility of making his money back. It’s entirely possible that the player who bought the winning team paid more than the sum total of all the others.

The term “Calcutta” seemingly has its origins in the city (now Kolkata), which served as the capital of India during the British Raj. There, the Royal Calcutta Turf Club ( officially dates to 1847, but has its origins in the late 1700s), introduced paramutual betting to its horse racing in 1872 (paramutual bets had been invented in 1867 by Joseph Oller). The paramutual bet is quite similar to the “Calcutta” in that the bets all are placed in a pool and then distributed to the winners (minus the vig). Final payout is not known until all bets are placed.

I like the Calcutta format because it keeps groups involved in a golf tournament, even if they are not particularly skilled.

In putting poker, players try to get the best poker hand by making putts.

To begin, each player is given a card at random from a deck. Players take an additional card each time they one putt. At the end of the round, the player with the best poker hand wins.

It occurs to me as I’m thinking about this, though, that some modifications may be in order for the ordinary group of weekenders. In Putting Poker Lite, one card is awarded for a two putt, and two cards for a one putt. This will result in a higher number of cards, so players can keep no more than five. When a sixth card is earned, one must be returned before drawing.

I like putting games because players with disparate full swing games often find an equal footing on the greens.

Drive for Show, Putt for Dough.

In this golf game, players score points for holing out on the first putt.

Once all players are on the green, distances to the hole are evaluated. If the player furthest away one-putts, he scores four points. The next closest then has a chance to one-putt for three points; then the next for two, and the closest to the hole for one point.

If a player holes out from off the green, he scores five points. A player who three putts is penalized 1 - 3 points, as agreed upon before the round.

One Putt can be played for fun, or as a betting game. In the latter case, a previously agreed amount will be paid to the winner based on the difference in the total scores.

Left and Right is a four ball game “match play” game with ever-changing sides.

A four ball game consists of two teams of two players, each playing their own ball (thus, four balls). At the end of each hole, the low score wins the hole for his team (ties, of course, halve the hole).

In Left and Right, the teams change on every hole. All four players tee off and the tee shots are evaluated. The two balls furthest to the right are one team; the two to the left are the other. The players then play out the hole normally. A point is awarded to each player on the winning team. On the next hole, the teams are re-seeded.

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If you’ve got a favorite golf game, I’d like to hear about it. Contact me with this form. Or add a comment at the end of this post.

Another in a continuing series on golf side games and bets:

Par or Out is a side bet usually played by low handicappers, or in competitions with full handicaps. The winner of the bet is the last one in the group who fails to make par (either actual, or including the handicap). Every time a player fails to par, he’s out of the running for the money.

In my experience, this one is over after five or six holes. The game also could be played with other critera: Bogey or Out; Double Bogey or Out, Two Putts or Out and so on.

The putting one actually isn’t a bad game, even among players with disparate skill levels.

Gruesomes is a game for teams of two (twosomes, get it?). On each hole, both team members tee off, and the opposing team picks the drive they have to use. Obviously, your opponents will choose the worse—or more gruesome—of the two.

This is a game that’s best played between four reasonably skilled players. Otherwise, you may have to make a rule that you can only pick shots that are in bounds.

Stringball is a humorous golf game in which each player is issued one foot of string for every shot on his handicap. During the round, players can move their ball a distance up to and including the length of the string—BUT—they must cut that same distance from the string. As the round goes on, the string gets shorter ...