The simplest money game in golf: best score on the hole collects from everyone, worst score pays everyone. Heaven for the hot hand, expensive for the cold one.
On every hole the best score wins a unit from each of the other three, and the worst score pays a unit to each of the other three. The two in the middle wash. You can explain it on the first tee in fifteen seconds, which is its superpower.
Acey Deucey (or Ace-Deuce) needs one sentence of rules: on every hole, the outright low score — the ace — collects the agreed amount from every other player, and the outright high score — the deucey — pays every other player. The two middle scores ride for free. That's the whole game, and it produces a very particular psychology: you're always playing two contests at once, chasing the ace with your birdie putt while sweating the deucey with your six-footer for bogey. Unlike skins, there are no carryovers and no dead holes — money moves on almost every green.
Worked example. $1/$1 foursome. Hole 5: Dana nets birdie (ace, +$3), Alex and Jo net par (ride free), Sam nets double (deucey, −$3). Hole 6: Dana and Alex tie for low — no ace — while Jo and Sam tie for high and split the deucey, paying 50 cents each to Dana and Alex. Nobody's round is ever boring, and nobody's wallet is ever safe.
Tie rules, spelled out. Low-score tie: no ace paid (standard) or the tied players split the collection from the others. High-score tie: tied players each pay a proportional share (standard) or each pay in full (the “blood deucey”). Whatever you choose, choose loudly on the first tee.
Asymmetric stakes. $1 ace / $2 deucey turns the game defensive — avoiding disasters matters more than making birdies. The reverse ($2/$1) rewards aggression. Tune it to your group's temperament.
Acey Deucey with junk. Pairs naturally with dots — the ace/deucey handles the scores, greenies and sandies handle the artistry.
Birdie doubles. A common kicker: an ace made with a natural birdie collects double. Eagles quadruple, and are talked about for a decade.
No-deucey mercy rule. Playing with a struggling newcomer? Run aces only. It becomes a friendlier “low ball wins” game with no one funding the table.
Acey Deucey is scored in Duck Hook Pro. The pro or organizer sets up the game and keeps the card there, and Duck Hook Pro works out the result and the settle-up and shows it on a TV leaderboard. It isn’t in the free app yet.
See Duck Hook Pro Browse all 42 gamesThe most common rule: no ace is paid — the low score must be outright. Some groups let the tied players split the collection instead. Agree on the first tee.
Usually both (or all) tied players pay a share — with two tied for high, each pays half the deucey to the others. The harsher variant makes every tied player pay in full. House rule; decide up front.
At $1/$1 in a foursome, the ace wins $3 and the deucey loses $3 on each hole — a maximum swing of about $54 either way over 18 holes, though real results are far tamer. Scale stakes accordingly.
Yes, and it should be played net in mixed groups: strokes fall by stroke index and the ace/deucey are judged on net scores. Straight up, the high handicapper simply funds the round.
Yes — the mechanics only need a clear low and high score. With three players the middle score neither pays nor collects; with five, the swings get bigger since the ace collects from four players.
Same energy, different game. Everything below has a full rules guide of its own.
Duck Hook Golf