How to Play the Win, Place and Show Golf Game

"Win, Place and Show" is the name of a golf game played by a group of four golfers. The golfers in the group compare their scores on each hole, and the golfers with the lowest, second-lowest, and third-lowest scores earn points. In other words, the win, place and show (first, second, third) finishers earn points.

At the end of the round, golfers add up those points and pay out the differences (each point being worth the agree-upon amount).

There are six points at stake on each hole:

• "Win" points: The golfer with the lowest score on a hole earns 3 points.
• "Place" points: The golfer with the second-lowest score on a hole earns 2 points.
• "Show" points: The golfer with the third-lowest score on a hole earns 1 points.

And the golfer with the worst score on the hole? He gets nothing. Example: Golfers A, B, C and D tee off on Hole 1. Golfer A winds up making a 6 on the hole, B scores 5, C makes a 4 and D makes 7. Golfer C wins three points as the low scorer, Golfer B gets two points, Golfer A earns one point and Golfer D gets zero.

Win, Place and Show is a game in which half-points will come into play often. That's because on many, perhaps most, holes there will be tie scores. If two golfers tie for lowest score, you add the 3 (low score) and 2 (second low score) together and get 5, then split that between the two tied golfers. So each gets 2.5 points. If two golfers tie for second low score, you add the 2 and 1 (show and place points) and divide by two, with each golfer getting 1.5 points. If three golfers tie for low score, each wins 2 points. If all four golfers tie, that's 1.5 points each (six points divided four ways).

Win, Place and Show is also known by the name 6 Points or "the 6-Point Game." A group of three golfers can also play the game using six points (3-2-1), three points (2-1-0) or nine points (5-3-1). The nine-point version for threeballs is called, not surprisingly, 9-Point or the 9-Point Game, or just Nines.

More golf games:

• Chapman System golf format explained
• How to play the Whack and Hack format
• The Shazam betting game for putting greens