Overview
Before the first tee every player goes up for auction, and the highest bidder owns them. The bids make the pot. After the round the pot pays whoever owns the top finishers in the main game. You can buy yourself, and you can own more than one player.
The auction
- The organizer opens the auction sheet and takes the players one at a time.
- The group bids out loud. The winning bid and the buyer go in: whole dollars, tap a quick amount or type one.
- In a team game (Best ball, Vegas, 2 v 2 Nassau and the like) each team goes up instead, and one buyer owns the whole team.
- Nobody bids on a player? Leave them unsold: they’re out of the pot.
Who finished where
- Stroke play: fewest net strokes. Stableford: most points. Quota: furthest over quota.
- Any other game: most money won in it (Nassau, Skins, Wolf and the rest).
- A team’s finish is its players’ added up.
Paying out
- With 4 or more sold: 70% of the pot to the owner of first, 30% to the owner of second.
- With fewer: the owner of the winner takes it all.
- Ties share the places they cover: two tied for first split first and second between them.
- Four players go for $40, $30, $20 and $10, a $100 pot. Ann wins and Bo is second: Ann’s owner takes $70 and Bo’s $30.
House rules
- Top three: 60%, 30% and 10% to the owners of first, second and third, with 5 or more sold.
- Buy-backs: a player someone else bought can buy half of themselves back for half the price. Bo goes for $30 and buys back half for $15, so Bo and the owner each get half of what Bo wins.
Stopping early
The Calcutta pays on where everyone stands on the holes played, like a bet still being played. Nothing is paid until the first hole is in.
Joining late or leaving
Anyone added partway was never auctioned, so they’re not in the pot. Someone who leaves stays in: their bids stand, and whoever owns them is paid on where they finish.