Gangster (조폭) explained
The bluntest of the Korean side games: win the hole and you collect from every other player in the group, one after another.
Written and maintained by the Golf Game Bet Calculator team, who build the scoring engine this site runs on. Last reviewed .
Gangster — 조폭 — is named for its lack of subtlety. There is no tiering, no carry-over accounting and no partner to hide behind. Each hole has one winner, and that winner takes the agreed amount from every other player individually. In a four-ball at $2 a hole, winning a hole is worth $6 to you and costs the other three $2 each.
Because the payout scales with the number of players, Gangster gets serious quickly in larger groups. A six-ball at the same $2 stake makes each hole worth $10 to the winner. Size the stake to the group, not to the number that felt reasonable the last time you played it in a pair.
Stake sizing by group size
Because the winner's take multiplies with the number of opponents, the "felt" stake at the table is not the number you set. Use this as a quick reference when deciding a per-hole amount:
| Players | Per-hole stake | Winner collects | 18-hole max exposure (per player) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | $3 | $6 | $54 |
| 4 | $2 | $6 | $36 |
| 4 | $3 | $9 | $54 |
| 6 | $2 | $10 | $36 |
| 6 | $1 | $5 | $18 |
Max exposure assumes a player loses every single hole, which is a useful worst case to sanity-check before agreeing a stake.
Ties
The standard rule is that an outright win is required. If two players share the low score, nobody collects and the hole is void. This is simpler than carrying the value forward and it keeps the running total honest — but it does mean that in a group of closely matched players, a lot of holes pay nothing.
The alternative is to split: tied low scorers each collect from the remaining players. It keeps more holes live, at the cost of slightly fiddlier arithmetic. Either works, as long as it is agreed in advance.
Punishing blow-up holes
Many groups bolt a penalty onto Gangster so that the bottom of the field also pays a price. Common forms include a fixed penalty for a double bogey or worse, a penalty for finding water, or a penalty for three-putting. These are the rules most likely to cause disagreement mid-round, because they rely on someone having watched what happened. Keep them few and keep them obvious from the score alone.
Net vs gross
Gross Gangster in a group with a wide handicap spread is effectively a subscription paid by the higher handicappers to the lowest one. If the group's handicaps differ by more than about five strokes, play it net: allocate strokes by stroke index and compare net scores on each hole. The handicaps guide explains the allocation.
A middle option some groups prefer is to cap how much any one player can win or lose across the round. Once a player reaches the cap they keep playing but stop collecting. This removes the worst-case outcome without changing how any individual hole is played.
Etiquette and pace of play
Because Gangster pays on outright wins only, it rewards holing out rather than conceding short putts — a conceded putt in Gangster is a decision to void the hole, not a formality. Say so out loud: "that's good for the card, but you still need to putt it out for Gangster" avoids a dispute about whether a two-footer that was waved away actually counted as a win.
Settle each hole's transfers before teeing off on the next, verbally or on the app, rather than trying to reconstruct eighteen holes of individual payments from memory at the turn.
Strategy
- Outright wins are everything. A par that ties pays nothing. If you are last to play and know what you need, the safe shot is often worthless.
- Short par 4s and reachable par 5s are the swing holes. They produce the most birdies and therefore the most outright wins.
- Concede early on lost holes. There is no second prize, so nothing is gained by grinding out a bogey once someone has made birdie.
A worked example with a blow-up penalty
Four players, $2 a hole, plus an agreed $1 penalty per player for anyone making a double bogey or worse. On a par 4, scores come in at 4, 4, 6, 7. No outright winner (two players tied at 4), so the base Gangster stake pays nothing. But the two blow-up scores each trigger the $1 penalty, so each of those two players pays $1 to each of the other three — $3 out for the double bogey, $6 out for the "other." A hole with no winner can still move real money once penalties are layered on, which is exactly why groups should agree penalties sparingly.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called Gangster (조폭)?
The Korean name 조폭 (jopok) literally means organized crime gang, a nod to how bluntly the game works — the winner simply takes money from everyone else on the spot, hole after hole, with no tiers or carry-overs softening it.
Does Gangster get more expensive with more players?
Yes, directly. The winner collects the stake from every other player individually, so a $2 stake pays $6 to the winner in a four-ball but $10 in a six-ball. Lower the per-hole stake as the group size grows if you want the total money in play to stay roughly the same.
What is the standard tie rule in Gangster?
Most groups require an outright win: if two or more players share the low score, nobody collects and the hole pays nothing. Some groups instead let tied low scorers each collect from the remaining players, which keeps more holes live at the cost of slightly more complex arithmetic.
Should Gangster be played gross or net?
Play it net whenever handicaps in the group differ by more than about five strokes. Gross Gangster with a wide spread effectively becomes a standing payment from the higher handicappers to the lowest one, since that player wins most holes outright regardless of how well the round is actually going for everyone else.
Can you cap losses in Gangster for a beginner in the group?
Yes — a common middle-ground rule caps how much any single player can win or lose across the round. Once a player hits the cap they keep playing every hole as normal but stop collecting or paying further, which protects a struggling player without changing how anyone plays a given hole.
Related reading
- Ding-Dong-Daeng (딩동댕) — a gentler three-tier alternative.
- Skins — same outright-win requirement, but value carries instead of voiding.
- Hussein (bomb hole) — another designated-player Korean-style game.