Add-on bet · starts mid-round

The Aloha bet

Four down with six to play and the match is already gone. The Aloha is how you make the rest of the round matter: a brand new bet, starting right here, over whatever holes are left. The old match still settles the way it was always going to. This one starts even.

Type
Add-on to Indies
Starts
Any hole you like
Stake
Whatever you agree
How many
As many as you want
The basics

How an Aloha works

One sentence: start a new match, right now, over the holes that are left.

1

Somebody offers it

Usually the player who is losing, though there is no rule about that. It is a negotiation on the tee box, not an automatic trigger. The other player can decline.

2

Agree the hole and the money

The new match starts from the hole you are standing on and runs to the end of the round. The stake is whatever the two of you say it is. It does not have to match the original bet, and often it is bigger.

3

Both bets run at once

The original match keeps going and settles on its own terms. The Aloha is a separate match with its own score, starting from all square. One hole can move both at the same time.

4

Settle everything at the end

Each bet pays out independently. You can lose the original match and win the Aloha, which is exactly the point of offering one.

The distinction

An Aloha is not a press

They both create a new bet mid-round, and that is where the similarity ends.

Press

Automatic and attached

Fires on a rule, usually two holes down, and belongs to the match that spawned it. Its stake is set by the match. Nobody has to agree to anything, it just happens.

Aloha

Manual and independent

Somebody offers, somebody accepts. Any hole, any amount, any time, including when the match is level or when you are the one ahead.

Why it matters

It rescues a dead round

A press needs you to be behind by a specific margin. An Aloha needs nothing except two people who still want a game. That is the situation it exists for.

In FLOG

How the app runs it

Because an Aloha is negotiated rather than triggered, the app waits for you to say so.

Turn the Aloha side bet on when you set up Indies. It has no settings of its own, because the numbers that matter get decided on the course. During the round, add an Aloha to any Indies matchup: pick the hole it starts from and the dollar amount, and it becomes its own line in that match.

Each one tracks like a normal match from its start hole forward, using the same strokes the players were already getting. Add a second or a third and they all keep their own score. At the end they settle into the Settlement Summary alongside everything else, so the total on your line already has them in it.

One thing worth knowing: Aloha is an eighteen-hole idea, so it is hidden on nine-hole rounds. And if a mixed-tee or mixed-length round re-settles mid-play, manual Alohas reset with it.

Common questions

Why is it called an Aloha?
Aloha means both hello and goodbye, which is the joke: the old bet is saying goodbye and a new one is saying hello, on the same tee box. Like most golf bet names, nobody owns the etymology.
Can I start one when I am winning?
Yes. There is no rule that only the loser can offer. In practice the player who is ahead rarely wants one, which is why it usually comes from behind.
Can we run more than one?
As many as you both agree to. Each has its own start hole and its own stake and settles separately. Groups who enjoy the format often have two or three live by the closing holes.
Does it use handicap strokes?
It inherits the handicap setup of the Indies match it is attached to, so strokes fall on the remaining holes exactly as they already would. Nothing needs recalculating when the new bet opens.
Does the original bet stop?
No. It runs to the end and settles normally. The Aloha is additional, not a replacement, so you can absolutely lose one and win the other.
Play it with

Where Aloha fits

I

Indies

Individual match play

Aloha is an add-on to an Indies match, so this is the game it attaches to. Start here if you have not set one up before.

Read the rules →
N

Nassau

Head-to-head match play

The match format most Alohas get bolted onto, and where presses come from. Worth understanding the difference between the two.

Read the rules →

Keep the back nine interesting

FLOG tracks every Aloha as its own match and folds them all into one settlement at the end.

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