Super Bowl Squares: How To Play And Win 

The only thing better than watching the Super Bowl is profiting off of it from games like Super Bowl squares. Okay, I suppose cheering on your favorite team as they chase the Lombardi Trophy would trump most everything, but winning cash – and playing a fun game – sure enhances the viewing experience.

Of course, if you’ve never played the game, you’re surely wondering how to play Super Bowl squares. Not only do you not want to look like a completely lost newbie if playing SB squares with some friends at a Super Bowl party, but you might even want to win.

To help out, I’ll go over how the game works and offer some Super Bowl squares strategies to give you a chance of coming out ahead. In the event you want to bet on the Big Game itself, check out our Super Bowl predictions for this year’s showdown.

How Do Super Bowl Squares Work?

New to Super Bowl squares? It’s a pretty simple game, but it’s also very popular because it can make watching football a lot more fun. Also referred to simply as football squares or a football squares pool, this is a betting game you’ll play during the Super Bowl.

But how do Super Bowl squares work, you might ask? Here’s a quick breakdown of how the game works:

Set Up a Super Bowl Squares Grid

First thing’s first, you have to decide what type of Super Bowl square template you want to use and set up the grid. The basic setting is a 10×10 grid, which gives you 100 squares to work with.

Each square created represents a potential score combination for the Super Bowl game. Label one of the rows/columns with the numbers 0-9 for the home team, and then do the same for the other axis (0-9) for the away team.

Buy/Sell Super Bowl Squares

Once the Super Bowl squares grid is set, the person running the contest can start “selling” squares, or you as the contestant/player can start “buying” them.

Players can purchase squares, usually priced at $1 or $5, depending on how intense you want to make it for everyone involved. Just jot down the contestant’s name in the square they purchase and/or record it elsewhere to ensure anyone who wins is credited for their big victory.

It’s up to you if you do the selling of these squares in a certain manner. You can allow people to buy whatever squares they choose, or they can purchase squares that are selected at random.

Once all of the squares are accounted for, you can assign numbers (0-9) to each row and column. The assigned numbers will correspond to the last digit of the team score for both the home and away squad.

Collect Your Winnings

So, how do you actually win Super Bowl squares? Well, at the end of each quarter, you check to see what the score is of the game. Then you match the last digit of each team’s score to the appropriate row and column

Naturally, if the score is 17 to 14, the winning squares would come in the row marked 7 and the row marked 4.

It’s up to the person creating and hosting the game exactly how you play, what payouts are, and when money is paid out. Most contests issue payments by quarter and often for the game’s score at the end, too.

How To Play Super Bowl Squares?

Now that you know the general information about Super Bowl squares, you can start digging deeper into how to play the game.

I’ll get more into strategy in a bit, but first here are some ideas if you’re just learning how to play Super Bowl Squares.

Use Logic With Number Selection

The first (usually) good rule of thumb when learning how to play Super Bowl squares is to pick numbers that have a really good chance of hitting.

Obviously any NFL game can go completely sideways thanks to safeties, the rise of two-point conversions, and increased likelihood of missed PATs. However, just think about which numbers typically pop up the most.

If you’re going just by touchdowns, you’re looking at 7, 14, and 21 as popular results. If you mix in field goals, you’re looking at 10, 13, 17, and 20 as popular options. The combinations are borderline endless, but if you target rational scores that happen frequently, it may give you a better shot at winning.

Cast a Wide Net

Regardless of which numbers you ultimately go with when playing Super Bowl squares, it’s wise to diversify your options. I’m not sure there’s much gambling or betting out there where that wouldn’t be a good idea, to be honest.

Still, it definitely applies to Super Bowl squares, as you should have the ability to purchase numerous squares. If you do so, make sure you switch up where you’re picking your squares, getting yourself several spots strewn across the grid.

Your budget plays into this quite a bit, but the more (different) options you have, the more likely you get one to hit.

Aim High

If you’re simply playing football squares at a Super Bowl party, perhaps your upside is going to be limited. How much you can win may depend on what the pool is set at, as well as how many other people play.

That said, you can either suggest having the prize pool be larger, or you can play Super Bowl squares for money online. Whatever the case, playing for bigger cash prizes is a good way to ensure profiting from Super Bowl squares if and when your numbers do pay off.

Types of Super Bowl Squares

There are a lot of different ways to play Super Bowl squares. Here I will break down the most popular variants you can consider trying at your Big Game party.

Classic Super Bowl Squares

This is the 10×10 grid I already told you about. Number the rows 0-9 and the winning team is decided by matching the last digit of each team’s score for the chosen time period (quarter or full game).

It’s pretty basic, but it’s super easy to set up and shouldn’t be too confusing for anyone. You can also choose how much of the pot goes to the “final score” bet, or if it’s just treated as another quarter.

Quarter-Only Super Bowl Squares

The first version can be for quarters or the entire game. If you only want to focus on quarters individually, then you’d play this version. It’s virtually the same, but it would eliminate the final score result as part of the contest.

Super Bowl Squares (Reversed)

The first two types of Super Bowl squares are basically the same thing. They’re easy to set up and just as easy to understand. We get a bit more complicated with Reverse Super Bowl squares, however.

With this game, you’re just looking to match the reverse side of each team’s score. Instead of trying to match the home team (21) and the away team (14), you’d be trying to match the away team (21) and the home team (14).

I told you it was confusing!

In all seriousness, it’s not that difficult to follow, and it makes the whole process a bit more fun (and a little ridiculous). Needless to say, playing Super Bowl squares in reverse keeps the game lively and adds a bit more luck and randomness to it.

Score Change Squares

If you want more payouts, this is a great Super Bowl squares game type to try. Basically, a player can win every time the Super Bowl score changes and their square gets a match.

Thought the regular Super Bowl squares game increased engagement at your party? It doesn’t have anything on this variation.

Multi-Grid Super Bowl Squares

Not everyone knows how to play Super Bowl squares, and because of that, not everyone will want to bet a bunch of money and compete for money in general.

Due to this, it’s not a bad idea to host multiple Super Bowl squares competitions at the same time. You’re still following the classic grid style of this, but you can have several contests – free, low risk, and even high stakes.

Super Bowl Props Squares

Usually people will just have a Super Bowl prop bet contest set up, but you can marry the idea with Super Bowl squares, just as well.

With this type of Super Bowl squares game, you can simply swap out the numbers for props. One square could be for a touchdown, another for a sack, and the options go on and on. This offers a different flair to the game, although it admittedly does get away from the heart of what Super Bowl squares are.

Super Bowl Squares, Modified

It’s up to you how you handle your Super Bowl squares game, but one thing you can consider is modifying how many squares are included.

One popular shift is using a 5×5 grid instead of the traditional 10×10. You can even go higher and morph your contest into 10, 25, or 50-line squares templates.

You’re diving into a sea of madness by changing things up to such an extreme, but if you’re dealing with experienced players, perhaps it’s what they prefer.

The point? You can play the traditional Super Bowl squares, or you can get weird with it. The possibilities are borderline endless.

Super Bowl Squares Strategies

Now that you know how to play Super Bowl squares and we’ve touched on a slew of game types, let’s get down to brass tax and teach you how to win. Here are some of the most effective strategies to help you win at Super Bowl squares this year.

Choose The Right Size Super Bowl Squares Game 

If you have control over the size of the Super Bowl squares game you’ll be playing, always opt for smaller. You do need to consider that everyone else is always working with the same probability or difficulty as you, but generally speaking, the smaller the grid, the better the chance you can win.

Of course, depending on where you’re playing and/or who you’re playing with (or against), smaller grids may also result in lower risk betting and less of a prize pool.

Exploit Reverse Super Bowl Squares

This doesn’t have to only apply to reverse Super Bowl squares, but it’s probably best utilized that way. 

For this Super Bowl squares tip, you’re trying to leverage this game style by targeting numbers that have a reasonable shot at hitting in both the standard and reverse style.

Embrace Variance

I already touched on some basic Super Bowl squares tips and strategies a bit earlier, but I wanted to go a bit deeper here. Some may call it galaxy brain-ing, but if you embrace how volatile and unpredictable NFL action can be, it just might be super profitable.

While rolling with logical numbers will often go your way, it can sometimes pay to choose numbers that are still very possible, but would otherwise seem unlikely.

For this Super Bowl squares strategy, think about safeties, two-point conversions, missed extra points, and random numbers like 2, 5, 8, and 9. These numbers deal with unlikely safeties, a safety with a field goal, a touchdown with a 2-point conversion, three field goals, or a standard touchdown with a safety.

Are these likely outcomes? No, but nobody else will want to play them. Embrace the volatility of this beautiful game, and it just might be a brilliant choice when playing Super Bowl squares.

Choose The Best Super Bowl Squares Numbers

In the event your Super Bowl squares numbers can be chosen ahead of time by you – and not at random – then it does make sense to target numbers that have a high probability of hitting.

So, which Super Bowl squares numbers are most likely to hit? It’s some of the numbers I already touched on, and I’d suggest, generally speaking, to target the following:

• 0
• 3
• 4
• 7

You see a lot of scores with 0 in NFL games. Obviously both teams start with 0 at the beginning of the game, so if one or both teams fail to score after the first quarter, you could already be well on your way to winning. I wouldn’t advise going with 0-0, though, unless you are simply hoping for a big win after the first quarter and don’t mind being dead in the game from thereon out.

Three is also very popular, as teams can be limited to field goals early in the game. One or both teams could easily end the first quarter with three points, while they could also have 13 points at the end of the second, third, or even fourth quarter. Less likely numbers would be 23 and 33 points, but those would still be alive for late quarter games or even the final score.

You can apply similar logic to four and seven, although seven stands out as perhaps the best option. Teams get 7 points if they score a touchdown, and assuming they don’t miss their PAT or go for two, it’s a solid score to bet on for the first quarter and sometimes even longer.

Of course, even after that first touchdown, you can still hit on 17, 27, and 37.

Overall, these are the four best numbers to use in Super Bowl squares, but as I’ve detailed, there are a lot of strategies and tips to consider. Just make sure you apply everything you’ve learned to the specific type of Super Bowl square game you’re playing the best you can. But most of all, have fun and enjoy the game!