Are Some Football Squares Better Than Others?
October 14, 2026 · 2 min read
Short answer: yes, once the numbers are drawn. Before that, no. Here is why, and what it means for how you run your pool.
Why some numbers win more often
A football score is built from a few building blocks:
- a field goal is 3 points
- a touchdown with the extra point is 7
- a touchdown without the extra point is 6
- a touchdown with a two-point conversion is 8
- a safety is 2
Most points come from 3s and 7s, so team scores like 3, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 24, 27 and 28 show up all the time. Look at the last digits of those scores and a pattern appears: 0, 3, 4 and 7 turn up often, while 2, 5 and 9 turn up much less often.
That is why people hope to land on a row or column with a 0, 3 or 7, and why they groan at a 2 or a 5.
Can you pick the good squares?
Not in a fair pool. The numbers are drawn after every square has been claimed, so nobody knows which squares will be good when they choose. That is the whole point of squares: it is luck, and everyone has the same chance when they pick.
If your group lets people see the numbers first, the best squares go to whoever is first in line, and the game stops being fun for everyone else. SquaresBets only lets the host draw the numbers once, after the squares are chosen, so nobody can redo the draw if they don't like it.
What if I get unlucky numbers?
A few things help:
- It is only one score. A square with a "bad" combination still wins when the score ends in those digits, just less often.
- Ask for new numbers every quarter. Some groups redraw the numbers before each quarter, so nobody is stuck all game. It is a rule you agree on before the game. The free number generator can draw four sets.
- Play more squares. Spreading your squares gives you more chances, and the chances are about equal until the numbers are drawn.
So which squares are best?
None, until the draw. After the draw, the squares with the best odds are those where both the row and the column have a 0, 3, 4 or 7. But that is only odds: every pool still produces surprises, and a 2 and a 5 have won plenty of games.
Run your own pool in a minute: make a free board, or print a free squares sheet.
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