How to play football squares

The idea in 30 seconds

A squares board is a grid of 100 squares. Across the top is one team and down the side is the other. Everyone in your group claims some squares. Then random numbers from 0 to 9 are assigned to each row and column. During the game, the last digit of each team's score at the end of each quarter points to one square, and whoever owns it wins that quarter.

Step by step

1. Set up the board. The host picks the game and a price per square (or none, for bragging rights), and shares one link with the group.
2. Claim squares. Everyone taps the squares they want and types a name. You can have as many squares as the host allows. At this point the rows and columns have no numbers, so nobody knows which squares are good.
3. Draw the numbers. When the squares are claimed, the host randomizes the numbers. Each row and column gets a digit from 0 to 9, each used once. Drawing them after the squares are claimed is what keeps it fair.
4. Watch the game. At the end of the 1st quarter, halftime, the end of the 3rd quarter and the final whistle, look at both teams' scores.
5. Find the winning square. Take the last digit of each score, find that digit's row and column, and the square where they meet wins that quarter.

A worked example

Say the board is Eagles (down the side) against Chiefs (across the top), and the score is Eagles 17, Chiefs 13 at the end of the third quarter. The last digit of 17 is 7 and of 13 is 3. Find the row labelled 7 and the column labelled 3. The square where they cross wins the quarter.

Scores change all game long, so a different square wins each quarter. It is quite possible for one person to win twice, and just as possible for someone to win nothing, which is part of the fun.

Overtime

The last result is the final score, including overtime. If a game goes to overtime, the final winner is decided by the score at the very end, so there is no separate overtime prize.

How the prize money is usually split

If your pool has a price per square, the total collected is the pot. It is divided between the four results. These are the most common splits:

• 25% / 25% / 25% / 25%. Every quarter pays the same. With 100 squares at $5, the pot is $500 and each result pays $125.
• 20% / 20% / 20% / 40%. The final score pays double, which keeps everyone interested to the end.
• 20% / 30% / 20% / 30%. Halftime and the final pay the most.

You can choose any split you like. SquaresBets has the three above as one-tap presets and fills in the dollar amounts.

Smaller boards

For a small group you can use a 25-square board (5 by 5). Because a team's last digit still falls between 0 and 9, each row and column covers a pair of digits, such as 0 and 5 or 3 and 8. A score ending in 3 and one ending in 8 both point to the same row or column.

Tips for a good pool

Spread your squares

There is no way to pick good squares, since the numbers don't exist yet. In real football scores the digits 0, 3 and 7 come up most, so you will often see squares with those numbers win, but you only find out after the draw.

Agree the rules first

Before you share the link, tell the group how much a square costs, how many each person can take, when payment is due, and how the prize is split. Put it in the host note on the board so everyone can see it.

Let the board do the math

Finding winners by hand is where mistakes happen. SquaresBets works out each winning square for you, and on boards with live scoring it fills in the scores by itself and lists every scoring play with the square that was winning at the time. See it in action in the live scoring demo.

Playing with paper instead? Print a free squares sheet with the numbers drawn for you.

More questions? Read the frequently asked questions.