The Big Game is nearly upon us. The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams are squaring off for the Lombardi Trophy. Even if you’re not a fan of either team, there are ways to have a vested interest in the game. First, daily fantasy is an option. Second, in states that allow sports gambling, gambling on the game is an option. However, third, you can join good ol’ Big Game squares boards.
Use our FREE tool to create your own Super Bowl Squares game 
How To Play Squares & How it Works
Squares boards have 100 boxes. The vertical and horizontal axis is labeled with numbers from zero to nine. Each axis is representative of one team. The number for each team is for a score, and it represents the last number in a score — or only number if they have a single-digit score. For instance, if you have the square for Bengals seven and Rams three, Bengals seven, 17, 27, 37, and 47 would fit the criteria for the Bengals, and scores of three, 13, 23, 33, and 43 would suffice for the Rams. Ultimately, you need both teams to meet their scoring criteria to have a winning square (i.e., Bengals 17 and Rams 23 represent a winning scoring combination).
Boards can have varying rules for paying out, including after each score, reverse score, and a host of others I’m likely unaware of. However, the standard format for squares boards is to pay for the scores at the end of the first quarter, end of the half, end of the third quarter, and end of the game.
Best Numbers for Squares
Predictably, as I alluded to above, there are better numbers to get than others. Thankfully, Business Insider statistically broke down which squares have won the most frequently for every postseason game from the 1998 season through the 2017 season.
The best numbers to draw are zero, three, and seven. Intuitively, that makes sense. Every field goal is worth three points, and every combination of a touchdown and successful point-after-attempt (PAT) is worth seven points. Further, a field goal and a touchdown with a successful PAT combine for 10 points. However, a failed PAT, safety, or a successful two-point attempt can throw things into a loop. Regardless, those are less frequent scoring occurrences. Finally, the worst possible combination is nine and nine. According to the Business Insider study, that combination wasn’t ever a winner during the 20-year postseason sample of 220 games and 880 quarters.
BettingPros Squares
There is nothing wrong with joining a squares board at a Championship game party. However, if you’re not gathering with friends or want to take the hassle out of manually filling out a board, determining winners, etc., BettingPros has you covered!
BettingPros has a Squares tool for creating boards. Do you have so many interested parties joining a board that you need more than one? No problem! BettingPros offers the ability to create and track numerous boards.
When you create a board, your first task will be naming your board. Then, you’ll select the Cincinnati Bengals vs. Los Angeles Rams from the dropdown menu below the board name. Next, you’ll choose the maximum number of squares a person can choose from the 100 total squares. The maximum options people can pick from the dropdown menu are five, 10, 25, 50, and 100.
Finally, there is a checkbox for prefilling the board slots. Typically, the board is blank until the boxes are filled. Once the boxes are filled, the numbers along each axis are selected randomly. If you check the prefill board slots checkbox, there is a decided advantage for those that choose their boxes first — more on that to come. So, I suggest unchecking the prefill board slots. However, if you’re running a board for gambling, an alternative is to scale the dollar amounts to claim each box if you opt to refill the board slots. Thus, the boxes with better odds of winning would cost more to claim than the longshot squares.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
