Bill'S ADVICE
For many, if not most people across the United States, the Super Bowl is pretty much an undeclared national holiday and what better way to celebrate it than by getting involved in it. With the help of Super Bowl Squares pools, you will be able to make the Super Bowl a little bit more interesting. Of course, Squares Pools can be used on any football game. So, what is a Squares pool, also known in some remote areas as Grid pools or Block pools, and how do you get involved in one?
Squares pools are definitely the most popular fantasy football pool within the NFL playoff season. It got its name from the fact that this game involves 100 squares, which comprise the pool’s board. This board is a 10x10 grid in which each row and column will be assigned a number, which ranges from 0 to 9. These 100 squares represent how the game is played; this is because each square is claimed by a pool member who writes their name in an open square. There is usually a charge for each square purchased, which is where the interesting part of the pool comes into play.
When you are taking part in Squares pool, you aren’t limited to just one square. You can claim more; however, there will more than likely be a limit on the amount that you can claim so all participants can get in on the action. There are no advantageous squares when the teams and numbers have not been assigned. Each square has the same 1% chance of winning. Most people try to avoid claiming multiple squares in the same row or column, just in case that row or column receives a perceived “bad” number, such as a 2.
On the 10x10 grid that the pool takes place on, the horizontal row of numbers represents one of the teams playing and the vertical row represents the other team that is involved in the game. These numbers aren’t actually placed on the grid until it has been filled with the names of people who have claimed the squares. Once this grid has been completely filled, or the game has started, the teams and numbers are drawn out of a hat and filled in left-to-right, across the top of the grid, and top-to-bottom, down the side of the grid. If the Squares pool is operated online, a randomization function is triggered to assign the teams and numbers. This is done as a means of keeping the game fair since some number combinations have a higher percentage of paying out than others.
At the end of each quarter of the game, the last digit of both NFL teams’ scores are taken and used as grid references in order to determine a winner. An example of how a winner would be determined is if the Chicago Bears, assigned to the vertical side of the grid (column of numbers), scored 10 points in the first quarter and the Indianapolis Colts, assigned to the horizontal side of the grid (row of numbers), scored 3. In this example, you would find the winning square by looking for 0 on the vertical scale and 3 on the horizontal scale. Where these two numbers meet on the grid is the winning square. This process would be repeated for each period of the game that awards a winning square.
Square pools are a fun and interactive way of getting involved in any game. Even the people who aren’t overly interested in the football game will get excited at this fantasy sports pool and will increase their interest in watching the game. You can play Square pools with family and friends or your work colleagues and are not limited to just football games. It works well with basketball games as well.