Super Bowl squares: Rules, how to play and what numbers are the best − and worst − to get

Want to make your Super Bowl party even more fun − and −andworst−competitive?

Look no further than Super Bowl squares.

An exciting way to get everyone to watch the Big Game is with Super Bowl squares, a game where you don't need to understand football to play, and it could result in a big pay day, depending on how much money everyone is willing to pay for on it.

Don't know how to play? Don't worry, here are the basic rules of the game, as well as how to get the best chance to win some cash on Super Bowl Sunday:

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How to play Super Bowl squares

It starts with a 10x10 grid, with one side of the grid with the AFC champion (Kansas City Chiefs), and the other side with the NFC champion (San Francisco 49ers).

Participants then buy a square, for a fixed price that can be determined by whoever is playing, like $5 per square, to put in the pot. Players can also buy however many squares they want.

After all the squares have been bought, or everyone has bought their desired amount, whoever is in charge then randomly draws numbers across from 0-9, and assigns them to the top and side of the grid. Players can see what numbers their grid is assigned to, and then the game can begin with kickoff happens.

How to win Super Bowl squares

Winning typically involves the score by the end of each quarter. The numbers on each side of the grid represent the last digit of the AFC team's score and the other represents the last digit of the NFC team's score, and whoever has that square when the quarter ends, wins.

Example, if the score by the end of the first quarter is 49ers the leading the Chiefs 13-10, then whoever has the No. 3 on the NFC side and No. 0 on the AFC side is the winner of that quarter.

How much money can be won in Super Bowl squares?

It depends on how much is put into the pot, and how players want to split up the pay.

The most popular ways are each winner gets 25% of the winnings so its split evenly by the time the game ends. Another way is rewarding the winners of the halftime and final score of the game a larger cut. Example is giving those winners 30% while 20% is given to the first and third quarter. Another way is giving the winner of the final score the biggest payout of the night, like 40% while the first three quarters get only 20%.

What are the best Super Bowl squares to have?

The best squares to have are 0, 1, 3, 4 and 7 because they are the most frequent last digit numbers, since touchdowns are worth seven points and field goals are worth three. In a 2013 blog post, the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective wrote that the single best square to have is seven on the betting favorite's axis. 

If you are looking for the best squares, the ones with 7-0 and 3-0 have been picked 20 times in Super Bowl history, according the Print Your Brackets, the most of any squares. Second with 19 selections is 0-0.

What are the worst Super Bowl squares to have?

Hope you don't get 2, 5 and 9. According to the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective post from 2013, the 2-2 square and 2-5 square (two on the favorite's axis, five on the underdog's) are among the worst, because it usually takes some combination of safeties, missed extra points or other general strangeness to get there.

For even further evidence, Print Your Brackets says there's been 12 pairs that have never been a winner: 1-1, 2-1, 3-2, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, 5-5, 6-2, 6-5, 8-7, 8-8, 9-0.

Download and print a Super Bowl squares

Ready to play? You can download squares for your own party here.