how to set up a super bowl pool
How to Set Up a Super Bowl Pool
Planning to throw a Super Bowl party this year? Read this Buzzle article to know how to set up a super bowl pool for your guests.
Legal Risk
According to Federal Law, it is illegal to publicly organize or participate in super bowl pools since it is a type of betting game that is based entirely on chance and involves a cash prize.Requirements for the Super Bowl Pool
- A pool administrator
- Super Bowl square grid
- 10 equal-sized pieces of paper
- A hat or a medium-sized bowl
- Large group of people (should not exceed 100)
How to Make a Super Bowl Square Grid
Note: Making and setting up the Super Bowl square grid is the sole responsibility of the pool administrator. Here, we assume that you are the pool administrator who is organizing the Super Bowl pool event.
Requirements
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Super Bowl Pool 10 × 10 Grid Layout
- A poster board
- Markers: Black, Red, Blue
- Ruler
- Draw a 10 × 10 grid on the board using the black marker and ruler. You will have 100 square blocks across the board. Make sure that there is enough space for names or initials in each of the squares.
- Write down the name of one team horizontally on the top, and the other team name vertically on the left. For instance, the team name Houston Tigers is written on top, whereas, the other team name Cleveland Lions is written on the left.
Steps to Set Up a Super Bowl Pool
Now that you have the grid ready, it's time to announce the price per unit of the grid. Let's say the price of one square is USD 5.![]()
Initials of Grid Owners on the Super Bowl Pool
- Allow people to randomly choose and buy the squares from the board. (Note: A person can buy more than 1 square, unless specified otherwise.) The money thus collected will be given as prize money to the winner. So, it will be a USD 500 payoff to whoever wins the pool. Alternatively, you may also plan to give away prizes for the winners of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd quarters, respectively. In this case, decide on a payout schedule. For instance, you could give 10% of the total pool money for the correct 1st quarter score, 10% for the correct 2nd quarter score, 10% for the correct 3rd quarter score, and the remaining 70% for the correct final score.
- Once all the grids are sold out, write down the name or initials of the person on the corresponding grid that he/she has purchased. (Use the black marker)
- Take the 10 pieces of paper, and write down only one number from 0 through 9 on all papers using the red marker. (Note: Do not repeat any number.)
- Fold all the pieces of paper and keep them in a hat/bowl.
Rules for Super Bowl Pool
Now that you have set up the Super Bowl pool, let's look at how to play the game.![]()
Winning Grid of the Super Bowl Pool
- Draw out random numbers from the hat/bowl, one at a time, and write them over the top row of squares, starting from the left and moving towards the right. (Note: Use the blue marker. Keep the unfolded paper aside, not in the hat/bowl.) Continue till all the numbers have been drawn out.
- Fold all the papers and toss them in the hat/bowl.
- Repeat step 1, but this time write the numbers (one at a time) along the left side of the grid next to each square, starting from the top and moving towards the bottom.
- The numbers across the rows will represent the last digits of Houston Tigers' team score, while the numbers across the column will represent the last digits of Cleveland Lions' score. Take the last digits of each team's final scores to spot the grid where these numbers intersect. The owner of the grid where the last digits of each team intersects will be the winner. For instance, if the score at the end of the 1st quarter for the Houston Tigers is 21, and that of the Cleveland Lions is 14, then the winning grid will be (4, 1) (column, row), and the owner of that grid will be the winner for that quarter. In this illustration, the person having the initial W is the winner of the 1st quarter.
- Repeat the steps from 1 - 5 for the 2nd, 3rd, and final match score, respectively.
- As scheduled, give away the prize money to the winners.