Super Bowl Betting Pools

The smoke has cleared and the favored New England Patriots will be taking on the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. Most people don’t have the luxury of making the trip to the big game so they will be forced to settle for Super Bowl parties and the bar scene, which isn’t so bad. To add to your Super Bowl excitement, we have cooked up this article on Super Bowl betting pools for you guys to have at it at your Super Bowl bash.

Without a doubt, the most popular betting pool for the big game is the 100-square pool. Here’s the easy run down on how this works if you have never seen it before. You need to concoct a 10×10 grid and number each grid zero through nine on the top and along the side. For this Super Bowl, you’ll put the Patriots at the top of the grid and the Giants on the side. Now we have the basic 100-square grid for our pool.

Unless you have a wealthy group, charging a dollar a square is usually the norm. That would make the pot $100. Charge 20 bucks a square and you have got yourself a pot worth taking down. The only drawback with this pool is that luck is more involved with winning than skill, but that also increases the fun.

You can either draw squares out of a hat or sell them. If you want to get really creative, you can sell the most effective scoring squares for more, but I think a random drawing is the way to go. For example the 7-3 square would be better than the 8-6 square because scores most generally end in the aforementioned numbers.

So after the squares are divvied out, you are all set to go. Smaller prizes are usually awarded to the winners of each quarter and a grand prize goes to the person whose square reflects the game’s final score. Here’s how you win. Let’s say the score is 17-3 in favor of the Patriots at the half. The person with the 7-3 square would win the prize. Having winners after each quarter will keep everyone involved throughout the game.

Another thing you can do is put together a wager sheet for you and all of your Super Bowl party guests. Have it include the money line winner, spread winner, total winner, and as many prop bets as you would like. Bodog Sportsbook is a very good resource for prop bets if you need some help. Set an amount for guests to pay to play and let the winner of the most wagers take the pot. Use a prediction of the game’s final score as your tie breaker or spilt the pot if there is a tie.