Super Bowl Squares 101: Everything You Need to Know About Box Pools

Super Bowl squares—also known as box pools—are the most popular Super Bowl betting game, and here’s a simple breakdown of how they work, how payouts are structured, and why anyone can play.

The Super Bowl LX (60) logo is unveiled at the Super Bowl LIX host committee handoff press conference. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

With the Super Bowl quickly approaching, fantasy is essentially over outside of DFS lineups, but there will be a ton of prop bets and pools. The most popular Super Bowl pool is a box pool. This is when you pay an entry fee, get two numbers, and if your numbers hit, you win your cut of the pool. We'll go into more detail. 

Super Bowl Squares Explained

There will be a 10 X 10 board filled with empty boxes. You will write your name in one of the boxes. After all the boxes are filled, each box will be assigned two numbers at random from 0 - 1. One number represents the final digit in the AFC Super Bowl representatives' score, and the other the final digit of the NFC Super Bowl representatives' score. For example, if the score this season is Seahawks 21 and Patriots 20, the box that wins will be NFC 1, AFC 0.

For those buying multiple squares, it’s best to avoid stacking them in the same row or column, as doing so increases the risk of landing the same unfavorable number combination more than once. We'll have another article about the best and worst numbers to draw when entering a competition like this.

Circa Squares® are back! 🏈🏆🏟️
• Pick your own squares for each quarter of the big game
• Each square has its own odds
• Bet as many squares as you like
• Minimum $1 bet

Bet Circa Squares® at the sportsbook counter or on the @CircaSports app!

👉https://t.co/3HJywBw2Zx pic.twitter.com/YTbehxRJWd

— Circa Sports (@CircaSports) January 26, 2026

Super Bowl Squares Prizes

In some box pools, prizes are given out for halftime and the final score, others do all four quarters, and some just do the final score. Others get more complex and reverse the numbers or use timers for how long the score stays the same. However, most are just by the quarter or half.

The prizes also usually get bigger as you get deeper into the game, although halftime usually dishes out more money than the third quarter. For example, if your pool has a total of $1000 dollars to give out, the final score could be $500, halftime $300, and the first and third quarter $100 each. You could also set it up so that the third quarter is more than the first quarter. As long as the prizes are made clear beforehand and the final score is the biggest prize, you can break up the pot however you like for the most part.

A Casual Way To Add Excitement To The Super Bowl

This is a fun way to keep people invested in the game, and you don't have to have any real football knowledge to participate and understand what's going on, other than a basic understanding of numbers and quarters. The Super Bowl is an event that a lot of non-football fans take part in, so a box pool is perfect for a party with casual fans and super fans alike. That's why you will see pools like this at parties, bars, and even in work offices, although, if you are running a box pool, you should check with your employer about their rules regarding things like that.