Run a squares pool

Squares - also called football squares or a squares pool - is the easiest sports game there is. There are no picks and no skill: you own random squares on a grid, and whether you win comes down to the last digit of the score. That's exactly why it's the office game that gets everyone in, not just the sports nerds.

The grid

You start with a 10×10 grid - 100 squares. One team is assigned to the columns (across the top), the other to the rows (down the side). People claim squares, one dollar or one entry at a time. With 100 squares you can run it 10 ways to Sunday: 10 people with 10 squares each, 25 with four apiece, or a whole floor with one square each.

The number draw

This is the part that keeps it fair, and you never skip it. Only once every square is claimed, the digits 0 through 9 are shuffled across the top row and, separately, down the side column. Because nobody knows which numbers they hold until the draw, no square is worth more than any other when people are picking. Draw the numbers before the grid is full and you've broken the game.

How winners are decided

At the end of each quarter, take the last digit of each team's score. Find that digit along the top for one team and down the side for the other - the square where they cross wins that quarter. Example: the score is 17-10, so you look at column 7 and row 0, and whoever owns that square takes the quarter.

Payouts

Most pools pay out at the end of each quarter, usually a smaller cut for the first three quarters and the biggest for the final score - a classic split is 20% / 20% / 20% / 40%. It's your pool, so set whatever the group agrees on. Keep it friendly: it's bragging rights, not a bookmaker.

The variants people actually run

• Standard squares. One board, one number draw, payout each quarter. The default.
• Reverse (crossover) squares. Also pay the square with the digits flipped - if 7-0 wins, 0-7 wins too. Spreads the winnings around and doubles the drama.
• Multiple number sets. Re-draw the 0-9 on both axes each quarter so the same square can't win all night. Great for bigger groups who want more winners.
• Multiple boards. Run several grids for one game when you've got more than 100 buy-ins.

Trofeo.live handles all of these - pick your format when you set up the pool and it scores itself.

A squares pool always starts the same way: someone draws a grid, collects everyone's squares, hand-writes the numbers, then spends the game fielding "wait, did I win the quarter?" texts. Trofeo.live runs the whole thing.

• Grid built for you. Deal all 100 squares to your group evenly and at random - use the free squares generator to build the board in one click.
• Live, auto-scored quarters. We track the game and crown each quarter's winner the moment the score's final - no last-digit math, no disputes.
• One link to join. Share a link in the group chat or Slack; players grab squares with a display name. No accounts, nothing to download.
• Public proof. Every quarter's winner is up in lights and screenshot-ready for the group chat.
• Run it anywhere. A living room, a bar, or the whole company - same setup, your branding.

Set the payout, share the link, and let the last digit do the talking.