How it works
A squares pool is a 10×10 grid. One team’s score runs across the top, the other’s down the side. Claim your squares, let the numbers get drawn, and the score at the end of each period decides who wins. Here’s the whole thing, from both sides.
If you’re playing
Open the pool
You get a link from whoever's running it. Public pools open straight to the grid; private ones ask you to sign in first.
Pencil in your squares
Tap the open squares you want — they hold as your picks right away. When you tap Claim, you sign in once to lock them in, and they're yours. On your first claim you're asked what to call you in this pool, and whether to hide your account name from other players — two separate choices.
Wait for the draw
Once the grid is full and the admin locks it, digits 0–9 are shuffled onto the rows and columns at random. The draw happens after everyone has claimed — so nobody can pick the good numbers on purpose.
Watch the score
At the end of each scoring period, the last digit of each team's score points at one square. Its owner wins that period's share of the pot. How many times a pool pays depends on the game: football and most basketball pay four times, while a men's college basketball pool pays twice — at the half and the final.
Settle up
The app tracks what everyone owes and is owed, but never touches the money — you pay each other directly, the way you already do. Your ledger tells you exactly where you stand.
If you’re running the pool
Create the pool
Name it, choose public or private, set the buy-in and grid size (10×10 or 5×5). Pick the game and the team names fill themselves in.
Share the link
Public pool: share the link and anyone can spectate and claim. Private pool: share the invite link — you can rotate it anytime to cut off a link that's gotten around.
Lock when it's full
You lock the grid when claiming's done. Set a claim deadline and new claims stop the moment it passes — but locking the grid stays your call, so nothing locks by surprise. Prefer hands-off? Autopilot can lock, draw, and accept results for you.
Draw the numbers
Let the app draw for you, or enter the numbers by hand if you're pulling them from a hat at the party. Either way the reveal animates for everyone watching.
Enter the scores
Auto-scoring fills in the periods when it can, and you can always enter or correct a score by hand — a manual pool works exactly the same, so a backyard game is no different from the big one.
Finalize
When the game's over, finalize to freeze the winners and payouts. That's when the pot and everyone's share become final.
How the pot is split
The default gives every period an equal share and the final a double one — 20/20/20/40 across a football game’s four quarters, or 33/67 across two halves. The admin can change the split, and pools can turn on extras like reverse winners or fresh numbers each period. Whatever the setup, the app never holds the money: it just keeps the math and the “who’s paid” straight so nobody has to.