Regardless of if you have Chiefs fatigue or not, Super Bowl Sunday is a national betting holiday that should be celebrated across our great country. And while most will talk about who they like in the game and their favorite props for two straight weeks, the action doesn't stop after the National Anthem (which many will also wager on).
In addition to generic live betting, if you are watching the Big Game with friends and family, there are plenty of betting games that can raise the stakes and get everyone's juices flowing. It's also a way to get others who don't really bet on the game involved and engaged.
Super Bowl Party Games: 7 Ideas for Chiefs-Eagles
If you're looking for some fun ideas for potential betting-related Super Bowl games to increase the sweat, you've come to the right place.
Before I get to the list of my favorite seven games, I must caveat that pre-party communication is paramount. Make sure you inform your guests in advance about what betting games you will offer (and the stakes). That way, everyone will come properly prepared with the right amount of dollars if they want to participate.
And if you prefer to watch the game by yourself — hey, I get it … I do when my team (the Ravens) makes the Super Bowl (which probably won't happen again until Patrick Mahomes retires) — you can always track your bets with the free Action Network App. You can also play some of these with groups of friends who aren't all together to watch the game, which becomes more common as you get older.
Super Bowl Squares
Audience: General
This is probably the most well-known Super Bowl betting game — and one you've most likely played before.
It's pretty simply to set up. You just need a posterboard and preferably a ruler to divide the board up into 11 rows and columns. Everyone participating then purchases random squares (everything but the top row and left-hand column) for a pre-determined price, or you can split them up evenly for a fixed buy-in with everyone filling in their respective names in the random squares. After all of the squares are filled up, you draw numbers out of a hat (0-9) to fill out the top row and left-hand column and you can flip a coin to determine whether the Eagles or Chiefs go up top.
From there, you have some flexibility. Depending on the size of the pool and buy-in amount, you can have additional payouts for the score at the end of each quarter (or just halftime) in addition to the full game, which I always have as the biggest payout for my personal pools.
If the Chiefs win the game 27-24, the person with the Chiefs 7 and Eagles 4 would win the pot (or part of the pot if you have previous payouts).
With the new extra-point rules, some of the non-key numbers are not as bad as they used to be, but you obviously still want 0's, 3's, 4's, 6's and 7's. If you do participate in a square pool, I hope you avoid the dreaded 9s.
Printable Prop Sheet
Audience: Varies
This is one of my favorites. It's a fairly simple premise. You just create a sheet with various props with different point values and then grade them at the end to determine who finished with the most points. Here are some ideas for questions:
- Game winner (or with spread)
- Game total
- First touchdown scorer
- First sack
- First interception
- Longest field goal (can use bands such as 40-45 and 45-50)
- Most receiving yards
- Most rushing yards
- Number of field goals
- Penatlies
- Over-unders for specific players (you can take from sports books)
- MVP
I love this one since you can really cater it to your audience.
If it's a more casual crowd, you can include more entertainment-based props (national anthem, coin toss, halftime performance, Taylor Swift sightings, gatorade color, etc.) or go with a more player-based sheet if you are watching with a bunch of bettors who really know the teams.
I personally like to do a mix of both.
Prop Bankroll Contest
Audience: Advanced Bettors
I like to do this one with a small group of well-seasoned bettors.
You have a defined buy-in and an imaginary bankroll amount in addition to a set number of props (or a minimum) that each participant must wager on. Each person then logs their bets (I use a Google sheet) from a pre-determined sportsbook at a certain time and the winner is whoever has the highest imaginary bank roll at the end of the game.
This game not only rewards knowledge, but also involves strategy and game theory. You must decide if you want to go with long shots (first TD, MVP, etc.), take a more conservative route or use a mix of both. And that decision will likely be influenced by the group you are competing against (both the number of people and how you think they'll approach it).
You can also do this with teams of two or three if you have a slightly bigger group. I've also done this for other big events with just one or two other friends.
Pass the Cup
Audience: General
This is the easiest and least labor-intensive game of the ones I will list. You just need a cup and dollar bills. The rules are very straightforward:
- Everyone puts in a pre-determined dollar amount in a cup.
- Create a random order to determine how the cup will be passed.
- Draw a name to determine who starts with the cup.
- The cup passes to the next person on the list after every possession change.
- The last one holding the cup takes the pot.
I personally like to divide this game up into quarters to increase the excitement. The person holding the cup at the end of the first and third quarters takes a smaller amount out, while the person at the end of each half gets a bigger payout.
Divide it up however you see fit, but be prepared for the late, meaningless Hail Mary interception cup switch. Another wrinkle is you can require the person who currently possesses the cup to have to physically hold on to it at all times, which means it would move to the next person if they accidentally put it down.
If you don't want to use a cup, you can use a football or just manually keep track of who has the imaginary cup.
MVP Hat Draw
Audience: General
For those who still need more party action, add an MVP draw before kickoff. This is also extremely easy to set up.
Simply put pieces of paper with player names in a hat and take turns picking. The person who draws the eventual MVP wins the pot, which keeps the game interesting even in the event of a blowout.
Make sure you have a field option in case someone random like a Dexter Jackson wins it, but if you play, I hope you draw a quarterback since those have won the award 33 times in 57 Super Bowls.
If you have a more advanced audience, you can also do an MVP auction in which you go down the list of favorites and see how much anybody is willing to pay for each specific player. The person who purchased the MVP then wins the total pot. You can also do this with the first touchdown scorer.
Super Bowl Betting Bingo
Audience: General
If you are willing to put in some work, creating bingo cards with different events could be a fun way to get everyone involved.
Just like in the game of Bingo, participants would cross off events on their card as they happen. You can use certain player milestones (touchdowns, catches, etc.) in addition to more generic things such as specific words the announcers might say or potential commercials.
Bonus: PostGame Action
Audience: General
Well, it is a national betting holiday, so you might not want the action to stop after you see who wins MVP and determine how your bets fared and who won the pots for any games you decided to play.
So, if you're playing host, make sure you have something planned for after the game for those still itching for action. That could be some LCR dice (make sure everyone has enough dollar bills), poker or a beer pong tournament.
Regardless of what you decide, don't forget to clear your calendar as much as you possibly can on Monday, which will hopefully be a national holiday one day.
