Run NBA Squares Pools the Easy Way
Fill your board faster, keep players updated, and automatically track scores and winners all in one place.
How It Works
Create your board
Choose from multiple game modes, scoring options, and prizes.
Share with others
Our host tools make it easy to share your board, fill the squares, and collect payments quickly.
Track scores & winners automatically
We update scores in real time, determine winners for each game, and notify players automatically so you don’t have to manage a thing.
See For Yourself
100 squares available
Playing as: You. Choose your squares!
Players (8)
Why Choose Our Squares Board
Built on three core principles: Easy, Fun, and Fast, and it works for a single game or a full NBA playoff series.
Automatically track scores & winners
Scores and winners are updated in real time automatically.
Keep players updated
Players stay in the loop with updates and notifications for each game.
Mobile-optimized
Perfect for in-person events, and it works great on phones and tablets.
Multiple scoring options
Keep your players engaged with multiple game modes, like final scores, reverse scores, touching squares, and more.
Multiple game options
One board, multiple games. Run a slate for the Thanksgiving Day games, the March Madness Tournament, an NBA series, or just 1 game like the Super Bowl.
Multiple board types
Keep it classic with a 10x10 board, or tone it down with a smaller, 5x5 board for a smaller group.
Multiple sports
Choose from multiple football and basketball leagues, like the NFL, NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball, and the NBA.
Fun animations
Make game day more exciting with animations for key events, scoring changes, and winners.
Fill your board faster
Our host tools make it easy to share and fill your board.
Collect payments
Players can use one-click payment links through supported payment methods, like Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, or Zelle.
Players pick their squares
Players can pick their own squares and join the pool in seconds.
How We Compare
| Our App | PDFs/Sheets | Other Sites | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic winner detection | Sometimes | ||
| Real-time updates | No/Manual | Sometimes | |
| Mobile-optimized | Yes/Limited | Varies | |
| Setup time | <5 minutes | 10-15+ minutes | 5-10 minutes |
| Fun animations | Rarely | ||
| Flexible payment options | Sometimes | ||
| Multiple games on 1 board | Rarely | ||
| Board Creation Limits | Unlimited | Per board | Per board |
| Cost | One Game Pass - $12.99 | Free | Free to $25/board |
What Hosts Are Saying
Real feedback from people running Play Squares boards.
“After years of using pen and paper, this was such a welcome upgrade. It was easy to set up and share for our Super Bowl party.”
“As a host, this saves so much time and eliminates manual errors. The interface is easy for players, and I'll use this for every event I host.”
“Even my older uncle had no issues picking squares. I felt confident sharing it with everyone, and it was completely worth the price.”
How Do NBA Squares Work?
NBA squares use the same grid as football squares. Players claim squares, the digits 0 through 9 get randomized across the top for the home team and down the side for the away team, and each scoring period goes to the square matching the last digit of both scores. What changes in basketball is how those last digits behave.
Every digit stays in play
NBA teams averaged about 115 points a game in 2025-26, so the last digit of a score moves on nearly every trip down the floor and no number gets stuck. We pulled all 1,235 games from the 2025-26 NBA regular season and set them against five NFL regular seasons (2021-2025, 1,359 games). The figures show how often a digit lands as one team's last digit:
| Last digit | NBA | NFL |
|---|---|---|
| End of 1st quarter, most common | 0 (11.1%) | 0 (41.0%) |
| End of 1st quarter, least common | 7 (8.9%) | 5 (0.1%) |
| Final score, range across all 10 digits | 9.4% to 10.8% | 4.7% to 18.4% |
On a football board, a square that draws a 2 or a 5 spends most of the first quarter as a spectator. On an NBA board, that same square has about the same shot as any other, which keeps every player in the game from the opening tip.
The pending winner changes all quarter
Because the score changes so often, the square that would win the quarter if it ended right now can change many times before the buzzer. Play Squares tracks the live score and highlights that pending winner on the board, so players can watch their square come and go on their own phone instead of texting the host to ask who's winning.
Pick a game, or the whole postseason
With 82 regular-season games per team from October to April, a board on one big national game makes an easy weeknight pool. The playoffs run from April into June, and that's where a board covering a full series earns its keep.
Our walk-through of an NBA playoff series squares pool covers one board across a best-of-seven step by step, and our squares rules explain overtime, repeat winners and the reverse score rule, which work the same way on a basketball board. Anyone raising money for a team can start with our basketball fundraiser ideas.
Simple, Transparent Pricing
One Game Pass - $12.99
Best for single-event hosts.
- Host a squares pool for 1 game
- Players join for free
- One-time purchase (no subscription)
One Month Pass - $29.99
Best for hosting multiple pools over a short period, such as playoffs, tournaments, or busy game stretches.
- Host unlimited squares pools for 30 days
- Add multiple games to a single board
- Players join for free
- One-time purchase (no subscription)
One Year Pass - $79.99
Best for frequent or season-long hosts.
- Host unlimited squares pools for 1 year
- Use across all sports and seasons
- Players join for free
- One-time purchase (no subscription)
30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee
If you're not satisfied, we'll refund you. No questions asked.