How To

How to Play Super Bowl Betting Squares

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Example fun super bowl betting board with squares and names.

Square board betting chart for super bowl party.

Super Bowl Betting Squares is a fun (mostly random) betting game for your Super Bowl party. If you’re hosting friends and family to watch the Super Bowl this year, you’ll want to include this game as part of your fun. Everyone, from kids to grandparents, and even non-football fans can enjoy the game when they participate in a Super Bowl Betting Squares game.

It may take a bit of convincing at first. But the people who toss $5-$20 into this fun Super Bowl betting game will be happy they did. And your hardcore sports betting friends won’t have an advantage. This isn’t an over-under bet. You’re not choosing sides. It’s pure, random fun.

How Super Bowl Betting Squares Work

All the money put in the pot will be distributed by the end of the game. So if you’re doing $1 per square, then all $100 that goes in will end up in participants’ pockets. This means Grandma might win $15, and niece Lily could be the big winner with $35. Big John might walk away with $5, and most people likely will win nothing.

But when you see your friend who doesn’t care about football rooting for a Chiefs field-goal in the 3rd quarter because it means they’ll win $5, you’ll know you’ve just upped your Super Bowl Party level to the next level. Here’s how to create a fun 10×10 square Super Bowl betting squares chart that’s fun for everyone who plays.

Materials

  • Poster board
  • Magic marker (black, permanent)
  • Deck of cards (or random numbers 0-9)
  • Basket, hat, or bowl (for the money)

Set-up

  1. Draw lines dividing the poster board into 11 x 11 squares (draw 10 lines horizontal, and 10 vertical).
    1. Pro-tip: Leave a little space on the top and left edge to write the team names.
  2. Write the team names. On the top edge write one Team Name (49ers), and on the left edge write the other Team Name (Chiefs)
  3. Have people buy squares for $1 each.
    1. The total pot will be $100 if you fill up the board. Participants aren’t betting on any team to win or any specific score. You’re essentially just buying a “ticket” to play (each square = a “ticket”).
    2. Pro-tip: Try really hard to fill-up the board. Buy all the empty squares leftover for yourself if you have to.
    3. Note: If you don’t fill up the board, it’s okay. If an empty square wins, then nobody gets paid. Everyone will be disappointed and maybe they’ll buy more squares next year!
  4. People write their names in any of the inner 10×10 squares (it’s random). Just write your name in any square. $1/square.
    1. Pro-tip: Fill the squares before kick-off. If people will arrive after kick-off, call them beforehand. Have them commit $5 or $10 to squares and you can write their names in for them beforehand. Remember, it’s random anyway, so there’s no disadvantage. They could still end up big winners!
  5. Add the numbers to the top row and left column.
    1. IMPORTANT: the numbers are filled in AFTER all the names are written in the squares. This keeps it random, and allows everyone to have an equal, random chance of winning. Use the deck of cards to draw random numbers for each square in the top row and left column. Fill them in with numbers 0-9 (yes, include 0). Don’t do it in order. Make it random!

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Super easy 7-layer dip for your Super Bowl party

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Image of a Mexican 7 layer dip.

Just like every group of friends needs the friend who usually hosts a Super Bowl Party, you also need the friend who brings that awesome 7 layer dip. If you don’t have that friend, now’s your chance to guarantee an invite to every ‘bring a dish’ party your friends throw – become that guy (not “that” guy).

I’m not going to make you “cook” anything. You don’t have to do anything other than buy the ingredients and layer them. Literally, I’m going to give you the easiest 7 layer dip recipe that you might actually search this site for more awesome recipes – sorry, I’m not a stay-at-home Dad with nothing better to do. This is the only recipe you’re going to get.

Let’s get to it.

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How to Eat Banana Leaf Rice

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Our first meal fresh off the plane in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia set the stage for the rest of the trip. Mr. J Chan, a friend I met 2.5 years ago in New Zealand, was nice enough to pick us up at the airport and take us directly to lunch. J Chan told his friends that he was going to take two Americans for their first meal in Malaysia and asked what they recommended. Multiple friends suggested he take us to eat banana leaf rice and better yet, most suggested one restaurant in particular. So that’s where we went.

Banana leaf rice is a seemingly simple dish. First, your “plate” is a banana leaf, rolled out in front of you like a placemat. Then a generous scoop of rice is plopped in the middle. Next, come an assortment of curry sauces and vegetables. That’s the basic dish, and it’s meant to be eaten with your hands.

Not wanting us to miss any of the good stuff, J Chan felt it a good idea to order a bit more. So, our meal had the addition of fried spicy calamari, fried chicken, and fish. One difficult, yet fun, part of eating the meal was trying to do so the traditional way – with only your right hand. As an American, it’s not a way of eating that I’m used to, but in actuality, it’s a more practical way of eating once you get used to the correct method. (Hint: scoop the food onto your fingers, and push into mouth with thumb)

Here’s a video we filmed on Jack’s iPhone of us eating banana leaf rice. (sorry for the low quality – hit the four arrows to go full screen):

How to Attack a Singaporean Hawker Food Centre

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What the heck is a Hawker Food Centre? First and foremost, it’s the one place you can’t miss if you travel to Singapore (or Malaysia). Secondly, it’s delicious, cheap, clean food served food-court style. The problem is that Hawker Food Centres (HFC) can be a bit overwhelming if you don’t know what you’re getting into.

There are several HFC’s all over Singapore in Little India, Chinatown, and elsewhere, so it’s not that hard to find one. What you might find difficult is choosing the best food stall to order from when there are so many choices, most of which look delicious. So here’s the best way to attack the HFC’s.

1. Decide what you want to eat.
Do you want chicken rice, char kuay teow, satay, or fish ball noodles? The last thing you want to do is get stuck wandering around an HFC trying to decide among all the options. Everybody else will know exactly what they want, where they’re going, where they’re sitting, and how to do it all. This only makes things worse for you if you don’t. I recommend chicken rice – it looks simple, but if you choose a good stall, you’ll be amazed how delicious it can be.

2. Choose a stall serving what you want.
Rule of thumb – look for the places with a queue. The locals know what’s up, and if they’re waiting in line, it’s because it’s worth it. Also, look for the busy cooks. The chefs standing around aren’t busy, which tells you a lot. The best stalls sometimes even sell out of food completely, so don’t be afraid to go earlier rather than later.

3. Order the dish and then sit down.
You can sit anywhere there’s a sit. Don’t worry about sitting close if the nearby tables are taken. The hawkers will bring you the food. If you’re out of view, point to let them know.

4. Pay when you get the food.
If you’re a foreigner, they might let you wait until you’ve finished eating, but it’s standard practice to pay when the food comes.

5. Don’t worry about cleaning up.
In Singapore, there are specific people paid to keep the HFC’s clean. As you’ll soon notice, Singapore is a very clean city.

Bonus Step: Watch the video the below: Know Before You Go. It’ll give you a few images of the Chinatown HFC in Singapore.

How to Eat Pork Spine Stew

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Haejangguk, or pork spine stew, is one of the top 3 Korean dishes you’ll want to try if you visit Korea. It’s known in Korea as the best hang-over cure, and restaurants specializing in the dish are often open until the early morning hours.

The tenderness of the meat combined with the spicy red-pepper spices and vegetables make this dishes one of the standards that I eat in Korea. It’s never hard to find a haejang-guk (pronounced hay’-chong-gook) restaurant in any town in Korea. Just act drunk and tell any passing Korean “pay go pah yo” which means “I’m hungry.” They’re bound to direct you to a haejang-guk restaurant.

Now, there’s a subtle art to eating the dish. It’s brought to you in a steaming hot pot usually with some spinach draped over the pork bones boiling in the broth. Don’t be alarmed by the bones – you’ll be eating the meat and tossing the bones aside.

Here’s how I eat it – and my recommendation for how you should eat haejang-guk.

Step 1: Remove meat from bone. Do this by holding a bone still with your spoon (or fingers) and scraping the meat down into the broth with your chopsticks. Some will fall easily, others will resist.

Step 2: Remove bone from soup. Pick the mostly meat-bare bone from the soup and place it in the empty white bowl. While picking at the other bones, this one will cool, allowing you to pick it up with your chopsticks (or fingers) and gnawing off the last bits of meaty goodness. Yes, it’s worth it.

Step 3: Enjoy. Wait a second for the soup to cool. Eat the kimchi’s sides while you wait. Try each of them and figure out which ones you like the most. Then, grab your spoon and dig into the haejang-guk.

Hint: Spoon a little rice before dipping into the broth. “Mah-she-tah” – “delicious!”

Enjoy the video below of us eating two different types of haejang-guk, the traditional pork dish, and a seafood version with clams and crab.

How to Do a White Elephant Gift Exchange

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*Bring a gift if you want to play!

Wrap a gift worth $10 or LESS! You can buy something, or simply bring something from your house. It can be a good gift, a horrible gift, for a girl, a boy, funny, or whatever you want. Funny and ridiculous gifts make the game fun!

All the gifts are placed together on the floor (in “the gift pool”).

Each person playing gets a random number.

#1 chooses any gift, unwraps it, and shows it to everyone.

#2 chooses any new gift, OR can STEAL the gift from #1

If #2 STEALS the gift from #1, then #1 chooses a new gift from the gift pool.

#3 chooses a new gift, OR can STEAL the gift from #1, or #2!

If a gift is stolen from you, you can then STEAL a gift from one other person, but NOT the gift that was just stolen from you, OR you can choose a new gift.

This continues until all the gifts have been distributed to each person playing.

SPECIAL RULE: A gift can only be STOLEN 3 times, and then it cannot be stolen anymore!

How to Do Vegas Right: 3 Simple Rules

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Gambling, hookers, booze, and staying up all night. That’s the stereotype of Vegas that the Tourism board wants you to live out. Hence the endorsed motto: What happens here, stays here. Well, if you want to know how to do Vegas right, follow these 3 simple rules!

Best way to do Las Vegas - ParisRule #1: Two nights max.

Never stay in Vegas more than 3 days, and 2 nights.

A) Your body can’t handle
B) Your mind can’t handle it
C) Your wallet (or purse) definitely can’t handle it.

The first day and night are fun. Soak up all the lights, the action, the excitement, and gamble a little. The second day and night are either a crazy blur, or a chance to see what you missed the first day. The third day you’re either hungover, or simply over it. Go home. Another night and you’ll wish you hadn’t come to Vegas at all!

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How to Play Spades

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Average hand in a game of Spades.
Average hand in a game of Spades.

How to play Spades (the card game)!

Materials:

  • 1 Deck of playing cards
  • Pen
  • Paper

Players: 4 (only)

Time: 45 mins – as long as you want

Basics:  Two teams of two, with players on the same team sitting across from each other.  Deal out all the cards (each player has 13 cards).  Bet how many ‘books’ your TEAM will win.  Win books, add up score and first to 300 (or 500) wins.

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