# Question Re: Super Bowl Box Pools **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 25, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-re-super-bowl-box-pools/610617 "2012-01-25T17:45:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-re-super-bowl-box-pools/610617/21 "2012-01-25T23:51:18Z")
> [@markdash](#): > > And to give a counter-example, I won my pool’s halftime bet a few years ago when Jerome Harrison “scored” a “touchdown” at the end of the first half of Steelers vs. Cardinals. James Harrison. And why did you put scored and touchdown in quotes? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-re-super-bowl-box-pools/610617/22 "2012-01-26T00:23:12Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > And why did you put scored and touchdown in quotes? Because there was no earthly reason that lumbering lummox should’ve been able to get anywhere near the end zone. Yeah, that TD cost me $450 in winnings…so I remain a bit bitter. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-re-super-bowl-box-pools/610617/23 "2012-01-26T00:23:32Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > James Harrison. > > And why did you put scored and touchdown in quotes? I know they reviewed it, but it seemed like he could have been called down short of the goal line. One of those plays where it was close enough that no matter how it was called on the field, it wouldn’t have been overturned. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-re-super-bowl-box-pools/610617/24 "2012-01-26T21:55:31Z")
You can’t outsmart stupidity. The guy is an idiot. Skammer summed it up nicely. Randomizing random numbers… uh… makes them random. I put that in the same category as the guy who wants to change one play in the middle of game and assume the rest of the game would be played exactly the same way. “If that penalty was called we would have won the game.” Really? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-re-super-bowl-box-pools/610617/25 "2012-01-26T22:30:18Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Because there was no earthly reason that lumbering lummox should’ve been able to get anywhere near the end zone. > Yeah, that TD cost me $450 in winnings…so I remain a bit bitter. And he wouldn’t have, except the Cardinals’ sideline players repeatedly blocked the path of Fitzgerald (who would have easily caught Harrison, ending the half). As a Steeler fan, I’m grateful! ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-re-super-bowl-box-pools/610617/26 "2012-01-27T19:40:29Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > That wouldn’t matter anyway, even if the guy was right about his prediction. Suppose I had divined that the Giants would get shut out. I could either grab a column of Giants and hope that I make the 1/10 shot of that column being ‘0’, as you suggest - OR- I could also grab a horizontal row of Patriots, knowing that no matter what, I get a single square of Giants=0, no matter where the Giant/0 column falls. In that case, I have a 1/10 shot of getting the matching Patriot square. > > So your way, I definitely get the Pats score and a 1/10 shot of getting the Giant=0, or the other way, I definitely get the Giant=0 and have a 1/10 shot of getting the Pats score. > > Like I said, same odds even if he’s half psychic. So, lets say he’s banking on the Giants being shut out. The scores by quarter are 0-0, 7-0, 10-0, 24-0. If he takes a Giants column, he has a 10% chance at winning every quarter. If he takes a Patriots row he will, at most, win one quarter. He’s got a very good chance at winning that quarter, so the expected value is the same, but the variance is quite different. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-re-super-bowl-box-pools/610617/27 "2012-02-06T14:36:56Z")
…and I just came in here to add that I won $80 on my “big game” squares. First drink’s on me! ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-re-super-bowl-box-pools/610617/28 "2012-02-06T14:48:48Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > …and I just came in here to add that I won $80 on my “big game” squares. First drink’s on me! $1,640 from two box pools. I’ll get the next round. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-re-super-bowl-box-pools/610617/29 "2012-04-23T18:34:07Z")
I know this is months-old, but I just saw the pool board behind my desk, and realized I never followed up on this: The guy who complained? He won the final, plus a bonus box: $420 for him. Shame we didn’t start on the other side of the board. Oh, and he didn’t tip. Man, I _do not_ care for that guy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-re-super-bowl-box-pools/610617.md?page=1)