The stage is set for the biggest game of the year: Super Bowl LIII, between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams, at the magnificent Mercedes-Benz Stadium in SecondTicket's hometown of Atlanta. Will New England's Bill Belichick and Tom Brady continue their domination of the NFL, or will the fresh-faced Rams disrupt the NFL status quo?

We don't know the answer to that. We DO know that no fan should buy Super Bowl tickets without talking to us first. Several fans have asked us about this ESPN story, which gives a relatively accurate picture of the Super Bowl ticket marketplace but stops short of suggesting best practices for fans. So talk to us first, for reasons we touch on in our 2019 SecondTicket preview, even if you end up buying tickets elsewhere or not at all.

And we also know that, for the 12th straight year, we're running a free pool in which you may win credits that may be redeemed for any tickets on our website. Here's why the WayCool Super Ticket Pool should be a part of your Super Bowl weekend.

FREE & EASY TO PLAY
Most Super Bowl pools are not free, but this one is. (All SecondTicket pools are free.) It can take as few as 10 seconds to make your picks. If you'd like to take longer, you are, of course, welcome to do so, but all you have to do is pick the coin toss, the first scoring play (team, type, and minute), and the game's final score.

WIN UP TO $500 IN TICKETS
The pool champion will win between $100 and $500 in free tickets, depending on the quality of picks and number of participating fans. All other fans can win up to $20 in free tickets.

TIPS FOR WINNING OUR SUPER BOWL POOL
Here are some interesting tidbits and tips to give yourself an advantage in the pool:

1. Fans love to pick heads. The Super Bowl coin toss odds are obviously 50% heads vs. tails, but in the first eight years of the pool, fans were right only 36% of the time. That's evened out recently, as the 11 year percentage is 48%.
2. The favored team has scored first in 62% of Super Bowls, and the first team to score has also won the game 65% of the time. Tip: Align your 'first team to score' and final score predictions. Since the first team to score wins 65% of the time, you're betting against yourself if you predict that the first team to score will lose the game.
3. The most common three-minute segment in which the Super Bowl's first scoring play has occurred are minutes four, five and six. Tip: Align your 'minute of first scoring play' prediction with the total number of points you predict. If you think the first scoring play will occur early, that generally implies you think the game will be higher scoring.

Finally, remember that you may change your predictions until 6:00p ET on game day. So if a key player gets injured, arrested, or just doesn't show up for the game, you may wish to revise your picks.

And don't forget that the winner of the pool will also take the early lead in The 2019 Mega Pool.

So enjoy the game, enjoy the parties, enjoy the commercials, but most of all, play the pool and enjoy winning stuff! Good luck!

*This post was lightly edited on 1/28/19