SoCal man sues to get share of $315 million lottery jackpotPrevious TopicNext Topic

SATURDAY...12/17

LOLOLOLOLOL..........I LIKE THAT ONE......

HAPPY SATURDAY..."K"

12/17

No, the point I am making is that from the context of the story, it appears that this "office poole" is consistent. They appear or appeared to be a friendly "clique" that always plays together and maintains a healthy rappor and comradery.  In the fst story which appeared a month ago, the impression I was left with, was that the "absentee player" called in sick that day.

I had suggested that it would seem to me that someone in that small group of(only 7) could have called him to determine if he wanted to be included, as he may not have known they were going to play on that day he was out, or he may not have initially known he wouldn't be at work on that day....Had someone taken the time to call, this Drama could have been avoided. Afterall they are a small group.

In that context you have a very valid point ... someone could have called, "loaned" him the money to go in and would have been smooth sailing. 

Hate to play devil's advocate but it does have several sides. 

However, personally like the idea of pools that have a written framework and paper trail to establish clear intent.

Maybe since it may not have those elements it can be worked out prior to going to court so the lawyers won't get quite so fat.

I think that in many cases people never expect to win large sums of money and get lackadaisical when it comes to placing their bets. This is why when people ask me to "pick me up a lotto ticket" I always say "get your own, sorry. Want a ride?" (there's a 7-11 around the corner) Sounds mean, but I have a strict rule about that since who is to say if I purchase several tickets and one of them wins, that person won't then accuse me of using her money to buy the winning ticket? Bearer instrument or not, it still puts your face on the news, creates legal fees, etc. Not worth it.  Years ago I'd buy lottery tickets for friends & coworkers and then didn't get paid. Ya know the old "I'll catch you next week" excuse. I'm sure if they were winners, they'd be very happy to hand me a few bucks.  However, I still would like to find a well organized pool with established rules in my area.

"A medical lab technician has sued seven co-workers who shared a $315 million Mega Millions multi-state lottery jackpot, claiming he deserves a share of the money.

Jonathan De La Cruz says he had always been part of the group when they bought lottery tickets but was off work the day they bought the winning ticket."

I guess Mr Cruz thinks his long association (a few months at most) with some of the members of that pool entitled him to a portion of their lottery winnings.  I wouldn't be surprised if ever a LP member won a large jackpot some here at LP might think the same way.

I read a post of one member who said he consider it a common courtesy for anyone playing "his" posted numbers to send him a portion of their winnings (not their losses).

Yeah, SUE me and ZILCH!!!  Now how could you not participate in the club.  Work or no work.  Can you not meet with somebody to give them your share of the money!?? DUH!    But you are slick enough to sue later, come on now!  You could have called somebody and told them to put your share in for you... OKAY?! 

One article that I read stated Mr. Cruz believed so much that the group had an oral agreement that everyone would be included when they pooled their money to buy tickets that he stopped buying any tickets at all.  Apparently he thought his co-worker were looking out for him even when he wasn't looking out for himself.

 Smart thinking; it's nothing but grief getting mixed up with other people's gambling habits. My dad ran a pool once and he also bought tickets for himself. If he ever won a jackpot with "his tickets"..imagine the lawsuits and recriminations! If "I" would have won with a ticket I bought, both my dad  and I would likely face a lawsiut. Forget about it. As far as finding a good pool to join, just be sure that this pool has some formal rules that they play by-namely the status of players who don't chip in to the Pool Pot before a specific drawing etc.  While the concept is good, Pools are often a source of grief. (In Spain where the GORDO lottery goes beyond a billion dollars, pools work fabulously...multiple pools always hit with hundreds of winners and no litigation. But, we have more lawyers in Manhattan than they do in the whole of Spain...you get the drift.) Also, thanks for the response the other day.

My rule is I'm a 10% owner if I buy you  a winner.  And I keep the ticket or sign it as the part owner.  not sure how it would stand up n court but most people would be happy to share 10%

Theory or actual practice? Do you buy for people and sign their tickets? What's their response? If you sign a lottery ticket you are it's owner; people accept tickets with your name on the back? If they hit and then sign their names, you could claim half...trouble. You really cannot arbitrarily declare yourself a 10% partner just for buying a ticket...and have your claim survive a civil lawsuit. In my State, the partnership arrangement must be made and verifiable BEFORE the ticket was purchased. If you really declare yourself a partner with the other party's consent, if you can prove it, you're ok, otherwise prepare for the "court date " if your being unilateral and arbitrary. Best of luck!

demonter - i agree whole-heartedly here. There is a rule stated in my pool that if the trustee of the pool ( being me) buys his own separate tickets, then those tickets MUST BE POSTED to the rest of the group before that drawing, or else they become property of the pool. Pool members are responsible for looking at the updated board for changes. It is signed in their Agreement. Therefore, we avoid any frivolous lawsuits. I rarely buy extra Powerball tickets anyway, just because I have a large stake in the pool already, so more individual tickets are really a waste of my money. However, sometimes someone in my family will buy them and I immediately post those.

I don't hold my members responsible for their own tickets that they may purchase too, and that is also signed in the Agreement that if they buy their own and they win, that is not part of the Pool and nobody in the pool can make a claim against those tickets.

But...lol...in good karma, I would probably "donate" some winnings to the pool if I won on my own.

S-M-A-R-T...smart! You as the "poolmeister " must plan ahead. Being prepared for a win is good sense; why are we all playing? In your specific case, the Pool makes sense, pools substantially increase each individual's chances of winning a jackpot. Caution and planning  are essential. Best of luck!

HAPPY SUNDAY....12/18......(6 MORE DAYS BEFORE cHRISTMAS)

Whatever happens, this issue/incident is a Lesson to be learned by everyone who has an "oral arrrangement" among "office poole" members.....At this point everything is conjecture because he claims to have played w/their little group(7 collective bodies total)each time they played. While they maintain, he last played w/them 1 year ago....If his argument is strong, and apparently his atty feels he has such a case, then he could sache' all the way to the bank, when the courts settle the suit.....I knew and stated it would come down to this.....it was much tooooo quiet in CALI, after they won, and said they would throw a "Pizza Party" for the other co-workers at Kaiser.......Some "office pooles" work out very effectively, which exemplifies the rappor and comradery among the collective body of players......But, I do agree, that it's better to play alone or within the family.......Family members appear to make a better "collective poole" than "office pooles"

I keep away from Pools, however if one desires to participate in a Pool there are some important  precautions that the Pool members must initiate. Read "Demonter's Blog-Lottery Pools" for my ideas about the essentials concerning administering a Lottery Pool.

It does not take much for some people to feel connected to a lottery winner enough to share their money.  The last time I collected $500 from a lottery ticket the clerk asked jokily about her share.  I think she might have thought saying "good luck" when I bought my tickets qualified her as my partner when I won. 

More and more I see stories of people who have some association (co-worker, neighbor  or friend) with groups or person who has won a lottery jackpot, claiming they would have contributed to buying the tickets had they only known they would would finally win therefore they are entitled to part of their winnings.