Beware of sharks swimming in your office lottery pool

There you go. Another downside to winning the lottery that most people probably never thought about. You don't win enough to retire, so you keep your job. Your employer is afraid you'll quit in a few months or a year, so they take the first chance they get to give your job to somebody else.

Of course it's possible that the company really downsized and had other good reasons to eliminate that office, but I'd guess that worries that they could lose a substantial portion of the staff was a big factor in whatever reorganization they did.

He probably got a bottle of corn and got hisself pickled!

I was in a pool with 9 others at a local pub. We never had a problem, of any kind. We played $50 a draw, mostly lotto, sometimes Mega Money when it was high. We had one 5/6, paid $6000 +. We had one person with everyone's info go to local lottery office. The pool disbanded when Hurricane Charlie blew the bar away.

Me and 2 coworkers each put $2 towards a $6 Powerball ticket. I bought the ticket yesterday, went home, made 2 copies for my coworkers, and then this morning, gave them their copy of the ticket. On my way home today, I stopped and bought my own $10 ticket. Now lets say that the $10 ticket wins the jackpot, does anyone think they have any reason to suspect foul play on my part after they found out I won? Does anyone think they could concoct some sort of story and form a lawsuit? We have never had a lottery pool at work before.

I'm not an attorney, but I think you are covered, because of the time stamp on the tickets. Don't show them your ticket or a copy of your ticket. They don't know what numbers you played.

It doesn't matter what anyone here thinks.You are just setting yourself up for a lawsuit.It happens almost everytime that someone joins a pool that doesn't have a contrct spelling out the rules of the pool.H3ll,it happens even if you DO have a contract.Pools are no good,period!This just my opinion,others will tell you otherwise.I suspect they just like to read about the lawsuit,though.

yea, where is the ole coot at! where you at ridge runner?

I don't think they would really have a case because the tickets were purchased on separate days, they were given copies of the pool ticket, and a $10 ticket would bring up the topic of contribution given the fact that there was 3 people.

Ever hear the name Merlande Wilson? She's the McDonald's worker who didn't even win and is being sued by her coworkers. You've just done almost exactly what she said did, IIRC. She admitted to being part of the pool, but said the winning ticket was one she bought on her own. At the time her coworkers claimed that when the jackpot was increased they decided to buy more tickets and gave her the money to do it, so they believed the winning ticket she claimed to have belonged to the pool.

Giving somebody copies of tickets that were bought for the pool provides some evidence that those tickets belong to the pool. Not giving somebody copies of tickets doesn't prove anything. A good contract will specify what tickets belong to the  pool and what tickets don't, unless the person who buys the tickets wants to risk sharing a personal prize with the group.

I run a pool at my office. There are 13 of us in it total and we each put $4 on payday(every other Friday) in. We buy a mix of Powerball, Lotto, and MegaMillions tickets. My members all pay timely except for one because she got promoted to a job where she travels a lot, so I cover her and she pays me back when she returns to the office. She and I started the pool when we were office mates, then others asked to join and it's up to 13. A few of the members have since retired, but they pay me for several weeks up front and I email them when they owe, and they are good about getting the money to me.

One thing I've always done is copy the tickets and give a copy to each member. I know at least one member was turning around and throwing hers in the trash after I gave it to her. We've since been told to cut down on our paper and copier use, since we now get charged per copy, so I now scan the tickets as a PDF and email them to everyone.

One member did once say I could have won the money and not told them and kept it for myself, which kind of bothered me so I pointed out that since I give them copies of the tickets, I'd a be a fool to try that but she said "nobody looks at them." That member left the pool upon retirement and has since passed on, so I don't have to worry about her anymore.

Our group has never won a big jackpot, the most we've won is around $100 in one set of tickets. When we win smaller amounts, like $1, $2, etc., I roll it back in and buy more tickets but if we win a larger amount like $100, I put it to a vote of the membership what to do with it. Many don't vote and just say they'll go along with everyone else. When Louisiana was conducting its $10/ticket Millionaire Raffle game, our pool won around $10 and I put it to a vote of the members if they wanted to take a shot at a Millionaire Raffle ticket and the majority did.

This article had some good advice for those who want to operate or join a pool, good work Todd.

Smart woman you are.

These people are really funny...but they are just telling the truth with "What if"...

Lottery lawyers will surely come and knock on your door to offer their services... Haha...beware of this.

I buy the tix for my office pool. Same 4 of us have contributed $6 each for powerball since 2009.

After buying them I take a pic of the tix with my iphone and mail it to them, Bcc'ing my personal email. I also sign the back and put their initials for them to sign if and when we win.

That way I have current and historical records of what was purchased for the group.

I also by some of my own that I DO NOT take pics of or send to them ---those are mine. I've thought Of what could happen if mine win and theirs don't but too bad. They buy some of their own too.

I think the line is clearly drawn and they wouldn't have a case if they tried, not that I expect that to happen.