With the big stinks raised recently surrounding Mr. Lopes and Ms. Wilson, seems like playing in a lottery pool has become all the more unattractive. I'd highly recommend against playing the lottery in a group, but if you must, definitely get a set of specific rules together that everyone will agree on and get everything in writing.

Just put together an example lotto pool SOP to get an idea of how a well run and honest lottery pool could work.

 

Mega Millions, Power Ball, and Texas Lottery, Lotto Pool Rules

Terms and Definitions

• CVO = Cash Value Option a.k.a. Lump Sum. All Lottery purchases within the lotto pool will use this option.
• Annuity = Jackpot payments divided up and issued over a period of 25 to 30 years. We will not be using this option.
• QP = Quick Pick or numbers chosen by the lottery retailer machines.

 

Membership and Methods of Play

• All members currently participating in the lottery pool will receive a personal copy of our rules and will be required to sign a statement indicating that they have read our rules.
• We permit a maximum of 10 participants at any given time. Prizes originating from our lotto pool purchases will be split evenly, for a minimum of a 10% to a maximum of 50% share of large prizes.
• If our membership fills up, anyone seeking to join our lottery pool must wait for a member to completely sever their ties to the pool, for more information see Payment section.
• We will be playing all three large jackpot games available in Texas. Power Ball, Mega Millions and Texas Lottery.
• Default number selection will be done by QP. Members may opt to submit a set of pre-chosen numbers to be used for specific drawings. If a member drops out of the lottery pool, their submitted number set(s) will no longer be used.
• The store name and location where the lottery tickets will be purchased, will be listed on the bi-weekly collection sheet.
• Members are not required to share any winnings gained outside of the main lottery pool with their own personal sets of numbers or QP’s. Members may still do so if they choose, please submit all plans for sharing in writing. Member may change their plans, please submit a new application on the day before the drawing.
• Pool President may continue to play outside of the group, but he/she must either choose Annuity for his/her own set of numbers or if playing by CVO, must purchase them at a different retailer from the one where the lotto pool tickets are bought. This will prevent conflicts should the Pool President win outside of the group.

 

Payment

For all Jackpots Under $200 Million

•   $5 due every Monday and Thursday. This covers one chance each on the next Mega Millions ($1), Texas Lottery ($1) and Power Ball with Power Play ($3).
• Monday payments will cover Lottery draws on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Thursday payments will cover Lottery draws on Friday and Saturday.
• Players may contribute funds for up to 10 drawings in advance ($50).
• Players who stop on payments are still guaranteed a spot in the pool but, not to exceed 1 drawing past the last one that they pay for.   Players that abuse this rule will be removed from the lottery pool. (For example, show a history of only paying on the Monday collection, but don’t cover for the latter part of the week multiple times per month.)
• Players that are absent over 1 drawing will be dropped from the pool until there is room for them to re-enter .

 

For all Jackpots Over $200 Million

• A special collection outside of the standard one will take place on the Monday or Thursday before the drawing. Funds collected will go into tickets for the specific game.
• Contributions per player will not exceed $10 for any given drawing.
• Playing extra numbers does not boost the percentage of one member’s share over another’s, regardless if one player only plays $1. It only boosts the entire lottery pool’s chances of winning.

 

Notifications

• Tickets will be scanned and a copy will be attached to e-mail to be sent out to all lottery pool members the evening of purchase.
• Notifications of all wins will be done via e-mail.

 

Claiming Prizes

Amounts under $50.- Ticket will be cashed in at the store of purchase and prize money will go back in to the lotto pool for the next drawing.

Amounts $50 to $599.- Ticket will be cashed in at the store of purchase and the prize split equally among current lottery pool members. Players have the option of using their winnings to pay for future draws.

Amounts $600 to $40,000.- Prizes must be claimed at the local lottery claim center. Ticket will be cashed in and the prize split equally among current lottery pool members.

Amounts $250,000 or greater. - Legal and financial support will be sought after a meeting with all current lotto pool members. Prize will be claimed via trust, partnership, corporation, or any other legal entity to protect member privacy. Prize will be claimed at either the lottery commission headquarters in Austin, TX or at the local lottery claim center if possible. Pool members will split the cost of attorney and advisor fees evenly.

 

How Splitting a Lotto Jackpot Prize Would Look on Paper

• Our group wins a CVO of $100M and there are currently 10 members in our lottery pool.
• The CVO after Federal taxes are taken out by the Texas Lottery Commission would be $75M ($100M – 25% tax)
• $75M gets split 10 ways for $7.5M each.
• We will be responsible for an additional 10% in Federal taxes at the end of the year off the original CVO of $100M. So we would each be responsible for another $1M in taxes to Uncle Sam. This leaves each of us with $6.5M to invest and spend as we please.

 

List of Important Documents

Members may request a current copy by e-mail at anytime. Please contact current Pool President for more information.

• Lotto Pool Rules (Microsoft Word format)
• Sharing/Not Sharing  Statements (Microsoft Word format)
• Lotto Pool Regular Numbers and Member Contact Sheet (Microsoft Word format)
• Blank Member Application (Microsoft Word format)
• Member Payment History (Microsoft Excel format)
• Blank Collection Sheet (Microsoft Excel format)
• Filled out collection sheets (Kept for a minimum of 2 years. Need to be scanned, can be e-mailed in .jpg image format)