Who didn't know this was coming ?

This was a joke here at LP immediately following their win.  There were those who joked that someone who normally participated but didn't for whatever reason would sue to try to break in and gain a piece of the action.  The truth is, its sad. 

Yeah, I expect that with my lottery club here at work too. The thing is, I had them ALL sign contracts before hand, and it clearly states that if they miss a payment or are late, they are cut out. End of story. But I expect that some of them that dropped out will try and sue me if we win the thing.

"I treated him like a son, always lecturing him," said Joyce Onori, 60, one of the winners. "I would not have expected this from him."

I would not want to be one of this woman's children.  There is a sense of animosity in her statement.

Office politics and personality clashes can easily create he said/she said situations.  I think this group of winners could all make their lives a lot easier by participating in a confidential settlement and each of them giving him $10,000, if there is sufficient reason to believe that he would have participated had he been at work that day. 

I'm not saying people should give away their money willy-nilly if someone makes a frivolous claim, but it's a shame that being a winner doesn't always bring out the best in people. 

A lottery jackpot is too big and irresistable. Even when you know you don't deserve a penny of it why not file a nuisance lawsuit with a shyster lawyer and see if you can extract some money, maybe they'll pay to make you go away? Worth a try, isn't it? After all, they can afford to pay you $50,000 without putting a crimp in their millionaire lifestyles.

tg636-

I feel you on this.  I cannot believe that anybody participating in a Jackpot that big even if they didn't go to work that day, would not have secured their place in the drawing.  You hit the nail on the head with this persons reasoning.  They want to come away with something; all of their friends and co-workers probably know they were apart of that winners circle and are egging them on for a piece. 

I wouldn't pay them one dime if they sued me.  Now if they had come correct and appealed to the grace and mercy of a person, I wouldn't throw anything their way, I would give them a nice piece of money that they could enjoy, live on and invest as friend.  But don't sue me.  You'll get ZERO

It isn't that easy to file a frivolous lawsuit these days.  Let's say Person X wants to file a groundless suit. I don't know about California, but in Oregon a lawyer can have sanctions imposed on him/her for filing what he/she knows to be a worthless claim.  In addition, losing a "frivolous" suit subjects Person X to being sued in turn by the person(s) whom Person X originally sued, which means that in addition to losing the case, Person X can be hit with a judgment for all court costs, all attorneys' fees, and perhaps punitive damages for filing the suit if there is reason to believe they knew that there was absolutely nothing to substantiate their case.  That then puts the attorney for Person X in jeopardy of being sued for malpractice, since he/she should have known better than to file a meritless suit on Person X's behalf to begin with. 

It all comes down to, what will a jury of 12 reasonable and prudent people believe (or a judge). 

simply amazing. that's like saying "i was gonna buy Microsoft or Google Shares the day of the IPO; but i was busy. So can i please have my brokerage account reflect the purchase and deposit millions in my bank account" lol that dude has some big balls. i hope they give him ZERO

and tonight's my night!!

I guess the court will think the fact that he worked in the same office where there was a lottery pool will give his claim some merit.  That should protect his lawyer, who after all only knows what the client tells him, but his lawyer also wants a chunk of lottery change and is aware of the gray areas of malpractice. I'm sure neither the loser nor his lawyer really want to to go to court where every other person in the pool will testify he wasn't in the pool and every person who who worked in the office but wasn't in the pool will testify they heard no mention of him being in the pool prior to the drawing.  The loser will will lose in court, but he will win if the winners give in and pay up to end his harrassment.  If this happened to me, I would much rather pay my $50,000 to the best and most vicious lawyer I could find to fight back against this guy and make his life as miserable as possible (and set an example in case anyone else was thinking of trying the same thing) rather than give in and pay him.

IT'S OFFICIALLY FRIDAY.......HAVING READ THIS STORY, HOW COULD YOU DOUBT IT....LOLOOL

12/16

WELL, WELL, WELL,  ....We as LP members all knew this was coming....in fact in some of my Postings I indicated, that if this person is a "regular player in the office poole" that someone should have either called him to ask if he wanted to be included,   or simply give him a piece of the pie as opposed to waiting for him to take them to court, because I could smell the Lawsuit before he filed it......

By the time this ugliness plays out, it will be months before they finally collect their winnings and the Lawyers for both sides, will end up claiming a good portion of the $$$$$$ as legal fees. I cannot believe that the "poole" didn't expect this to happen, no matter what "they claim" he said.

Maybe he got the idea from reading the posts on this forum...

If you give him a piece of the pie when he didn't deserve it because he didn't pay into the pool the specific day tickets were purchased which did in fact win  .... then what's going to stop the rest of the company from wanting "their share"???????????  It's a rehash of "what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine too because I was around when you got it."

Seems that both courts and jury's are going to have to come to terms with personal property rights ..... exactly where they begin and where they don't extend to.

This exact same thing ocurred about two years ago in NJ where the Sate Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of the planitiff. The guy missed work the day the pool money was due and the pool subsequently hit the Pick 6 for 35 million dollars. Pools have  to start being more legal and formal now; hire a lawyer before your pool hits and draw up pool rules and  have a pool contract where everyone in  the pool agrees to the rules. This is getting ridiculous...avoid pools, or get a Lottery Pool Contract written up that would be binding. (Avoid pools.)

If anyone needs an example of a Lotto Pool contract, let me know. I have mine somewhere around here in electronic format. All of my members signed...and there are rules, etc. such as paying on time and all that.

Money has no friends, only leeches. Do it alone, or don't do it.

I think he should get piece of the pie if indeed he played with them on the regular basis.

If I did not pay my money to the pool to buy tickets for that drawing, I would never expect winnings regardless how many times I had played in the pool previously.  I hope his other non-pool co-workers give him crap about his lawsuit.  This is about jealousy 100%.

As the one statement indicated, he hadnt been in the pool for a year , so what in heavens gives him the right to proclaim a stake in it. Sorry this smells of greed. Hopefully the courts will toss this case out and move on to issues of importance. No settlement should even transpire. Unless he has receipts showing he made payments on a weekly basis towards this lottery pool. (which I'll bet the farm he doesnt). 

Our work lottery pool is clearly spelled out. You dont pay in, you dont get the payouts :) Each week the board is cleared there is no rollover of monies to cover any player. The winnings each week are dispersed equally. There was a week when we hit $100 and the one player wasnt in the pool, he wanted his share and we kindly said, wheres your receipt for play for that week? He nodded and agreed he hadnt played...you snooze you looze.Its that simple.

Good work! It's about time Pools get their business straight. I am sick of freeloaders who expect to get out more than they put in.

What type of receipt do you use?  Sounds like it's a very well thought out pool  where each drawing stands on its own, is terminated and doesn't carry forward any ties to the next. 

I WEAR A BATHING SUIT IN MY POOL...THAT'S IT. Lottery Pools are becoming a sleeze ball's paradise. I'll never participate in a pool or go partners with anyone. And...remember to check your own tickets.

I use a Program called Peachtree. Each Participant has an  account within the program. Once the monies are collected and imputed, a receipt is printed. The player then gets a copy of the tickets based on that weeks plays. This way a paper record and a database can be used in courts (if it ever got that far out of hand) to show who played and who didnt. The receipts have a message area that spells out the rules for each play period.

Thanks very much for your answer.  That sounds like a really good system that covers all bases!! Good luck to all of you .. hope you hit a big jackpot!!   

LOL! That's funny! Never crossed his mind before finding this board. 

The only surprise I see in all of his is that he is the only one that has filed so far......You guys are in california....quick somebody start a documentary on this group for the next couple of years....I would pay money to see how their future folds out after the jackpot....

And sue hiss ass for my legal fees for a frivolous law suit

As long as I've seen the receipt from a previous week, what's to prevent me from printing my own if you win? If you use a printer at work and I also have access to it my forensic expert will be testifying that all of the receipts were printed on the same machine. Even if a receipt is accepted as proof that somebody paid in, lack of one doesn't prove somebody didn't pay in.  Maybe I pissed you off and you really are trying to cheat me out of my share. If there's ever a court case the decision is going to be based on the court's faith in testimony andthe court's faith in the validity of any written agreement.

In the California case each of the seven people who were definitely part of the pool has about $2 million worth of after-tax incentive to tell their version of the story, and that gives the plaintiff an excellent opportunity to question their credibility. Naturally they'll have the same opportunity to question his. Based on the information in the article some of the winners have admitted that the plaintiff was a member of a pool in the past, and the claim that this was the first time that the particular group played together strongly suggest there isn't a written agreement.  The plaintiff may not have good proof that he is entitled to a share, but it sounds like the defendants may not have any proof that he wasn't a legitimate member of the pool. The best evidence a pool can have is a well written agreement that clearly spells out the rules,  lists all of the members, and is signed by all of the members and notarized. All members should have a certified copy. The rules have to include the procedures for failure of a regular player to pay, and  for dropping somebody from the pool, or you're just begging for a lawsuit if a regular player isn't in a drawing the results in a significant win. If people pay in two weeks ahead of time it will be easy to fairly accomodate somebody who misses a couple of days of work, and still allow enough time to send a certified letter notifying somebody that they're being dropped.

There's nothing you can do that will guarantee that somebody doesn't file a lawsuit, but a good plan will certainly make it much harder for them to convince a jury that they deserve a share. Its also a lot of effort to put into something that's very unlikely to return a profit.

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.

I would have never started this pool unless there was some serious interest in players that were serious about participating. Before I started it, I would tell people about how I would go back and forth to Ohio (my in-laws live there), and buy Virginia Lottery (before LottoSouth), MegaMillions (then the Big Game), Powerball in WV, the Ohio SuperLotto, and a friend in Cali that bought their lottery. Because the jackpots got so high, my co-workers got jealous because they weren't driving anywhere to get tickets. And this was before the SC Lottery was formed. So, a bunch of them asked me to buy them tickets when I would go (I would buy 20 draws at a time since I didn't know if I would go up a whole lot. So after enough people asked, I just said let's do a pool. It would increase our chances together and they would be able to participate.

Well, then I had heard about all the pitfalls and dangers of people suing and all that, so I did my research to find out all of the little things that people would grumble or potentially sue about, and I nipped it in the bud with the rules that ALL must sign. It included payments when they are due, the fact that we roll our small winnings into future tickets for larger jackpots, and other things that could trigger some legal action (see my posts in this thread about this before). And we agreed to terminate the pool in the event of a jackpot win, to stop any potential leeches from getting in after we won the Big One.

It has been very good...provides comraderie, and heartache (there are a lot of people that want to quit our office! LOL), and it's something to talk about with people you normally don't associate with on a normal basis at work.

I got lucky I guess and thought ahead, so all is good.

If anyone is interested, you are more than welcome to join. We have several people that aren't from our office, and they enjoy it too. However, if you want to join, be prepared to pay on time and to sign many papers to make it "legal"

 This is the only way to do it. Read my Blog regarding Lottery Pools. I think the more formally you tie it up, the better all the way around, especially if you Win. My ideas about Pool governance include a stipulation which states that if a Pool Member fails to make  two payments in a row on time he/she is dropped permanantly from the Pool-eliminate the dead wood. I also have a BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT included.

I injected a few snappy catches that could contractually foul up a real dead-beat jerk who might get creepy after a WIN. Check it out...Best Of Luck!

99% of the time lottery pools work fine because 99% of the time they don't win anything.  It's that 1% of the time that they or someone associated with one win a large prize that the trouble starts.  If your pool has never won anything then it has never been tested.

when I do a pool and buy for my self I go to another store to buy my private tickets or have some one else buy from th emachine so mine are not in line with th epool tickets

h - it shouldn't matter where you buy your tickets, so long as your Pool members know which ones are yours and which ones are theirs. Post all numbers at all times to prevent any kind of problems.

I injected a few snappy catches that could contractually foul up a real dead-beat jerk who might get creepy after a WIN. Check it out...Best Of Luck!

I agree with this completely. I do have that in there, but I haven't kicked anyone out yet. Most people who are 2 or 3 payments behind generally pay up within a reasonable time frame. I will check your blog to see about your other catches, that sounds interesting.

cps10 wrote:

<< I haven't kicked anyone out yet. Most people who are 2 or 3 payments behind generally pay up within a reasonable time frame. >>

If you don't enforce your own rules why would you expect a court to enforce them for you if there's a dispute? You're the one that's setting the precedent that somebody's lawyer will cite if you happen to win shortly after dropping somebody.

As for buying  tickets separately from the pool, they should always be bought at a different place in a purchase that can't possibly be confused with the purchase of the pool tickets. If the agreement says that pool tickets are always bought at Billy Bob's Deli (and it should definitely specify where tickets will be bought)  it will be that much harder for anyone to press a claim if you produce a winner that was bought at Bobby Sue's Gas and Go.

Floyd,

I see your point on that.

Going back to dropping people...it states in the rules that people that are late with their payments are not entitled to the winnings, so that works for our pool. Kicking someone out because their lazy takes away more tickets to win. Like I said, people end up paying their dues, but even if they are a day late in paying, if the jackpot hits, they get nothing. That's the way it is. That's the chance they take by being late.

I believe he's making a point of law with his statement as to how the court would look at the precedent set by those actions if it went that far.

HEY "RJ".....12/19/05

You should have"jokingly" suggested she get on line behind "Uncle Sam & the Bill Collectors"lolo

 Agree to pool rules and stick to them. I would be very cautious about two important areas when running a Pool. Firstly have strict contribution rules and enforcement of the "failure to contribute" situation. This one point seems to be the number one point of contention in the lawsuits we read about. Secondly, I feel very strongly that the Pool Manager should avoid any suspicion of impropriety by avoiding buying his own tickets outside the Pool. There's a real conflict of interest situation if the Pool Manager wins a 200 million dollar Jackpot and leaves his Pool buddies in the dust, stating "they were my tickets, not the Pools". Not that anything unethical or illegal actually occured, but you are giving the gold digging contingency fee lawyers a reason to file a lawsuit. You are taking too much of a chance in my opinion. If the Pool Manager buys his own tickets at a different store that is some protection for him, but when a quarter of a billion dollars is at stake the lawyers will go for it anyway...and try to get the Court to rule against you on some whacky technicality of "fairplay" or "conflict of interest" etc. It's wise when dealing with other people's money to absolutely avoid any appearance of impropriety. Even if the Manager wins the suit, is that what you want do for two years after you win a Lottery Jackpot? Spend it in Court fighting with a bunch of bitter ex-pals? Avoid the problem, stick solely with your Pool.

I agree. Although kicking people out with rigid rules might lower the total amount of money in the pool, if you let someone skip a drawing once in a while and then "catch up" a judge might award the winning prize even if he didn't play that week. Sure many of us are struggling and some people might run short of cash, but if we're only talking about a few dollars, then anyone who can't afford $5 a week probably shouldn't be gambling. (She types as she eats her Ramen noodles.) 

As others have stated, if I were in a pool I would make it very clear that my personal numbers would not be included. Since I keep my tickets for a year, I guess walking in with a shoebox should be enough proof! However, if I wanted to play them along with some others and a few QPs, I would probably go a step further than simply buying them in a different store.  I'd go to a different town!   

All this chat about pools has changed my mind.  Too many potential problems.

Demonter - I will probably change my rules slightly to take care of the deadbeats, but I also agree with playing with people you trust. I trust everyone in my Pool fortunately, but like has been said before, money changes people. I am usually the one that covers the people that are late, and I trust them enough to pay me back, which they have not had a problem doing that. But really technically, the pool's winnings are covering them since that money is rolled over anyway. I don't know...I guess I need to revisit our rules. Is it worth an extra $100,000 per person to keep just to enforce a rule and kick someone out when we are talking millions in prize money anyway? And perhaps maybe lose that money in a court battle? I guess it's all about weighing the options. Everyone in my pools pay and I would at least take their past due payments out of their cut if we won. Lots to weigh.

Thanks for all of the very positive advice. That's what I like most about LP...great perspective from a lot of fun lottery players. Thanks again all!

cps10 wrote:
<< But really technically, the pool's winnings are covering them since that money is rolled over anyway. I don't know...I guess I need to revisit our rules. Is it worth an extra $100,000 per person to keep just to enforce a rule and kick someone out when we are talking millions in prize money anyway? And perhaps maybe lose that money in a court battle? >>

If somebody didn't pay and that's being covered by winnings that are rolled over into future ticket purchases, then everybody in the pool is chipping in for those who didn't pay. If your rules say that people who didn't pay before the drawing don't share in winning from that drawing I now see two problems. The first is not following your own rules. In my previous post I was thinking more about throwing people out of the pool, and more on that below, but now you're creating a precedent for somebody to collect even though they didn't pay for a drawing in which you won. The second problem is your intent for any winnings that result from tickets purchased with previous winnings. Suppose Fred doesn't chip in this Wednesday and you win $7 that everybody agrees he isn't supposed to share in. Because your policy is to roll small winnings over into future ticket purchases, you buy an extra $7 for the Saturday drawing, and  you win $25 million bucks. With the *last* ticket that came out of the machine. One that was clearly bought with the extra $7. Does everybody in your pool agree that Fred is entitled to a share, even though it seems obvious that he never chipped in on the cost of that ticket? I think you've demonstrated precedent that should result in a decision in his favor if it goes to court, and if you try not to pay him you can be sure it will go to court for that much money.

As for dropping somebody from the pool, if you haven't followed the rules in the past you could have a hard time if you do drop somebody and then win. Fred, who is the usual problem, misses his payments for two or three consecutive drawings every 6 or 7 weeks. Since he always makes good by the fourth drawing, you don't drop him even though your written rules say that people will be dropped if they miss two consecutive draws. After a year of always paying on time, John misses two payments, and takes a month to make good. Three months later he misses two draws again, and since you're having a bad day you drop him from the pool. For the next drawing he tries to pay his share and be reinstated, but you tell him no. And you win $25 million. Your case probably won't even make it to court, because when your defense attorney hears the story he's going to tell you you'll probably lose.

Of course you'll probably never have to deal with that sport of situation. We only hear about these disputes once in a while, but I guarantee that there are disputes all the time that we never hear about because they are for smaller prizes. Based on the odds, for every pool that wins the jackpot there are about 41 that win $200,000 and 250 that win $10,000. Let's say your pool has 9 people and the dispute results in a claim that the money should be split 10 ways. Before losing some to taxes you're looking at $22,222 vs $20,000 or $1,111 vs $1000. It won't be profitable to pay a lawyer to try and get $1000, but it would be worth a $6700 contingency fee to get $20,000. Would you spend $500 each (of after tax money), regardless of whether you win or lose to try and keep the $2,222 (before taxes) you'd lose by sharing?

I think the odds of winning a big prize are slim enough that it probably doesn't make sense to hire a lawyer to review your rules, but you should think about the possible problems, and strictly follow whatever rules you decide on. Unless you win a significant jackpot you're probably still going to be coworkers with anybody you have a dispute with. Nothing will guarantee that you don't have a dispute, but if it's covered fairly clearly in the rules you should have an easier time of it.

Regarding Members Paying into a Pool: Get 100% of the Pool money up front and advance play for a specifed number of drawings. Period...Have a Closed End Pool,ie. $5.00 each for 10 drawings=$50.00 per Pool Member every five weeks. Have it dated, signed and closed out, disolved at the end of the 5 weeks, then if you want form a new pool start all over. A bit simpler; if you don'y pre-pay you don't play. It's a step in the right direction.

Good advice from both of you...with the new year coming up, I guess it's time that we look at the rules again. I do have an attorney friend that would look them over at no cost, so maybe that's what I will do.

  good advice.  I'm reviewing our rules too.  I've drafted a receipt for the pool buy-in that includes the rules and requires members to sign that they have read, understand and agree to the rules.  The rules used to allow me to pick the numbers but I'm changing it so that I have to buy quick picks.

I won't give up the option of being able to buy my own tickets though.  This freedom is given to all members and has always been a part of our rules and is included with every email distributing the numbers.  The only time I wouldn't feel free to buy my own ticket is if I couldn't get the email out before the actual draw.  Everybody likes the pool but no one else wants to run it and is happy to have me do it; there's no way I would limit my playing options to the pool.  If it came down to a choice, I'd say bye bye to the pool.  If the "poolmeister"  can't play outside the pool, then none of the members can.

LottoPools- Good to hear you are examining your Pool's policies for the new year. Your advance purchase format is the only way to go. You know my opinion about buying tickets outside the Pool. If you must, be certain to be totally transparent about the outside purchases, ie. buy them from a different retailer than you buy your Pool's tickets and fully disclose the details concerning your outside buys. You will be acting prudently to protect yourself if Lady Luck strikes! Best of Luck, as always.

Thanks demonter. Like I said before, I rarely buy outside the pool, but I will start buying them in other stores than the Pool's. But I most likely won't buy them anymore. If you think about it, if we hit a $300 million jackpot, my cut after taxes & cash option is around $15 million cash in my Pool. So, is it worth taking an extra estimated $75-$80 million with my own purchase and have someone sue me regardless, or be happy with $15 million, which is more than enough for anyone? Not to mention the fact that many others in my Pool will be millionaires. Greed is one of the Seven Deadlies :)

I agree.

I don't agree. I've never been one to argue over money. But you know what? I've been stupid! To make my "life easier" I often gave in, but as long as people are honest and know a decision is fair and just, they should always defend their position. This is a matter of principle. If he was not an active member in the pool, then he doesn't deserve to get a share. What's to prevent others from following his actions? We really don't know the entire story, but if the article which states he hadn't played in a long time is accurate, this whole lawsuit is a case of sour grapes.  Any payoff is an admission of wrongdoing and just opens up a bigger can of worms.

What I do agree with is that it's a shame that things like this happen. Money definitely brings out the worst in people, but if they don't want to pay it doesn't mean they're being stingy. It just means nobody likes to be cheated.  I don't think a group of coworkers that won so much money would deny him his share if his claim was valid. By the way, where did it say that he would take a small settlement? It's my understanding he wants a cut of the jackpot.

HAPPY THURSDAY......12/22/05...(3DYS TO CHRISTMAS)

HI THERE "BUMBLE BEE"....LottoPools....May I say you make a very very cute Bumble Bee... .even though your stinger is powerful.......

While Back at the Ranch.......I concurr w/your Posting, it's excellent...straight to the point..it sounds as though you are associated w/a delightful collective body of players and lets hope it stays that way, for everyone's sake......especially when your group wins big......

Most people join a lottery pool as a cheap way to cover a lot of chances to win a lottery jackpot.  When some of them are too cheap to pay up every time the pool plays then it obvious they're the ones looking for something for nothing because cheap is still more than they want to pay. 

I agree in part that folks who pool together do so to increase their ticket wins.

 Otherwise we *had* to boot a co-worker out of our pool for the reason cited- Rarely cast money into the pool but always agreed to *pay*later out of the pool winnings. We finally made it a pay-n-play as you go. Each game was separate and playable based on the members. The guy still badgers us to let him back in when the jackpot gets pretty high ;we graciously decline.  The irony is...he's one of those guys that would try to sue us saying that at some point he was in our pool. Luckily we document and have receipts showing each play member and the game. The rules are printed on each receipt . My accounting program is awesome for keeping track of payouts and funds received in.

If the A&P that I work at formed a Mega Millions pool, I would participate. But not for NY Lotto.

CASH - it appears that you are pretty sour against the NY Lottery...why is that? Everytime I see that signature line, I laugh my kiester off....thanks for the holiday laughs!