Every once in a while a lottery jackpot becomes so huge that people can't help but band together in the hope of increasing their odds, pooling their money for a wad of tickets and promising to evenly split the spoils. Seems like a good idea until lightning strikes and the group wins.
Then the future involves not only luxury, but also lawsuits. Numerous group winners have been sued by people claiming to have pitched in for the ticket, creating messy fights over what money will be left once the attorneys are paid. And most state lotteries don't give much official guidance on how to avoid such problems.
On Monday, rumors swirled about the three people holding winning tickets from the record-breaking $656 million Mega Millions drawing Friday night.
Kansas, Illinois and Maryland each have a winner. But as of Monday night, no one — individual or group — had yet stepped forward.
The New York Post reported that one potential winner in Maryland was a McDonald's employee who claimed to hold the winning ticket as an individual, but also bought tickets for several people as part of a restaurant pool. If the woman does indeed have a winning ticket, it could trigger just the latest group lottery lawsuit.
Maryland Lottery spokeswoman Carole Everett says the agency doesn't put out any information for groups, though she recommends friends and colleagues who play together come up with a system, including copying and distributing the group tickets to pool members and making a list of people who are participating.
"That way there's no confusion or mistaking it," she said.
In Illinois, where one of the three winning tickets was purchased in the small town of Red Bud, Lottery spokesman Mike Lang also recommended advanced planning to stave off disputes.
"There have been disputed wins in just about every lottery in the country," Lang said.
That's when lawyers get involved.
New Jersey attorney Rubin Sinins recently represented five construction workers who claimed a colleague, Americo Lopes, cheated them out of their share of a $38.5 million Mega Millions jackpot in 2009. The group was part of a weekly lottery pool, but Lopes claimed he bought the winning ticket for himself. A unanimous jury in New Jersey decided otherwise in March and awarded the construction workers $4 million each. Sinins said his advice to people participating in an office pool is to "use common sense."
Resolving disputed group winnings can take years.
In 2010, colleagues at a Florida country club won $16 million in the state lottery but soon faced a lawsuit from one regular pool member who wasn't at the club the day money was collected for the tickets. Jeanette French played the lottery with colleagues for nine years, though the members of the group changed over time. Seven group members claimed the winning ticket, but a lawyer for French got her claimed portion of the winnings set aside in a trust which the two sides are now fighting over.
One of French's attorneys, Miami lawyer Eric Shane, suggested that pool participants establish written rules and consider having each player sign the rules. He also suggested trying to keep pool members consistent. But his real advice?
"My true advice, honestly, would be don't do a pool," Shane said.
Thanks to Coin Toss for the tip.
If you are in a pool it is very important that you document EVERTHING!!!!!
Never join a pool!
Unless you want to get 
Once you hit that jackpot, then buy yourself a pool, or two! 
"My true advice, honestly, would be don't do a pool," Shane said.
The fact that he gave the modifier 'true' to the word advice makes me wonder about his advice when he doesnt 'modify' it. Yuck. Lawyers are interesting creatures no matter how you cut it.
This story highlights why I do NOT do lottery-pools!
Joining a pool is great ONLY if it's done right. If you watched the 20/20 special, the woman from the state lottery outline what is the way to run a pool. Check it out. If you have a disorganized pool, the results are disastrous!!
Pools are for fools!
Plain and simple! The only sound advice is not participate in one. I am sure with rules people find loopholes. Someone didn't contriobute to a particular drawing when the pool won? What would that person have done if there was no win? Pay his/her way in retroactively? Hmmm...
Well some of us are determined to be SUCKERS FOR PUNISHMENT!
I had a lottery pool at work,we played the lottery when it was called the big game. We had members to go to Virginia to purchase our tickets every Wednesday,for the Fridays draw. When it came to SC we started to play POWERBALL there in SC. Now when POWERBALL got here in NC,we started to play here in NC. So you might say we have been playing close to 9 years,We had members to drop out,got new members to join. I always got them to read the rules,then sign the rule sheet,also gave them a copy of the rules. When I bought the tickets,I made copies of the tickets to give to the members who did'nt have a computer and e/m copies to the one's who had a computer for them to have each and every time we played. We had 10 members,paying 20.00 dollars a month each,we only played on Powerball drawing,every Saturday's draw,50.00 dollars worth of tickets with powerplay.Then when Mega millions came into NC,we played it too. Which ever game was the highest,that's the one we played. We never won anything large at all,but whatever we did win,we put it back in the pot for more tickets to play,along with the regular 50.00 dollars. I went out of work because of my disability,since I don't work there anymore,and trying to get a member to collect the lottery funds for us became a hassle to do. So I decided to drop out of the lottery pool. I e/m all the members and wrote letters to the other one's who did'nt have a computer. I told them they could elect someone to do it if they wish to continue playing. So last month,we did play our last draw on the March 30th drawing for the biggest Jackpot we had ever played on. 656 million dollars,we played our 50.00 dollars and we had 20.00 dollars left from some winning from a couple draws back. 70.00 dollars worth of tickets,NO WINS AT ALL on them tickets,but we all was sure dreaming of a BIG win. Our hopes was really high,cause we had a shot at winning it or at least winning 5 numbers correct. None of them dreams came true for us all. We had fun playing,thinking what we was going to do with our winning. But all that has came to an end. We had a great run,and I wish each of you the best in the future.....
If you really want to be in a pool ........... purchase one after you win by yourself!
GOLDEN RULE: Pools WITHOUT RULES are for fools.
In the beginning,Lottery Pool intentions are great.
Give me your money for the drawing, but don't be late !
Its a buck a ticket,don't worry cause we can quick-pick it.
Our best friend will buy them for us cause he's first-rate.
No copies of tickets bought,,,, need to be made.
Because we are all friends and our trust will never fade
The jackpot millions have created dreams by the Gazillions
We trust our friend to buy them for us cause he's always played
The winning numbers have been drawn and some of them look right
We call our friend to see if we won last night
He claims "No, we did not".. thinking that lie wont be caught.
Then the greed sets in and we start the legal fight.
The lawsuit between friends is not enjoyable or cool
Anger,hatred and disgust is what we have towards this fool
Whether we lose or win, future mistrust of lottery pools has set in
I might have better better off had I listened to the Golden Rule
Awesome rhyme!!! Pure poetry!
I would play in a pool if my work had one. I mean, it's another chance at winning!
Last week I bought 3 tickets for 2 co-workers as a pool. However, I had one come with me to the store. I bought the 3 tickets, marked them with a "K" in front of her, then bought my own tickets. Yet, the only other time I did this, again I had one of the two with me when I bought them and again marked it with a "K" - but did NOT buy any tickets for myself. I would buy again at the store later, but the timestamp would be different (several hours), hence, MY ticket and not theirs.
Any problems with or among anyone would be a clear sign that something wasn't communicated - in writing. I made many lotto pools at my last job, and there were never any questions. And actually, I had made several pools, one for each of 2 or 3 departments. And yes, I was in several pools at any time.
So, put it in writing, AND make some sort of clause that includes something to the effect of:
"this pool is only for people who fully understand the terms of this communal lotto, and who signify that by signing in one of the 20 spaces at the bottom of this page. Each participant of this lotto agrees to not pursue any legal action against any member of this lotto pool.
It may be the only way to be able to sleep at night, before a lotto.
I make the pool terms on one sheet, in MS Word, as it offers a ton of formatting options.
Have you guys ever won a JACKPOT? Your system and protocols and paperwork are never truly TESTED until you win!
I was a part of a office pool years ago it had a lot of rules and guide lines. $ 5.00 per person per name.each week. If you had a wife , a husband, a child or a significance other . You could add another five dollar for their name. We had a sign in sheet, a bulletin board, and a xerox machine. all money for any draw had to be in three day prior to the drawing before 11am , there was all advance sheets maked someone going on vacation have to pay before you left for vacation. we send one or two people to purchase the tickets . counted all the tickets (3) people counted them the first two people didn't come up to same amount then give to a 3rd person to count again. all the tickets were lay out in away, where all serial number could be seen and numbers could be seen and copied. Everybody who played that drawing get a copy , a another one will be put on the board.the tickets when a envelope was seal and tape in front of everyone. put in the safe if it was a week-end drawing it included it would a list of names of people in this drawing with the date. a hi- lited area with the the list of names of the people who had already for the next drawing.w/date. It was the players responsibility have the
money in on time. the minute the ticket were sended. no money is except on a closed pool. No exception. everybody got a copy of the rules. these people need rules / guide line . Then stick to them NO EXCEPTIONS / end of story/ period.
Option 2
Buy your own tickets.
Wow seems so easy. Cant be real
too much drama
Ahhh.....we live for drama.
Pray for it!.....
......breathe it!......
......need it!........
I am in a work pool only because I would hate to be the shmuck that didn't want to join coworkers in a work pool and they won big like that guy from Albany NY last year here https://www.lotterypost.com/news/229659 I also play on my own.
My reasons are simple. Even if there was a dispute that one person played in former games and didnt play in the game that won the jackpot and so the judge ruled in their favor and ordered that they be included in the share I would still walk away with more money than I put in. At my work we do photocopy the tickets and everybody recieves a copy.
Ive said it before, keep it simple buy your own tickets
Stoopid office pool won $4 on Friday's MM, so 'leader' says she'll buy 2 PB for Wed draw. I just remembered it... and no ticket copies. Dammit.
The only reason I put my $2 in was that there are only 25 people in the office... everyone joined + 3 work from home employees. For $2 I wasn't going to be the only one that HAD to show up for work on Monday....
yes, i got my own tickets.
How hard is it to write up a set of rules that anticipate the problems, and have every member sign? All of the disputes I can remember fit into a very short list of things that are easy to anticipate and easy to cover in the rules.
People who aren't smart enough to manage that should probably avoid pools, but far more people collect a big check as a result of playing in a pool than playing on their own. Despite the occasional lawsuit there are also plenty of pools that win and then quietly disappear with no indication that they had any trouble at all.
I agree with you. I also ran a pool in my workplace. 10 people, contributing money to the pool every month. Before they could join they had to sign a set of rules regarding the pool operation. Additionally, at the monthly contribution they also had to sign separately that they are in the pool for that month. Thus memberships in the pool could fluctuate but there was never any question who was in for any given month. Never had any problem with this system.
Remember folks, when it comes to court only what's on the paper counts. No verbal agreements, delayed contributions etc. Leave as little to doubt as possible. Document in hard copy everything, including copies of the tickets, membeship lists and anything else of importance. Sometimes even simple, private notes may have significant importance. In fact, if someone hires a lawer to sue you, after examing the documentation the lawer himself may drop the case as hopeless.
Aquarius
We know who plays all the time. If their not around we always put them in anyways and make sure their names are on the copys.
It seems that most of the problems with pools is someone "straying from the pool", that is playing a ticket independently, rather any rules were written up beforehand or not.
I understand what has been said about not wanting to be the only one in a work group that didn't go in, but I still think any form of gambling should be solo.
Here is a copy of the rules that I send out on every email announcing the next drawing.
1. Whether we play the Powerball or Mega Millions, the entry fee is $2. Powerball is drawn on Wednesday and Saturday night. Mega Millions is drawn on Tuesday and Friday night.
The envelope for money will be on my door.
2. Write down the amount you put in ($2,$4,$6,etc) and your name or identifying number
3. Anyone paying ahead will be notified via email that the money was collected for future draws and for how many draws were paid ahead. Example: Norm paid $4 so it’s tonight +1
4. It is your responsibility to get money in prior to each drawing. How you do that is up to you.
5. Tickets will be purchased by me or someone participating in the pool on the day of the drawing, prior to the drawing.
6. Copies of the tickets will be sent to each participant with an email address.
7. Any money won that is less per person than the $2 for participation goes back into the pool for the next drawing. Example: We have 20 people in for the drawing and we win $5. The $5 divided by 20 people is .25, which is less than the $2 for entry, so that money goes back into the pool for the next drawing and does not count for any one person as their entry fee. Also, no one gets .25 either.
8. I will maintain the envelopes from prior drawings in my office. On the outside of each envelope will be the drawing we are playing, the date, and the amount of the jackpot. Underneath will be the list of people that paid in for that drawing and how much they put in, including money for future draws. The numbers that were drawn and the amount we won, if any, will also be on the envelope. Inside will be the losing tickets and a photocopy of all tickets purchased for the drawing.
9. In the event of a large win, $10,000 and up, the group as a whole will decide on a course of action. Same for a jackpot win.
10. Buying into our pool does not preclude anyone from purchasing their own tickets for any drawing. I buy tickets for myself for every drawing, you should too. I do not and will not purchase tickets for myself at the same time as I purchase tickets for the group.
If the envelope is "on your door",what is to keep someone from signing it and NOT putting any money in but saying they did put money in?You seem to be trusting everyone to be honest.I think that is a major flaw in your thinking.People are not always honest.
I don't disagree with you at all on that. It hasn't come up yet. I have worked with most of these people for several years and I feel confident that it won't come up. If it does, I will probably cover the $2 and send out an email letting them know that it was short and that if it happens again, the pool will come to an end.
N.S. You sir are a more trusting/giving sole than I am.......Running my pool down here, I made people buy their ticket, bring it to work and initial it in front of me, then I made copies of all tickets and distributed them to the participants. You didn't bring in the ticket before the night of the drawing, you were on your own.
That way everyone knew who gave and who was in if we won.....kudos to your generosity sir 
I play in a pool -- there are 3 of us. We buy tickets 10 weeks in advance and use numbers we have picked and all have copies of the ticket. The only reason for the pool is that we have to drive to California to buy tickets. Small wins go to the one who drives to get the tickets for gas. We have been doing this for 17 or 18 years. I do not anticipate any problems when we do win -- it is only a matter of time.
Our numbers did come up recently for Mega Millions. They just weren't all on the same line. I think it was the first time we had the 5 plus the Mega number on the same ticket. If only we had rearranged our numbers. LOL
CDanaT i never heard of a pool run this way, very interesting and simple,
was there anything written out/ signed other than initializing the ticket ?
MississippiMudd,
You should be OK with three people.
When the Mirage first opened there was a guy running tickets for a very large pool. He'd make trips to Nipton and took a steno pad with him full of people's names and numbers to play.
He was in that little lotto place in Nipton one time and some Nervada Gaming Commission agents "busted" him. I don't know how they had any authority in California but they quoted some Nevada law that makes it illegal to be a lottery "agent" running tickets for group play from another state into Nevada.
If I remember right this was written up in one of those freebie sports papers that the sports book give out, maybe the one that had "Denny the Dog" in it.
Everyone,
I think one of the big problems with a pool is people who have been playing in one and then decide to "opt out" for a drawing decide that they wanted to be in after all when the pool wins. Kind of an attitude like, "Oh man, here's my buck (after the fact), you know I'm good for it or would have played if you asked me again.
CDanaT - very nice idea. I have never heard of a pool run this way.
I see only one flaw in your theory - it's stupid.
We had a small group, kept it simple..If we won something small dollar-wise, it went towards purchasing extra tickets for the next draw, of course free tickets were a standard and marked on the sheet (wfpd) win from previous draw. If we won over $50 then we split it. Anything where we had to go to a local office/Hdqtrs in Tallahassee to collect, then we all made the trip at the same time, signed the appropriate lottery forms........ If someone was out sick or on vacation then they didn't play.They could by purchasing an advanced draw ticket to cover the time they were away. One guy bought an advanced draw ticket to cover the month which he said was easier for him. We did allow someone to buy a ticket for them and the ticket was marked (ex: CDT4ABC-os/ov) letting the group know that I bought for the person who was away because of being out sick or on vacation....... Kept a copy of all sheets marked with winnings numbers/winning dollar amounts in a folder so anyone could see. Before being a part of the group, I sent an email explaining the above and they would have to reply & say they understood/agreed to the terms..... Kept a copy of the email in the folder....No issues ever came up.. worked well for us
Thanks Max..........kept it easy, worked for us..Course never had it battle tested in court... but it was simple to set up and maintain.