Avoid Lottery Pool Problems

Wednesday's Powerball Jackpot is now an estimated  $1.5 Billion. My fingers are crossed!  I have officially kicked in another $10 for our office's third try at this world record setting jackpot!

By the way,  I did some research and office pools are totally legal, but they can get ugly and lawsuits and lawyers could become your new reality if you don't cover your bases first. In fact, you might be a billionaire or millionaire because you have possession of the winning ticket - BUT - if you get sued you may not see any of the money for a long time.

The Huffington Post over the years has covered "pools gone wrong" stories such as the 2 guys at a bakery who sued their co-workers after they got left out of a pool just because they were off the day the tickets were purchased.   Another story involves a construction worker who was sued after he tried to keep 24 million to himself but was sued and had to pay 5 of his co-workers 4 million each.

To help avoid issues with your group (office/friends/family) lottery pool the Idaho Lottery has a few tips:

1. Appoint one person to be the group leader
2. Have a written list of who is in the pool and mark if they have paid
3. Make photo copies of all the tickets and give each member a copy

While a written contract is not needed, it can help.  It can be as simple as putting down the names of the people and having everyone sign it.

The Idaho Lottery has even created a fun way to keep your office pool organized check it out here.