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People across the country have watched with excitement as lottery jackpots climb to incredibly high amounts recently and a lot of them are chipping in to lottery pools. Sure, they seem like a good idea at first. When you play alone, your odds of hitting the Powerball jackpot are just 1 in 292,200,000 (292-million, 200-thousand), but if you team up with some coworkers, you raise those odds.
But before you hand your money over to an office lottery pool, or start one of your own, experts say you should know these do’s and don’ts to protect yourself and your potential new fortune.
Do:
- Designate a leader - And choose someone who’s highly organized. This person isn’t just collecting cash and buying lottery tickets, they also need to be in charge of the following things.
- Give everyone copies or photos of the tickets - No one wants to think their pool leader would say the team didn’t win anything, but they amazingly hit it big with a ticket they bought alone. But it’s happened before. In 2013, a group of hairstylists in Indiana sued their coworker who claimed she bought a $9.5-million winning ticket with her own money, not the pool’s money. Having images of the tickets eliminates that possibility.
- Email the list of players every time you play - This protects the pool leader and prevents random coworkers from trying to cash in after the win.
As for the things you don’t want to do:
- Don’t use cash - It’s better to pay your pool leader with an electronic account, like Venmo or PayPal, so there’s a written confirmation of payment for the tickets. This can also make it easier for the organizer to keep track of who’s in and who paid.
- Don’t make verbal promises - If your pool happens to hit it big, a verbal “I was going to pay you” isn’t going to cut it.
- Don’t get overwhelmed - There’s a lot of work involved, so if it gets to be too much for the organizer, there are apps for that.
Source: CNN
Photo: Getty Images