Online Lottery Tickets

Can Lottery Pool Members Buy Tickets Privately?

Imagine that you're in a lottery pool, and you find out that the pool manager has won, but isn't sharing the funds. Why? Because the manager says that they bought the winning lottery ticket privately, not with the lottery pool's funds.

This scenario has happened in the past, resulting in hard feelings and bitterness. To avoid it, make sure your lottery pool rules state whether participants, especially the person in charge of buying tickets for the group, can purchase lottery tickets outside of the pool as well.

If your group does allow members to buy Play online lottery tickets privately, be sure to make copies of the group's tickets and distribute them, to be very clear which tickets belong to the pool.

Will Your Group Take a Lump Sum or Annuity?

If your lottery pool does win a big jackpot, they'll have to decide whether to take a lump sum immediately or spread the winnings out over a number of years.

It's a good idea to lay this out in your lottery pool contract, so that you won't have any fighting over the answer if you actually win.

Will Your Lottery Pool Remain Anonymous If You Win?

Many states allow the winners to remain anonymous in case of a win. This helps the winners to avoid some of the negative fallout of winning the lottery, such as losing friends over jealousy, having reporters always at your front door, or being deluged with requests for handouts.

With a group winning, keeping your identity anonymous becomes more difficult, if a minority isn't on board. To help avoid bad feelings down the road, have everyone agree at the outset whether they'll stay anonymous or announce their win, assuming you're in a state which allows you to make the decision.

Finishing Up Your Lottery Pool Contract

This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all of the questions you could possibly cover in a Play lottery online pool agreement, but rather a place to start talking among your group. If members of your lottery pool have additional questions or concerns, you can include them as well.

To make your lottery pool agreement have legal weight, it's important to have everyone read it, make sure everyone understands it (don't let anyone just skim through it!), and have each member sign it. You can add weight to the contract by having an uninvolved third party witness the signatures (even more if the third party is a notary!)

There may be local and state laws that influence your lottery pool agreement. Your state, your company, or your region may prohibit lottery pools. Be sure to speak with your company's legal or HR department, or consult with an experienced lawyer, with any questions.

For some additional tips about writing a legally-binding written contract, read Essentials of Making a Business Contract from the Small Business Guide. While the article is intended to cover business agreements, many of the tips apply to lottery pool contracts.