5 Rules When Playing the Workplace Lottery Pool So You Don’t Get Screwed

With the Powerball from the South Dakota Lottery closing in on another massive amount, you're likely to hear about office lottery pools circling the workplace. Whenever a group wins big my first thought is always what about the person or persons who said there is "no chance of winning" and doesn't add the $2 to the pool. Now his or her former co-workers are on a beach somewhere enjoying their newfound wealth and you're at the same job kicking yourself daily for not joining in.

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Now that the Powerball is rising to a cool billion, it seems worth our while to chip in the few bucks when the office lottery bucket comes a round. 

If you decide to toss money in an office pool is a few things that you should do to make sure that you're protected. That's right. Don't get screwed.

1. Make sure that the person collecting money, or the commissioner, is not buying some tickets on the side. In the off-chance that his or her personal ticket does win, you've got a legal clusterfudge on your hands. Save yourself the headache. Make sure that this is his or her only active lottery pool.
2. Make sure they've got a paper to sign. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just something that states "I acknowledge that I am in the lottery pool and I've paid my entry with the understanding that all winnings will be divided equally among players." Besides, this will prevent that one guy in the cube farm (we all know "that guy") from saying he definitely gave the commish the money but must have forgotten to include him.
3. Agree that it will either be the lump sum cash payout or the yearly payments. Most will take the lump sum after taxes.
4. Ask what will happen if you win a small prizes such as $10,  $18, or $25. Are we rolling that into the next drawing or are we getting our few bucks back to feed the snack machines at work next week?
5. Make sure everyone agrees on the numbers. Do you agree on computer generated (quick draw) or is everybody going to suggest birthdays, anniversaries, lucky numbers, etc.? Then, get a photocopy of the tickets.

With the odds at 1 in 292 million you'll need more than luck to pull this off. But hey, you can't win if you don't play, right?