How to run an office lottery pool
A lottery pool lets coworkers, friends or family buy more tickets together and share whatever they win. Most pools run happily for years. The ones that end in arguments nearly always skipped the same few steps: a written agreement, money before tickets, and a copy of the tickets for everyone. Here's how to run one well.
1. Put the rules in writing
Before the first draw, agree on the rules and have every member sign them. One page settles almost every argument before it starts. It should say:
- who runs the pool, and which game and draws it plays;
- how much each member pays for each draw, and by when;
- that only members who've paid before the tickets are bought share in that draw;
- how prizes are split, and what happens to small ones;
- who claims a big prize, and how;
- how someone joins or leaves.
Our free agreement covers all of that, with a page for members' signatures and a record of who paid for each draw. Print it blank, or type in the details first.
2. Collect the money before buying
Never buy tickets on a promise. If someone pays late, they're in the next draw, not this one. Keep a simple record of who paid for each draw: the agreement's last page is a grid for it.
The organiser shouldn't take a fee or a cut. A pool works because everyone's in it on the same terms, the organiser included.
3. Share the tickets before the draw
As soon as the tickets are bought, the organiser sends a photo of every ticket to all the members, by email or group chat, before the draw. Everyone can see exactly which numbers the pool is playing, and nobody can wonder later whether a winning ticket was the pool's. Keep the original tickets somewhere safe until any prizes are claimed.
4. Let everyone check the results
Every member should be able to check the tickets, not just the organiser. If your pool plays a wheel from this site, send everyone the link to it: it opens with the same numbers and tickets, and each member can have the results checked and emailed to them every morning, free. The results pages also check any line against the past year of draws.
5. Decide what happens to small prizes
Most pool wins are small. Splitting $7 between twelve people isn't worth the trouble, so many pools put small prizes towards the next draw's tickets, or save them until the pool ends. Agree a limit in advance, such as anything under $100, and write it into the agreement.
6. If you win a big prize
States handle group claims differently. Some lotteries pay each member of a group directly when they claim together; others pay one person, who then pays the rest. Before anyone signs the back of a big winning ticket, check your lottery's rules for group claims, because the name on the ticket can decide who the lottery pays. Each state's page links to its lottery.
When one person collects a prize that belongs to several, the IRS has a form for it: Form 5754. The person collecting the prize lists everyone who shares it, so each member is taxed on their own share instead of the collector being taxed on all of it. For a large prize, talk to a tax adviser or a lawyer before you claim.
7. Why wheels suit pools
A pool's money buys more tickets than most people would buy alone. A wheel puts those tickets to work on a set of numbers the group chooses, with a guarantee: if enough of the winning numbers are among yours, at least one ticket wins. It's also a fair way to choose the numbers: each member picks one or two, and the wheel covers them all.
Here's what a pool paying $5 a person for each draw gets from our wheels:
| Pool | Game | Numbers | Tickets | Cost a draw | The guarantee comes into play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 people, $25 | Powerball | 9 | 12 | $24 | on 1 in 72 draws, about once every 6 months |
| 10 people, $50 | Powerball | 11 | 20 | $40 | on 1 in 38 draws, about once every 3 months |
| 20 people, $100 | Powerball | 14 | 43 | $86 | on 1 in 19 draws, about once every 6 weeks |
| 5 people, $25 | Mega Millions | 7 | 5 | $25 | on 1 in 171 draws, about once every 20 months |
| 10 people, $50 | Mega Millions | 8 | 8 | $40 | on 1 in 110 draws, about once every 13 months |
| 20 people, $100 | Mega Millions | 11 | 20 | $100 | on 1 in 40 draws, about once every 5 months |
The guarantee is at least one ticket matching three winning numbers: $7 on Powerball and $20 or more on Mega Millions. When four or five of your numbers come up, the wheel's tickets often win more. No wheel changes the jackpot odds, though: each ticket has the same chance as any other. See how wheels work.
Make a Powerball wheel, a Mega Millions wheel, or one for your state's game.
Pool checklist
- A signed agreement, with every member's phone number or email.
- Money in before every draw, and a record of who paid.
- A photo of every ticket sent to everyone before the draw.
- The original tickets kept somewhere safe.
- Results that every member can check.
- A rule for small prizes.
- Your state's group-claim rules checked before a big prize is signed for.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Everyone in the pool must be old enough to play in the state where the tickets are bought.