Lottery Pool Quick FAQ

lotterypoolfaq

So What Is a Lottery Pool Anyway?

Simple – it’s just a way of playing the lottery in a group of people. Instead of everyone buying their own tickets, you put your money together and buy as many tickets as you can. Then you share the winnings. (They are also sometimes called syndicates).

Why Would you Want To Do That?

Because the more tickets you buy, the better your chance of winning. So instead of spending a fortune yourself, you spend the same as you normally would but join forces with other like minded people. Neat huh?

But Isn’t It Hard Work?

To run one, yes it is! To play in one, not at all. So I’d recommend you join somebody elses lottery pool rather than try and start your own. Simply because it is a lot of work, and you don’t get an awful lot of thanks for doing it either. Trust me 🙂

How Big Should A Pool Be?

As big as it needs to be, but not too big. I know, that sounds really vague. But the fact is, it really depends on the lottery game you’re playing. If the jackpot is fairly small, there’s no point in having 500 members in your pool because even if you hit the jackpot everybody is going to end up with a tiny win! Equally there’s not a lot of point in playing the US Powerball with just 2 people in your group as it won’t make much difference to your chances of winning. In short, try and balance the size of the group to the jackpot you’re trying to win.

Do I Need Some Sort Of Legal Agreement Thingy?

You don’t need any official documentation, or any permission from anyone (but bear in mind things may be different in your country, so always check as I’m not a lawyer or any kind of legal professional). It is wise however to have an agreement in place. But this can be quite an informal document just explaining who is in the group, what you play, how tickets are bought, how winnings are split and all that kind of basic stuff. It just avoids any arguments later.

But I Heard That Pools Always End Up In A Mess

Yeah, I read the papers too sometimes. Just remember that there are tens of thousands of lottery pools out there, and only rarely does any kind of problem crop up with one. It’s just the papers making a big deal out of nothing but bad news as usual. I wouldn’t worry about – just put an agreement together, get everybody to sign it and get on with playing instead.