How
to Pool Your Way to Riches in Mega Millions $250 Million Jackpot
By Gail Howard
With the Powerball jackpots at $300 million and the Mega Millions
jackpot at $250 million, there is plenty of money to spread
among large groups of lottery players in pools and syndicates.
(In the U.K ., Brits call them lottery syndicates; Americans
call them lotto pools.) Lottery jackpots are won increasingly
more often by groups of people who pooled their money.
If
either the Mega Millions jackpot at $250 million or the Powerball
jackpot at $300 million were split among 100 lottery players
who pooled their money together, each one would collect more
than a million dollars in a cash lump sum if the ticket wins
the top prize. With this much money at risk, you need a binding
lottery syndicate or lotto pool agreement signed by all the
participants.
Pools
can consist of two people or more – even 100 when the
jackpots are this huge. Lotto pools or lottery syndicates
can be organized wherever people meet on a regular basis.
The possibilities are endless. Lotto pools are most popular
on the job among fellow workers. When you win, others will
share your joy. And when you lose, you can groan and gripe
together. So, pooling can be loads of fun. Besides, who knows?
You may even win a jackpot!
POOL
ONLY WITH PEOPLE YOU KNOW
Avoid
Internet lottery pools. Google "lottery pool scam,"
and you'll find 90,000 results: Google "lottery syndicate
scam," and you'll find 29,900 results. Internet sharks
are out there en masse ready to steal your money.
WARNING:
Before you contribute your share of cash to any pool or syndicate,
be sure that an agreement is drawn up (with everyone's address,
telephone number, e-mail address) signed and dated by all
participants. At the time of purchase, a $1 lottery ticket
might seem inconsequential – until it is a winning ticket
worth a quarter of a billion dollars! When so much money is
at stake, even a best friend might decide the big windfall
is more treasured than your friendship. The person who signed
the back of the winning ticket is the legal owner. Without
a paper trail (a signed and dated agreement), possession is
99 percent of the law.
HOW
TO SET UP A LOTTERY POOL OR SYNDICATE
When
deciding on the size of your pool, consider the amount of
money each member of your pool wants to contribute each week
and how often you want to play together. Of course, participating
in pools with small amounts of money does not prevent you
from buying additional tickets for yourself.
Each
member can (and should) participate in the management of the
pool. One person can be designated as the banker who collects
the money and keeps the accounts. Others can work on selecting
the best numbers to play. Still others can wheel the numbers
and fill in the bet slips. (Always use a Balanced Wheeling
system when pooling to trap the winning numbers.) Another
person can be responsible for buying the tickets. Meetings
should be held on a regular basis to get the input of all
the members of the group.
WRITTEN
AGREEMENTS SHOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ITEMS
Once
you have the members of your pool lined up, decide on a name
for your group. Then, draw up a simple agreement describing
the pool's bylaws and have each member sign it. The agreement
should provide for the periodic payment of a certain amount
of money by each member into the pool fund, and it also should
provide for methods of distribution of the winnings —
or non-distribution if pool winnings are small and are slotted
to be reinvested in additional lottery tickets.
The
more possibilities that are provided for in the bylaws, the
less likely there will be trouble later. Your group should
agree on such points as what if a member of the pool, who
has been contributing money every week for several weeks,
months or years, suddenly drops out or doesn't contribute
due to illness, vacation, lack of ready cash or some other
reason? Is that person entitled to a portion of a big win
or not?
What
happens in the event of death of a pool member? What if death
prevents a long-time member from contributing his portion
just before the pool wins a jackpot? Are the heirs entitled
to a portion of the windfall?
Should
each member contribute an equal share? Or can a member buy
more than one share and collect a percentage of the win in
proportion to the total number of shares he or she owns? What
happens if some pool members want the per-share quota raised
— or lowered? Is there a limit set on the number of
participants in the pool? Can new members be voted in? Should
decisions be made by unanimous vote or majority rule? These
points — and more — should be considered and voted
on when writing the bylaws for members of your pool. And finally,
an agreement is not valid if not signed and dated by each
participant in the pool.
HOW
TO DISTRIBUTE THE WINNINGS FOR INCOME TAX PURPOSES
When
a prize of $600 or more is won, most state lotteries will
make the payment to one claimant only. Wins of $600.00 or
more are reported to the IRS as earned income. Your pool must
decide who is responsible for paying the tax on those wins.
Whoever claims the big prize should fill in the IRS Form 5754
and send it to the lottery. At the end of the year when the
lottery does its taxes, everyone in your pool will get a W2G
Form taxed for his share. The best way to distribute a jackpot
prize is to have the lottery office cut separate checks to
each pool member. If the prize is large, some members may
want to opt for the annuity payouts, others may want their
share in a lump sum. When your pool wins a jackpot, you should
seek professional advice from an accountant and a lawyer before
you claim it.
©
2007 Gail Howard. Use and distribution of this article must
include the author's information and copyright.
Gail
Howard's Web site has a free interactive wheeling system that
has already won seven first prize pick-5 jackpots . No sign-in
is required. Go to http://www.smartluck.com and pull down
Free Stuff, then Free Wheels. Use this system for the five
white balls. Read the stories (with their letters) about the
seven winners who won with this system at http://www.smartluck.com
Gail Howard's book, "Lotto Winning Wheels for Powerball
& Mega Millions," has systems that wheel up to all
56 Mega Millions numbers and all 55 Powerball numbers. For
custom wheels up to 10,000+ combinations for any win guarantee
on CD or download, call 1-800-876-4245. Gail Howard is the
author of the comprehensive lottery number selection book
"Lottery Master Guide" and lotto wheeling books
for pick-5, pick-6 and Powerball/Mega Millions as well as
lotto software with scientific strategies and easy-to-use
systems to help the lottery player bet smarter.
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