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Office Powerball pool could lead to lawsuit

Jan 13, 2016

The Powerball jackpot continues to climb ahead of Wednesday night's drawing.

In some offices, everybody pools their money to buy a bunch of tickets in hopes of hitting it big.

"We actually made a copy of all the tickets," Powerball player Victor Walker said. "Everybody got a copy, and they put it in a safe."

If an office pool wins a jackpot, it could, however, lead to a lawsuit.
"These lawsuits have happened in every state," attorney Stephen Katz said. "We now have 44 states that participate in Powerball, and in the major states, these lawsuits are a dime a dozen."
Katz said co-workers involved in lottery pools need to draw up an agreement, get signatures, make copies and send e-mails. He said to also make sure everyone has the chance to be included.

"That's essentially where the wheels come off," he said. "Somebody doesn't show up to work that day, and they say, 'I would have paid for the ticket.  I was always in the pool, just because I was sick doesn't mean I can't participate.  Here's my two bucks, now give me my 4 million!'"

Walker said that it hasn’t been a problem in his office pool.

“I think we won like $7 between like 10 people,” he said. 

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