Lottery Pool

[shark05]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

So, I'm looking to start a FREE online lotto pool. This will allow people to upload their photo or scanned image of their lotto ticket into a pool they select. I am not charging anything for this and it is completely free for everyone. I'm just not 100% sure this is legal or not?

Thank you for any help~

 

[Zigner]

What you have described sounds a lot like an image hosting site. That's not a lottery pool.

 

[tranquility]

I don't know the legality or problems in such an idea, but I think I have a good idea about what the OP means.

 

[Zigner]

I don't know the legality or problems in such an idea, but I think I have a good idea about what the OP means.

I believe that the OP didn't properly explain his idea.

 

[FlyingRon]

I think he's facilitating lottery pools. Essentially a group of people (friends, coworkers) chip in some money and someone goes out and buys a bunch of tickets with the pooled money. Of course, the members would need to know just what numbers were chosen(most people just use the randomly selected ones) so they know if their a winner, rather than taking the word of the person running the pool that "oh, that's the ticket I bought for myself" argument that's playing out in Maryland right now.

 

[Zigner]

I think he's facilitating lottery pools. Essentially a group of people (friends, coworkers) chip in some money and someone goes out and buys a bunch of tickets with the pooled money. Of course, the members would need to know just what numbers were chosen(most people just use the randomly selected ones) so they know if their a winner, rather than taking the word of the person running the pool that "oh, that's the ticket I bought for myself" argument that's playing out in Maryland right now.

Right - he's hosting images.

 

[shark05]

Well basically, people purchase their lotto ticket from any store they choose. They upload the ticket to the website and agree that any winnings will be split between members in the pool. I've read its illegal to send "lottery" tickets through USPS but its not very clear for online. Also, would their upload be a legally binding contract?

 

[FlyingRon]

Well basically, people purchase their lotto ticket from any store they choose. They upload the ticket to the website and agree that any winnings will be split between members in the pool. I've read its illegal to send "lottery" tickets through USPS but its not very clear for online. Also, would their upload be a legally binding contract?

As long as you are not facilitating people buying or selling tickets online, hosting images of them isn't likely to be a big deal. The reason you can't mail them is because (re)selling them in interstate commerce is a no no.

 

[MrJenkins]

of course OP would have to explain more, but the way I read it is:

person goes out and buys a lotto ticket (say 5 dollars). They can then join a lottery pool with a select group of "unknown" people and add their ticket to this lottery pool. So if this particular group has 10 people pitching in 5 bucks of their individually bought tickets, they would have 50 chances combined. After all is uploaded into the group, they can see the numbers and if it hits, they would split between them.

 

[swalsh411]

Here's what happens if somebody actually does hit the jackpoint. They suddenly "remember" that this particular ticket was purchased with their own funds not with the group funds and therefore they shouldn't have to share. Since they are physically in possession of the ticket, and that is all that is required to collect, they get all the money. Now a bunch of pissed off people have to sue a person who all of a sudden has a ton of money with which to hire lawyers. Sounds like fun right?

 

[MrJenkins]

Here's what happens if somebody actually does hit the jackpoint. They suddenly "remember" that this particular ticket was purchased with their own funds not with the group funds and therefore they shouldn't have to share. Since they are physically in possession of the ticket, and that is all that is required to collect, they get all the money. Now a bunch of pissed off people have to sue a person who all of a sudden has a ton of money with which to hire lawyers. Sounds like fun right?

you don't think that can be curbed with a disclaimer that any ticket loaded into that particular group is considered shared lotto.

I mean, surely they can claim it as their own, but would have a hard time stating such if they took the time to purchase the money, scan, and upload the ticket to the lotto groups site

Also, each group can have a 5 ticket, 10 ticket, or 20 ticket rule... so if you want to join my "mr jenkins lotto pool", you'd be required to submit the required amount of tickets. If you purchase 100 dollars worth of tickets, then you can choose the 20 dollars worth of tickets to upload. Anything uploaded would then be considered group funds