Mega Millions winner forced to split jackpot with co-workers

Comment #78

RedStang — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 05:18:06 GMT

This moron is being sued again for 150k for backing out of a house deal because they froze his money. Hope he gets shafted.

Comment #77

mcginnin56 — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 06:12:47 GMT

Good for you cfazzari! A lot of bad apples out there, glad to see your not one of them.

Comment #76

cfazzari — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:14:40 GMT

Dude I run a lottery pool with an even 100 people in it. I've been doing it for 10 years now (when it only had 20 people in it). We won $10,000 on 12/28. First thing I did was text about 30 players I had cell phone numbers for. This guy Lopez is a world-class D O U C H E B A G. I can't even IMAGINE doing what he did. Not all of us who run pools are Bernie Madoff and most of us would rather share our good fortune than winning the entire thing by ourselves.

Comment #75

dallascowboyfan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:38:21 GMT

Comment #74

time*treat — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:56:44 GMT

Gerald Celente mentioned this story in a recent interview, as an example of increased societal corruption.

Comment #73

imagine — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 23:35:54 GMT

I've never been in a lottery pool.

Stories like these make sure I never will.

Comment #72

Kidzmom — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:42:27 GMT

Comment #71

Kidzmom — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:41:46 GMT

I meant to say would be our set of numbers instead of could not..(Typing while at work is a hazard).

and I suppose it would if it wasn't included in the lottery letter but since it was included, No matter who's set of numbers is picked, we all get equal shares. The chosen numbers picked are the sole property of the group and everything will be divided equally between the members, no more, no less as stipulated in the signed agreement terms.

Comment #70

OscarRamb — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 15:12:55 GMT

Wow so now instead of it being like he won 4 million, it's like he lost 20 million and 5 friends due to greed and dishonesty. He'd have enjoyed his winnings a lot more if he didn't have to go through so much trouble to deceive his coworkers...

Comment #69

BaristaExpress — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 13:11:06 GMT

Granted RJOh, but I was going off what was stated in the article... The #'s that won were picked #'s. Ok so from that point like I said before all pool #'s are to ALWAYS to be QP's and only bought at one store each and every time!!! Your personal #'s are to be picked and ALWAYS purchased at another store and the same store each drawing!

You see when you can go to a judge and show that the pool QP #'s were always purchased at one store and only that one store each and every drawing you have sh... [ More ]

Comment #68

time*treat — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 18:19:48 GMT

One stipulation that was put in was that if you buy your own ticket, it could not be our set numbers.

The ownership of a number set could probably be challenged. It can certainly be circumvented.

Comment #67

Kidzmom — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 17:53:37 GMT

A lot of pools have gone bad but most of them can be good experiences. In a previous pool that I was in, we had to basically chase down the money from players, we had one person that didn't pay for weeks and wished that we wouldn't win until she could play !! We even had the person that was the head of the pool tell us we didn't win anything but when we looked at our ticket copy, we saw that we did win $100. and when we confronted her, she was like she didn't know we won..Lol... Even though I di... [ More ]

Comment #66

mcginnin56 — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:54:59 GMT

Excellent advice

Comment #65

Cletu$2 — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 15:57:09 GMT

You can take all the precautions in the world but that won't prevent someone in your pool from sueing you for a share of the jackpot.Its best to just buy your own your own tickets and leave the pool to those who aren't smart enough to buy their own tickets.

Comment #64

PrisonerSix — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 15:32:43 GMT

This story kind of hit me close to home because I run a lottery pool at work. 13 of us buy Powerball, Lotto, and MegaMillions tickets every payday that cover all of the drawings until the next payday. I also buy tickets for myself, but I take steps to make sure there is no confusion between pool tickets and my personal tickets. The tickets I buy for the pool are multidraw tickets that cover the 4 drawings between paydays, and my personal tickets for for individual draws. In addition, every membe... [ More ]

Comment #63

LOTTOMIKE — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 12:22:35 GMT

Exactly

Comment #62

Nikkicute — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:07:39 GMT

A swimming pool is the only pool I'm getting into with other people!

NEVER A LOTTERY POOL!! It's just too much trouble

Comment #61

JWBlue — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 02:59:21 GMT

This.

End of story.

Comment #60

maximumfun — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 01:25:23 GMT

So lottery-pool man wins, regrets playing (only since he won as he most assuridly would have loved being in a pool had one of his other co-'s won), hides win, scams job with false declaration of needed and upcoming surgery, disappears for a semi-short period of time, returns claiming lottery win and IS SURPRISED that one of his co's would have checked dates to see when his win was.

So... he either figures that his co's are as stupid as he would have been, or that they are as stupid as he WISH... [ More ]

Comment #59

dpoly1 — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:32:32 GMT

They have 2 lottery machines where I purchase my tickets. Just to be sure, I purchased an extra ticket from the 2nd machine last nite

Comment #58

mcginnin56 — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:01:52 GMT

No don't ever keep your mouth shut, predictions is a big part of what LP is all about. Who knows there may not be another Jackpot for three

months.

Comment #57

mcginnin56 — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:56:28 GMT

Lucky for Life, a new game in the New England area. Todd had a thread on it a couple of days ago (13th), in the News forum.

Comment #56

ashabug725 — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:40:56 GMT

What's LFL

Comment #55

RedStang — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:32:42 GMT

So much for my lotto predictions. Really did'nt expect anyone to win yet. Guess i'll just shut my mouth. BTW, whats with this guys first name Americo. Is he trying to fit in.

Comment #54

HaveABall — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:05:53 GMT

Phew, good to know. Cheers

Comment #53

mcginnin56 — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:16:55 GMT

Oh...almost forgot to mention the most important part. On the very first LFL drawing, the FIRST Jackpot was from MA!!!

Please, despite your reservations about LFL Bigheadnick, please tELL me you played just one line and became LP's first ever Jackpot

winner AND the very first Jackpot winner of LFL .

Seriously bro.....I hope it was you

Comment #52

mcginnin56 — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:23:18 GMT

Last nights results for LFL 1, 2, 6, 10, 19 Lucky Ball 15

I won on all my three tickets! Got the lucky ball, and two other tickets 2 out of 5. Total purse $8.00

Bad news, cannot retire just yet.

Comment #51

DC81 — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:08:35 GMT

It was probably frozen before he even got to spend a dime, or at least before he spent too much.

Everything I wanted to say has already been said though... Lottery pools suck, if you buy personal tickets don't do it at the same time or even place you buy pool ones and gift taxes suck.

Personally I would never give any one person a million dollar gift, not just because of the taxes (even if the exemption has been raised for a limited time) but because that's a lot of money for someone... [ More ]

Comment #50

gocart1 — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:24:25 GMT

Thats what i say also ..Buy your own tickets ...And thats it

Comment #49

Hermanus104 — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:50:27 GMT

Does this guy still have $20 million to give to his friends? I think his type would have already blown through the $24 million.

Comment #48

RJOh — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 02:21:40 GMT

If he was going to buy other tickets than those for the pool, he should have made sure members of the pool knew about them and made sure they knew which ones belonged to them before each drawings. If they weren't OK with it then he should have only bought tickets for himself and allowed someone else to buy the pool tickets. He knew the risks and when he won he knew how it looked and decided to quite his job, lay low for a while before putting in his claim as if that ticket did belong to the pool... [ More ]

Comment #47

BaristaExpress — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 01:57:10 GMT

First of all people if you're one of those who buys tickets for a lottery pool that you are running you buy those tickets (lottery pool) at one store and always they are to be QP's!

Second you buy your personal tickets at another store and always buy your tickets at that store as long as you buy tickets for the lottery pool!!!! Never buy your tickets at the same store you purchase the lottery pool tickets at, NEVER . And if at all possible you yourself never buy QP's as your personal tickets... [ More ]

Comment #46

Kumo — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 01:47:28 GMT

Trust me HAB, I know all about those crazy gift taxes now... still think they are ... but back then I was not aware of some of the lottery horror stories of folks that gave away too much. Both myself and the other guy that helped to collect the lottery pool funds, would often state our intentions to spread the wealth during convertations in the breakroom.... just a bunch of dream big and talk big convo. We're also talking about a time before I knew about Trusts, Diversification, Estates and Capi... [ More ]

Comment #45

TheGameGrl — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:31:18 GMT

I agree. So for the most part , I lean to the side of caution. This is a jury of folks ( common citizens) who don't have common sense. Since the TRUE possiblity did exist that he purchased the ticket with his own money and used his own set of numbers, this jury was no different then the plaintiffs. Hungry for injustice and it was served cold.

Bottom line...Its New Jersey...enuff said. They even tax the highest themselves along side the feds

Comment #44

time*treat — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:36:46 GMT

...when one of the pool members get sick or cant pay in one week, and the pool wins and they are SOL ...

It really depends on the kind of people involved. Read the last few paragraphs of this story.

https://www.lotterypost.com/news/190102

Comment #43

rdgrnr — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:34:12 GMT

Give some undeserved money to one skinflint and you will have to deal with hordes of them begging and demanding and sending sleazy lawyers after you.

Best to stay away from pools altogether.

They attract the cheapest, miserly moneygrubbers in the world.

Comment #42

lotsofwins — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:24:29 GMT

Seems like I have the same sentiment of everyone else,I don't get the stories we hear about when one of the pool members get sick or cant pay in one week, and the pool wins and they are SOL, in my opinion that is just wrong..in addition EVEN IF the were his own personal picks, it sounds like they were pooling for years, why not share

Comment #41

HaveABall — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:03:55 GMT

This article isn't very helpful, several key bits of information are missing to CLEARLY show why this man was forced to share the monies he received from the lottery with five additional people.

Comment #40

rdgrnr — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:00:20 GMT

I got a red and maroon Harley.

Harley says it's crimson and brandywine .

Well, I wouldn't ride no dam crimson and brandywine bike.

It's red and maroon.

Harley oughta fire every dam lib they got workin' there and they wouldn't have colors called crimson and brandywine ever again.

Comment #39

HaveABall — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:40:57 GMT

Kumo, you wrote: Personally I had planned to give everyone in the pool $1 Million each if my personal set of numbers won.

Kumo, I don't understand why you planned that amount; as huge Gift Taxes are collected [by the U.S.A. Federal Government] from U.S.A. Citizens who Gift more than $13K limit, annually, to a person who isn't their Legal Spouse. Finally, not common knowledge is that all of one's Gifts to people must not total exceed $1M (total to all people) during the gifter's lifetime... [ More ]

Comment #38

dpoly1 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:27:50 GMT

I saw this one in the showroom. It is awesome

Comment #37

time*treat — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:27:15 GMT

Once someone asked the whereabouts of the 12 tickets, it would have been game over.

Had he bought MORE than 12 and given the group the first 12 or last 12 in the series purchased, before the drawing, then he would have had a case.

Also, had he bought his ticket(s) at a different time (and store) and given the group their 12, before the drawing, then he would have had a case.

Being a thieving shmuck isn't a slip-up , it's a character flaw.

Comment #36

dpoly1 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:24:47 GMT

It is not a Plymouth!

It has a bonnet a boot also!

It looks even better when you see it in the showroom

Comment #35

savagegoose — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:20:18 GMT

usually when lawsuits start there is a set amount in question, andthat amouint is frozen and held by the gov,,,, oh you are right its prob gone

Comment #34

haymaker — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:15:44 GMT

then they'll be more lawyers.

Comment #33

C0w Pi3 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:05:29 GMT

Out of curiosity what if this guy claims bankruptcy? Honestly don't think he still has the money..

Comment #32

OldSchoolPa — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:59:15 GMT

Dpoly...I am a fan of Bentleys. Why I was just returning from an out of town trip driving from O'hare to my home near Gurnee when I saw a guy from Wisconsin driving my Continental Spur! I gave chase in my college beater of a Chevy Metro. I will finally part with my beater and trade up to my Bentley when my numbers hit tomorrow.

Congrats to the winners, and the lawyers for the plaintiffs...I won't experience that headache when I win Friday

Comment #31

mediabrat — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:58:43 GMT

You know, he probably could have gotten away with it if he hadn't said I quit because I won the lottery . It sounds like the co-workers weren't aware of the win until he brought it to everyone's attention. If he had just said I quit without giving a reason (or just made something up), it's likely no one would have been the wiser. Doesn't make it right, but slip-ups like that are how people get caught.

Comment #30

gocart1 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:51:45 GMT

Yes.It was only 5 grand and it was like a big cat..All the guy we're making fun of me because i just opt out a few weeks earlyer...the headguy of the lotto pool had to run around chasing people down fir the money and thats when i said i'm out ..then two weeks later the BIG HIT....5 GRAND...so at 54 years of age i'm still learning about how money really changes people....It was very upsetting to see long time friends acting like two year old kidds....oppps....I sorry ,that was an inslalt to two y... [ More ]

Comment #29

Cletu$2 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:48:22 GMT

Good advise,rdgrnr.I couldn't have said it any better,myself.

Comment #28

rdgrnr — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:32:34 GMT

Exactamundo! Pools are a hassle and compared to individuals, they rarely win.

Another problem is you're usually in the pool with a bunch of tightwad skinflints and miserly cheapskates who pinch pennies so hard they have Lincoln spinning in his grave in agony. That's the kind of people pools attract.

And you know what happens when one of those tightwads misses a drawing and the pool wins - it's sleazy lawyer time.

Avoid pools just like you'd avoid the cheapskates that like them.... [ More ]

Comment #27

rdgrnr — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:19:03 GMT

They used to call that purple.

Comment #26

Kumo — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:13:13 GMT

A few years back there were on average about 13 to 16 of us in the clinic I worked in at the time that used to pool our money together when PB and MM would get close to $200M. I was usually one of the two people that would go around and collect money from participants, obtaining signatures along with the amount of money that they wanted to bet. Most we ever won was around $17 lol, but it was still a fun project to work on and I am sure as hell glad that we never won the jackpot... because in tru... [ More ]

Comment #25

KY Floyd — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:09:52 GMT

Here's the useful quote from the article: The case ... marked the latest cautionary tale involving lottery pools, pacts often based on trust and a handshake.

The lesson from this is that contracts should be in writing, and they should be written by somebody who's not an idiot. Despite some hassles along the way there are at least 5 players who wouldn't have won if they hadn't been in a pool. I put won in quotation marks because there's only one person who really knows if the winning ticket wa... [ More ]

Comment #24

haymaker — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:05:20 GMT

Very smart

Comment #23

RJOh — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:58:13 GMT

I was in a pool of 20 co-workers before I retired and played the Ohio Super Lotto. We matched 5of6 for $1500 three times and had the same problem about taxes since the player claiming the prize had to pay the taxes.

We settled that problem by paying a member's kid attending college and earning too little to pay taxes to cash our winning tickets. They not only got what we paid them but a refund of the taxes deducted when they cashed our ticket.

Comment #22

time*treat — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:31:07 GMT

Annual payment on 5 grand?? Not 5 million?

I think once a pool gets near a dozen, 2 dozen max, it's time to break it into 2 smaller groups.

A JP divided by 40-50 people isn't going to be much fun, plus you know the manager of that pool would spend way too much time on paper pushing ... if they're doing things right.

Comment #21

rad242 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:25:27 GMT

All that RUCKUS over 5 grand so you can see why things get so hysterical over a JACKPOT. Heed the warning LP Members

Comment #20

TheRightPrice — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:16:08 GMT

My point exactly

Comment #19

gocart1 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:30:58 GMT

Your so right mightwin ...if you want to win just buy your own tickets .. The Mrs. and i would take a ride to R.I. to play powerball in the early 90's .We are from city island in bronx,n.y. ...people would always ask if we could pick you tickets for them ...Its just under three hour ride ..Ididn't want to be mean but i said come along for the ride .All of them said no.OK...Now in 1995 powerball comes to CT...We wouldtake a ride into CT. to around exit 40 or 41 on I95 the Christmas Tree store..Ag... [ More ]

Comment #18

lot123 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:30:01 GMT

only 5 people not split with their lawyer.

Comment #17

JAP69 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:28:41 GMT

Just a sampling. Probably more out there. 10 page just on that word search.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=yhs-avg-chrome type=yahoo_avg_hs2-tb-web_chrome_us p=+lottery+pool+lawsuits+filed

Comment #16

temptustoo — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:40:35 GMT

He has probally spent his share already.. What a jerk.. cheating his friends... LOSER

Comment #15

zinniagirl — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:22:10 GMT

He could have saved himself a lot of grief by giving the numbers on the group tickets by email or by phone so that everyone in the group would have a copy of the numbers before the draws. That way, his own tickets were just that.

Considering all his actions, I suspect that the right decision was probably made.

Comment #14

Cletu$2 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:13:38 GMT

Comment #13

ashabug725 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:46:50 GMT

That gray violet is an absolutely beautiful color!! Can't see really clear on my phone but assuming its a Bentley? I'll proally grab one after my win on Friday ;-) I as well got $3 in quick picks (and then my personal numbers

Comment #12

Littleoldlady — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:38:51 GMT

He certainly did not look very happy. they ran the story on the news. He shouldn't have tried to cheat his friends.

Comment #11

HoLeeKau — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:32:52 GMT

Sounds to me like those were his personal numbers, but he stole pool money to play them. So they belong to the pool.

Comment #10

dpoly1 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:20:06 GMT

I bought my own Mega Millions ticket last nite. $3 on quick picks ..................... Grey Violet is goooooooooooood!

I just have to share it with my non-estranged wife

Comment #9

mightwin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:38:08 GMT

Keep it simple, buy your own tickets

Comment #8

dallascowboyfan — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:34:52 GMT

Comment #7

time*treat — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:19:10 GMT

[O]ut of 1,090 times Lopes played, he spent only $12 on 12 numbers the day of the jackpot, an indication he was playing for the pool, which always bought 12 numbers.

Well, that's easy enough to figure out.

[T]he jury knocked to deliver its verdict after 2 1/2 hours of deliberations.

Unless they had to look through all 1,090 tickets, that's 2 1/4 hours longer than this needed to take.

Comment #6

TheRightPrice — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:13:07 GMT

Whether it was his ticket or not, the lesson of today is , don't join Lottery Pools, not in today's day and age

Comment #5

CDanaT — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:09:02 GMT

Looks like this came down to personal integrity ....The winning ticket COULD have been his personal choice...but that little part about, He told his boss he wouldn't be returning to work because he needed foot surgery, which he never received, and denied winning the jackpot. He also filed for unemployment benefits after claiming the prize. kind of sets the stage in my humble opinion. A smart sneaky man would have kept his mouth shut, had a close friend/relative make the claim and moved to Costa... [ More ]

Comment #4

luckyshoes — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:08:41 GMT

Didnt we just see this episode? The woman who won was still getting foodstamps. Now this man wins and files for unemployment.....

Greed Greed Greed

Why would you cut out people who put money in the pool with you? And then say justice wasnt served?

Kudos to the 5 men

Comment #3

TheRightPrice — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:07:14 GMT

Can ANYONE here in LP do a search and give us a STATISTIC of how many lottery pools have gone WRONG?

I'm curious to know how many lottery pools have won over the years and how many resulted in some sort of lawsuit.

Comment #2

dallascowboyfan — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:05:22 GMT

WOW!!!!! OK so the numbers that Lopes played were self picked not quick picks correct? So I guess I am wondering were the other tickets purchased by the group QP or picked

Comment #1

WWWBUKTN — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:04:57 GMT

There's some bad math in this article or I'm just not getting it. If the guy took the cash option which was $24,000,000 after taxes and now has to split it six ways that would be $4,000,000 per person. While I understand there may be attorney fees why would they have to pay taxes on the $4,000,000 individual portions as the taxes were already paid on the $24,000,000. This must be wrong so I'll assume each guy is probably getting about $3,900,000 as it's not going to be over $500,000 for the five... [ More ]

Mega Millions winner forced to split jackpot with co-workers

Lottery Post — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:43:59 GMT

For one New Jersey lottery winner looking to keep a Mega Millions jackpot all to himself, luck ran out today.

Americo Lopes, who took home a $24 million jackpot three years ago, must surrender $20 million of that bounty to five former coworkers after a civil jury found he cheated the men out of their rightful share of the winnings.

On Nov. 10, 2009, two winning Mega Millions tickets were claimed from a $77 million jackpot, one of which Lopes had, leaving him with $38.5 million. He chose a