Carmine

Playing the lottery can be fun but it can also be very frustrating! I'm sure you know the feeling - "When are my numbers ever going to come in?" - "When am I ever going to get more than two or three numbers on any line?" - "Dear God my baby needs new shoes!"

Want to have more fun when you play the lottery - that would be nice wouldn't it?

You can make playing the lottery a social event, increase the fun of playing and increase your chances of playing. How?

Playing the lottery can become a lot more fun and you can really increase your chances of winning some decent money if you join or organize a syndicate of players. This could be a syndicate between family and friends or perhaps a larger syndicate of workers at the office or factory. The more participants the better the spread, the better your chances of winning and the bigger the possible winnings.

What is a syndicate you ask? Well a syndicate is a group of like minded individuals who pool their resources to play the lottery and agree to share the spoils, if any. For instance, lets say ten friendly members of the office tea club decide to put in the price of a lottery ticket each and buy ten tickets and agree to share any winnings that come from the next lottery draw. They appoint one member of the tea club to collect the cash, buy the tickets and collect whatever winnings come their way. They draw up a list of numbers they want to play and wait for the great day of the draw. The whole excitement of the lottery is increased as they talk to each other about what they are going to do with their share. The social experience of it is great and they all share the excitement. Win or lose the experience has been better than if they had each separately bought a lottery ticket.

In the process they have increased their chances of winning anything tenfold. Ten chances of winning are always better than one.

In the happy event that one or more of their tickets wins a dividend, there is another opportunity for a social experience as they divide up the spoils Whats $7.50 divided by ten then? Okay guys heres your seventy five cents, ho, ho Better luck next time Whos in again then, Saturdays Jackpot is $34,000,000

Organizing a syndicate is pretty simple. I have organized several at the office, getting between ten and twenty people participating each time.

The first step is to define the rules of participation. These should be clearly written out, understood and accepted by all participants. There have been incidents where unhappy members of a syndicate have ended up suing each other over jackpots won and not divided as agreed. There is nothing that spoils a tea club more than having the members fighting and suing each other. (He stole my money Im going to sue him to death - pass the sugar please)

How much will each participant contribute? A simple decision here is that each member should contribute the equivalent of the price of a lottery ticket., but the members may wish to contribute more or not be able to contribute as much as others. The rules of contribution should be clearly defined, especially where a member indicates they wish to contribute but fails to pay up.

The rules of division are perhaps more important than the rules of contribution or certainly closely linked. The amount contributed to the ticket pool should determine the amount received from the winning pool in the event of a win. However there may be other considerations. The members can agree to contribute a percentage to a cause such as a charity in the event of a win. This can make the participation in the syndicate more noble than simply going for the gold. (I not only won a million, but I gave a hundred bucks to charity)

Following on this is the question of what numbers to play. Each member may contribute their own set of magic numbers to be played. This becomes difficult for the member responsible for buying the tickets. Alternatively the members may agree to play quick pick numbers on every line that is purchased. Personally I have always used the quick pick method.

A member of the syndicate chosen by the members or perhaps the organizer then collects the members contributions and is responsible for purchasing the tickets. Members should be provided with copies of the tickets or at least the ticket numbers. I have always made photo copies of the tickets and given each member a copy. This gives them the chance to meditate and pray over the numbers and try to influence the outcome of the lottery. (Dear God, let numbers 6,9,13,27,37,45 be the winnings numbers this week)

Checking the numbers, collecting the winnings and distributing the spoils then becomes the next most important event at the tea club.

(See details below where you can check all the latest lottery results.)

In the event of a mega bucks win make sure that all members have good tax consultants, lawyers and that the payouts are agreed before the lawyers start collecting what is not rightfully theirs.

Apart from organizing a syndicate for pure personal financial gain there is also the possibility of organizing a syndicate for the benefit of a club, charity or other organization. The contributing members agree to contribute a portion or perhaps all of the winnings to the cause. They still enjoy the excitement of playing the lottery and hoping to make a significant contribution to whatever the cause may be. This works well in a club or pub situation where members may drop their change in a jar and on lottery night the contents of the jar is used to purchase a ticket or tickets in the lottery for the benefit of the club or charity.

Myself I have occasionally put lottery tickets in the collection plate at church together with my normal contribution. I work on the theory that if God needs something special for the congregation He must at least have a ticket to play.

Enjoy organizing your own syndicate and increasing your chances of winning the lottery.

Maybe today is the day for Lottery-Day.

On the lighter side ... There was a fellow who came to church every Sunday and prayed, "Please God let me win the lottery this week!"

This went on for several years. "Dear God, why won't you let me win the lottery!"

Eventually God lost patience and replied, "At least go out and buy a ticket"

Henry Hugo is a Lottery Fan from way back. Henry publishes the Lottery-Day.com website which lists all the USA State Lottery results and winning lottery numbers, as well as the lottery results for the UK National Lottery, Euromillions and the Australian Lottery results. Check your lottery results at: http://www.lottery-day.com

This article may be reproduced provide it is reproduced in it's entirety and with all links and references.