Lottery Syndicates Gone Wrong

Due to legislation coming into effect in 2019, we can no longer offer lottery betting and as such some content may no longer be relevant.

$47 Million UK Lotto Syndicate

Lottery stories are often full of incredible tales of luck, unfortunately for Louisa Whitby, her story is one of astonishing bad luck.

Whitby, who worked at a Liverpool-based recruitment company, was part of a long-running syndicate made up of herself, and ten fellow colleagues. The eleven were the entire workforce of the Liverpool branch of the company.

Louisa, who was expecting her first child, missed work on the day syndicate payments were to be made, and inadvertently missed out on approx. $4 million, when her fellow syndicate members banked approx. $47 million on the UK Lotto.

Returning to work Louisa found a desolate office, as her 10 fellow syndicate members had dumped their jobs and headed off to spend their winnings. Naturally devastated after being unceremoniously informed she wouldn't be seeing a penny of the group's winnings.

An employee of the company, based in a different office, tweeted: 'In recruitment hell....all our staff in Liverpool office have left after winning lottery.' Spare a moment if you will, for those left behind in the wake of a lottery win!

Whitby told the media, "That money will never buy them happiness. I considered them my friends, but I can never speak to them again."

Well, I for one can't blame her, I'd be a bit miffed too.

The anonymous ten have not made a comment on the situation, Louisa Whitby is currently taking legal action.

$40 Million Powerball Syndicate

Brendon King regularly took part in a syndicate at his office. On the day a second Powerball syndicate was purchased, Brendan finished work at a Sydney factory at 12.59pm and missed out on a share in their $40 million win in 2016.

His colleague, Robert Adams, who ran lottery syndicates at the cable manufacturing plant, decided to pool funds to enter the May 5 Powerball draw later that afternoon after Brendan had finished work.

Brendon held a ticket in the same draw as part of an earlier syndicate, but Robert formed a second, one-off syndicate of 14 people to boost their chances of winning the jackpot. The second syndicate won the $40 million Powerball jackpot. Although he was a regular contributor to the lottery pools at the plant, Mr Adams did not think of including him in the second group because the pair did not cross paths on the factory floor that day. Mr King was unsuccessfully in suing Mr Adams because he understood he had to pay to be included in all of the syndicates organised by Mr Adams. A justice ruled that the two syndicates were clearly separate, with no mingled funds, and Mr King was not part of the winning syndicate.

$16 Million Powerball Syndicate

When a member of your lotto syndicate vanishes the day after a lotto draw you might begin to suspect something is up. It's only when your absent co-worker has lottery officials sending him congratulatory bottles of champagne that the penny drops.

Quite a lot of pennies in fact, because Gary Baron had just legged it with a $16 million Australian Powerball jackpot, most of which belonged to his fellow syndicate members.

Two of the syndicate confronted him at his home, complete with a brand new BMW outside, where Baron insisted his winners were from a ticket he had purchased separately from the group.

Unsurprisingly, his fellow syndicate didn't buy his story, and the fact Baron was busy buying himself luxury goods only made the situation worse.

Following the big win, an unknown winner who was rumoured to be Gary Baron, told the press: "I'm still in disbelief... I don't need that amount of money, it's too much for me."

A quote that seems a little contradictory, considering how events transpired. Luckily for Gary he will have his fellow syndicate members to help him with the winnings, after the parties agreed an out of court settlement.

Driven to Distraction

Up next in our tales of deceitful co-workers is another heart-warming tale from the UK, set in the DVLA offices in Swansea.

By this point in the article you can probably predict what happens, but just in case…. A 16 strong team won big on the EuroMillions raffle, but just as the champagne corks were popping, things started to get nasty.

A squabble erupted within the group, when three of the potential winners were accused of not coughing up for that week's tickets.

An exasperated insider told the UK press: "It's like something out of a television show, I can't believe the way they are acting."

Last we heard they were going to organise a vote to see whether the three in doubt would be given their winnings anyway.

Each member would "only" take away $104,000 from the win, plus a further $23,000 each if the other three are excluded – not exactly retirement money – it could certainly lead to some frosty chats over the coffee machine if they aren't given their winnings.  

Do Syndicates Right

Like the idea of syndicates? Don't want to get stuck in one of these nightmare situations? Have no fear, Lottoland has the solution.

You might have noticed the syndicates tabs at the top of our most popular lottos. These amazing new betting options allow you to instantly join an online syndicate, and seriously boost your chances of winning big.

Instead of having to get a group of friends, family or co-workers together, and sort out boring contracts, you just select how many shares you want. We deal with all the admin, so you can sit back and start winning!

Head on over to our syndicates page to find out more about Lottoland's  jackpot betting syndicates.