Bits & Odds

Lottery pool agreement, split calculator and ticket log

Everything an office pool needs before the drawing: a one-page agreement to sign, a log of every ticket and payment, and a calculator that shows what each member would keep after tax. Free, printable, and there is a PDF.

The Powerball jackpot for Monday, October 26, 2026, 10:59 pm ET is $687 million, with a cash value of $294.7 million. Split ten equal ways, each member's share of the cash is $29.5 million, and each keeps about $18.6 million after federal tax where the state does not tax lottery prizes, or $15.4 million if the ticket was bought in New York. Mega Millions is $443 million (Tuesday, October 27, 2026, 11:00 pm ET).

Download the PDF

Pool split calculator

Not everyone bought one share? Set names and shares

A member who paid for two tickets when everyone else paid for one has two shares. Half shares are fine.

Each member is taxed on their own share as a single filer with no other income, at 2026 federal rates, plus the withholding rate of the state where the ticket was bought (rates checked October 18, 2026). Your own taxes depend on your income, filing status and home state: an estimate, not tax advice.

What each member keeps, by pool size

Equal shares, cash option, after the whole federal bill, in a state that does not tax lottery prizes and in the state that withholds the most.

Members Powerball $687 million, no state tax Powerball, bought in New York Mega Millions $443 million, no state tax
2 $92,880,500 $76,819,350 $58,797,500
5 $37,182,200 $30,757,740 $23,549,000
10 $18,616,100 $15,403,870 $11,799,500
20 $9,333,050 $7,726,935 $5,924,750
50 $3,763,220 $3,120,774 $2,399,900
100 $1,906,610 $1,585,387 $1,224,950

Lottery pool agreement

bitsandodds.com/lottery/pool-agreement/

We, the members signed below, agree to buy lottery tickets together as a pool, on these terms.

  1. The pool. Name of pool: ____________________________. Pool manager: ________________________, phone or email ____________________. Stand-in if the manager is away: ________________________.
  2. Games and drawings. We play ☐ Powerball ☐ Mega Millions ☐ ________________, for the drawings from ____________ to ____________, or ☐ until the jackpot is won ☐ until this agreement is ended in writing.
  3. Paying in. One share costs $______ per drawing. It is paid to the manager by __________ on the day of the drawing, by __________________. Only members who have paid for a drawing share in that drawing's prizes. Money that arrives late counts toward the next drawing. The manager records every payment in the contribution log.
  4. Buying and keeping the tickets. The manager buys the tickets in the state of ________________ before the drawing, and before the drawing sends a photo or copy of every ticket to all members by __________________, and records each ticket in the ticket log. The original tickets are kept by __________________ at ____________________.
  5. Sharing prizes. Every prize is divided among the members who paid for that drawing, in proportion to the shares each paid for.
  6. Small prizes. Prizes under $________ are ☐ used to buy tickets for the next drawing ☐ divided among the members ☐ ________________________.
  7. Claiming. A prize too large to be paid by a retailer is claimed for the pool by ____________________, using the state lottery's procedure for groups. The person claiming gives the lottery IRS Form 5754 listing every member who shares in the prize, with their share, so that each member is taxed on their own share. Every member agrees to provide what the lottery and the IRS need to do that.
  8. Cash or annuity. If the pool wins a jackpot, it takes ☐ the cash option ☐ the annuity ☐ whichever a majority of shares chooses within ____ days of the drawing.
  9. Joining and leaving. Members can join or leave between drawings by telling the manager. A member who leaves keeps their share of any prize from drawings they paid for.
  10. Disagreements. If members disagree about this agreement, they will first try to settle it by ____________________________.

A template to help a group write down what it agreed, not legal advice. Check your state lottery's rules for group claims before anyone signs a winning ticket.

#Name (printed)SignatureDateSharesPhone or email
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Lottery pool ticket log

bitsandodds.com/lottery/pool-agreement/

Pool: __________________________ Manager: ______________________. One line per ticket line played. Send a copy to every member before the drawing.

Drawing dateGameLineNumbersAdd-onMembers inCopy sentPrize

Contributions

Drawing dateMemberSharesPaidReceived byInitials

Running the pool

Powerball jackpot after taxes Mega Millions jackpot after taxes Lottery tax calculator Powerball odds All lottery analysis

Frequently asked questions

Who claims the prize for a lottery pool?
One person usually presents the ticket for the whole pool, and the lottery then needs to know who else shares in it. How depends on the state and on the size of the prize. In California, one member claiming a prize of $600 to $999,999 for a group completes claim form CSL1242 and IRS Form 5754; for $1 million or more the representative completes CSL 0896 and every other member completes CSL 0897. In Illinois, a group claiming $1 million or more must claim in the name of a partnership, group or other entity; a group needs a document signed by every member confirming they agreed to share before the winning ticket was bought. Name the person who claims in your agreement, and read your own state lottery's claim page before anyone signs the ticket.
What is IRS Form 5754?
Form 5754, "Statement by Person(s) Receiving Gambling Winnings", is what the person collecting a prize gives the lottery when they are one of a group sharing it. It lists every member, their taxpayer identification number and their share, and the lottery uses it to issue a separate Form W-2G to each member. It goes back to the lottery, not to the IRS. That is what lets each member be taxed on their own share rather than the claimant being taxed on all of it.
How is a pool prize taxed?
Each member is taxed on their own share, at their own rates, once the lottery has a Form 5754. The lottery holds back 24% for federal tax, and in most states state tax too, before it pays; on a jackpot share that is less than the final federal bill, so most members owe more at filing. The calculator above works out each member's share both ways, cash and annuity, using the 2026 federal brackets for a single filer with no other income and the withholding rate of the state where the ticket was bought.
Why does a pool need a written agreement?
Because the ticket itself names nobody. When a pool wins, the questions are who paid for that drawing, how many shares each person had, who keeps the tickets, and whether the pool takes cash or the annuity. A signed sheet and a ticket log answer all four before anyone knows the numbers. Illinois writes it into its rules: a group claiming $1 million or more must show a document signed by all members, made before the ticket was bought.
Is this agreement legally binding?
It is a template to help a group write down what it agreed, not legal advice, and nothing on this page is. Whether a signed agreement is enforceable depends on your state's law and on how it is filled in. For a large prize, the pool should talk to a lawyer and a tax professional before claiming.

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