Nguyen: Does Your March Madness Work Pool Break The Law?
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Aivi Nguyen
It’s that time of year when offices all over the country are abuzz with predictions of upsets and alma mater pride. It’s also that time of year when NCAA brackets are in rampant circulation.
I am of the opinion that brackets bring people together, especially ones between colleagues. People can make their picks based on the level of cuteness of the school mascots and still be included in the fun. A bracket pool allows co-workers, who would probably never talk to one another otherwise, to engage in friendly trash talk over intense match-ups. It brings a newfound appreciation for that quiet co-worker with the Star Wars lunchbox who picked Stanford over Kansas last year. Brackets boost morale and camaraderie, if you ask me.
Bad news. While brackets may be the best thing at work in March, they are illegal in Massachusetts if money is involved. (Who even fills out a bracket if no money is at stake?) So even if your office pool has a mere $5 buy in, it is against the law. Thus, by participating in that illegal activity, you are a lawbreaker.
In the Commonwealth, if you are prosecuted within 18 months of winning more than $5 in a March Madness pool and you are convicted, you have to pay DOUBLE your winnings as a penalty. All you 2014 winners are not in the clear just yet.
Luckily, while March Madness brackets are technically illegal, the prosecution of offenses is extremely rare, particularly in instances where the buy in is low and where the winners receive all the money (and the organizer doesn’t receive anything). So, in Massachusetts, it appears that you are fairly safe from criminal prosecution.
However, according to Massachusetts law, if you lose in a March Madness pool, you may have the right to demand your money back from the winner within 3 months of losing (how awkward). And if you do not exercise your right to get your money back (which I hope you don’t), ANY OTHER PERSON may sue the winner to recover triple the amount of YOUR losses! I hesitate in even divulging that little legal tidbit for fear of those scoundrels who will start filing random lawsuits against winners of March Madness pools. Because this type of lawsuit has never happened yet, I can’t tell you the likelihood of its success, though I would hate if this article was the catalyst to such lawsuits.
Perhaps the best way to avoid these potential legal ramifications on such a widely accepted activity is to legalize “social gaming”, which is the type of gambling involved in March Madness bracket pools, Super Bowl squares and Fantasy sports (all illegal if played for winnings of more than $5) – occasional gambling between friends or colleagues for small money. No bookies are involved and the person running the gaming doesn’t get a cut of the money.
Social gambling bills have been shot down in Massachusetts on multiple occasions in the past. However, our neighbor, Rhode Island, has proposed legislation that would allow social gambling. Maybe if this legislation passes, Massachusetts will follow and those March Madness winners can come out of the shadows and face their glory without fear of reprisal.
Aivi Nguyen is a trial lawyer with the Law Firm of Bowditch & Dewey, LLP in Worcester.
Related Slideshow: New England Schools On Their Way to March Madness Tournament
Related Articles
- Nguyen: O’Toole Has Hands Full in Tsarnaev Case
- Nguyen: Uber As We Know It May Be Gone Forever
- Nguyen: Boston Marathon Bomber’s Jury: How Did We Get Here?
- Nguyen: Hernandez Did Not Need To Pull The Trigger To Be Found Guilty Of Murder
- Nguyen: Hernandez Trial: Think About the Appeal
- Nguyen: Petty Gets Credit for Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’
- Nguyen:The Email Scandal: Did Hillary Clinton Break The Law?
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It