A lottery syndicate is a group of individuals who play a

lottery A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

together. By pooling their money and buying multiple tickets collectively, players increase their chance of winning a lottery draw and share any winnings between them. In the UK, 1 in 5 of top game prizes across

Lotto Lotto may refer to: * Lotto, original, 15th century name of the Italian lottery * Lotto America, one of many U.S. lottery games called Lotto * Lotto (Milan Metro), a railway station in Milan, Italy * Lotto carpet, a carpet having a lacy arabesq ...

EuroMillions EuroMillions is a transnational lottery that requires seven correct numbers to win the jackpot, which consists of 5 main numbers and 2 Lucky Star Numbers. It was launched on 7 February 2004 by France's , Spain's and the United Kingdom's Came ...

, and EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker are won by syndicates.

History

Lotteries have been around since the days of the Chinese

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

, with

keno Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries. Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some va ...

slips believed to have

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

d significant public landmarks like the

Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against vario ...

. The first known form of collective lottery playing came about in the 18th century in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. State lotteries began in England in the 1690s, but priced out much of the

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

. As a result, instead of buying full lottery tickets, individuals began buying shares of tickets. People started buying these shares with others and sharing any winnings between them, and the notion of collective lottery playing was born. Some even placed advertisements in newspapers looking for people to share with. In 1798, four low-paid workers reportedly shared a prize of £20,000 between them, which equates to around £1.2m in today’s money. As

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

and state- franchised lotteries began to emerge in

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

s across the world, organized lottery syndicates became more and more prominent. People now typically form lottery syndicates with people they know, like co-workers or

family member Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

s. Each member pays money to a syndicate organizer who is in charge of buying tickets each week and distributing any winnings. However,

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

lottery syndicates have gained plenty of traction in recent years. A syndicate formed on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

won £1.1 million on the EuroMillions in 2015, whilst there are plenty of

site Site most often refers to: * Archaeological site * Campsite, a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area * Construction site * Location, a point or an area on the Earth's surface or elsewhere * Website, a set of related web pages, typical ...

s that enter individuals into lottery syndicates with other online players.

Notable wins

Lottery syndicates have claimed some huge prizes in recent years. The largest on record is the $218.6 million won by an anonymous

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

-based syndicate known as the ‘Three Amigos’ in 2013. After

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

es, the three members went home with $35 million each. Another notable win came from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, where a sixteen-strong syndicate called ‘Ocean’s 16’ bagged $149 million between them. The New Jersey’s

Ocean County Ocean County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the southernmost county in the New York metropolitan area. The county borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east and in terms of total area is the state's largest county. Its co ...

Department of Vehicle Services employees earned $3.8 million each from the victory.

References

{{reflist Lotteries