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Dude delinquent in payment to lottery pool sues friend group when they didn't pay him his "share"

crash_davis

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crash_davis

crash_davis 23108

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Pay your debts, Philip. So 16 dudes each decided that Philip's friendship isn't worth $4,500.

 

https://updatesplug.com/lottery-winner-shouts-im-going-to-be-sick-after-winning-10000-every-month-for-30-years/

 

A pizza delivery driver believes he deserves a cut of winnings from his friends’ $1 million lottery prize when they didn’t give him any.

Philip Tsotsos, from Ontario in Canada, is suing 16 of his friends for $70,000 plus other costs after accusing them of ‘stealing his dreams’.

He claims he is the 17th winner as part of the syndicate – but they say he didn’t pay to enter.

He told CBC News: ‘Why wouldn’t they tell me they won? These guys are like family to me.

‘Their dreams came true. Why should they steal mine?’

 

He said he found out about the win in October, after he had just bought the group pizzas.

‘I got online and I was just going through social media and what comes up,’ Philip said.

‘The same guy that’s eating my pizza is holding a million-dollar cheque, and that’s how I found out.’

 

 

Philip said he was part of the lottery pool with his friends for six years, but didn’t always immediately pay for his tickets.

He explained he had previously owed up to $100 to the pool, but always paid it back.

At the time of the win he had a tab of $30, and was told by the organiser of the syndicate to repay the debt plus another $10 to stay in the group.

He said he offered to pay this by the Friday, then joked: ‘Just take it out of our winnings when we win.’

The organiser then apparently joked back he would charge a higher interest rate.

Philip said he then spoke to another member of the group, who asked him to repay his debt and Philip replied saying he wanted to continue.

The delivery driver said he had recently left his job at an auto parts delivery company so couldn’t pay into the pool straight away, but still wanted to remain in it.

The syndicate was briefly stopped due to the pandemic in 2020, but restarted in March 2021.

In his lawsuit, Philip named each of his 16 friends and states the group worked on an opt-out system.

He added he could not be disqualified without it having been communicated to him.

Defence lawyer David Robins, representing the group of 16, said: ‘Mr Tsotsos did not pay to play, so we deny that he is entitled to any of the relief that he is seeking, and we’ll be vigorously defending the claim.

‘In this instance, he did not play and he was not included.’ 

Divided among the 16 winners, each member won $62,500. If Philip was included, they would have each received $58,000.

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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 52492

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Did they purchase the amount of tickets that they had money for, or the amount of tickets based on all group member participation?  
 

if they bought the normal amount of tickets, they essentially loaned him the money for his tickets and he gets his piece less the balance owed of $30.  That winning ticket may have only been purchased because of the money spent based on his participation.  Someone essentially staked him without payback terms or implied no interest terms. 
 

if they bought fewer tickets because he didn’t pay, then he wasn’t a part of the group that won.  He gets nothing. Good day sir. 

Edited by Pato del Muerto
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MrBig

MrBig 5398

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This guy is a shithead. Lottery pool people don’t fuck around. They make photocopies of all the numbers and give them to everyone in the pool. If you pay and get one, you’re in. This dude got lottery ghosted.

But my question is this…what was the pool amount per person for this drawing? The logistics of the $30 tab will be argued in court.

If it’s a $10 entry fee per person and you have a $30 tab, then fuck off. You’re 3 drawings behind. But if it’s a $50 entry fee and you have a $30 tab AFTER the drawing, you technically have a $20 credit towards that current pool purchase. But if it’s a $50 entry fee, and you have a $30 tab PRIOR to the drawing, then you really owe them $80 and should really fuck off. 

 

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WBT

WBT 20565

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So he got behind before and then paid up to get current, knowing that he didn't have winnings coming from the drawings he missed?  The other guys are within their rights to cut him out but seems kind of shitty to me.

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JMFP

JMFP 1120

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2 minutes ago, MrBig said:

This guy is a shithead. Lottery pool people don’t fuck around. They make photocopies of all the numbers and give them to everyone in the pool. If you pay and get one, you’re in. This dude got lottery ghosted.

But my question is this…what was the pool amount per person for this drawing? The logistics of the $30 tab will be argued in court.

If it’s a $10 entry fee per person and you have a $30 tab, then fuck off. You’re 3 drawings behind. But if it’s a $50 entry fee and you have a $30 tab AFTER the drawing, you technically have a $20 credit towards that current pool purchase. But if it’s a $50 entry fee, and you have a $30 tab PRIOR to the drawing, then you really owe them $80 and should really fuck off. 

 

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irishtexan

irishtexan 11518

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To me, this is the crux of the matter: 

Quote

He said he offered to pay this by the Friday, then joked: ‘Just take it out of our winnings when we win.’

The organiser then apparently joked back he would charge a higher interest rate.

That implies that he's in. 

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Harrison Bergeron

Harrison Bergeron 1798

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37 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Did they purchase the amount of tickets that they had money for, or the amount of tickets based on all group member participation?  
 

if they bought the normal amount of tickets, they essentially loaned him the money for his tickets and he gets his piece less the balance owed of $30.  That winning ticket may have only been purchased because of the money spent based on his participation.  Someone essentially staked him without payback terms or implied no interest terms. 
 

if they bought fewer tickets because he didn’t pay, then he wasn’t a part of the group that won.  He gets nothing. Good day sir. 

I think this and @irishtexan have the best takes. It is a fascinating issue. Not a lawyer, definitely not a Canadian one, but if they consistently left his allocation in the total pool, which seems to be the case since they were actively collecting from him for his lapsed payments, he effectively remained in the pool and the others floated him and implied he was continually participating. Greed is a Cardinal Sin for a reason. What sucks is the they're going to spend more on attorney's fees than just settling for 50% or something.

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closetohumping

closetohumping 17441

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47 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Another question is- did the person that physically bought the tickets have to pay double their share to float the deadbeat’s portion? If so, shouldn’t that person have gotten a double share- his/hers and the deadbeat’s if they are excluding the deadbeat for nonpayment?

I get it, but then you'll have guys pitch in extra every drawing so they get a few extra shares.  Makes it hard to keep track of.

19 minutes ago, Updawg said:

The lawyers are going to take more than if they just settled with him

He must be a real asshole or something

I've done a lotto pool before.  The non payers are always assholes.

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Harrison Bergeron

Harrison Bergeron 1798

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2 hours ago, Brothahorn said:

Philip is the type of asshole that wouldn't pay his student loans even if he had the money.

Spoiler

My first thought but didn't want to trigger betaflake. Guessing the guys kicking the delinquent in the nuts the hardest are gnashing their teeth the most in the crazy room demanding working people pay for Ivy League grievance studies degrees.

 

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ChickenSandwich

ChickenSandwich 9834

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Plenty of reasons they may have still been buying the full amount of tickets and not subtracting one. 
 

could be superstition, could have a list of numbers they always play, and you would never want to exclude one that may eventually hit. 
 

simply buying the same number of tickets shouldn’t automatically merit deadbeat’s inclusion. 
 

hope he loses and has to pay attorney fees 

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Harrison Bergeron

Harrison Bergeron 1798

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28 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

If they previously allowed him to pay the group back later, it would seem he has a pretty solid case.

but I’m in the camp that you don’t pay people back later for lottery tickets unless it’s explicitly agreed.

Agreed. No idea what the Canadian case law is but curious what our brilliant barristers would apply assuming this was in the U.S. Spot on though ... lottery groups probably need more detailed paperwork than a family trust.

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Gatorubet

Gatorubet 30234

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3 hours ago, ChickenSandwich said:

simply buying the same number of tickets shouldn’t automatically merit deadbeat’s inclusion. 
hope he loses and has to pay attorney fees 

Guy was in the group for six years.   If a guy in my group for six years has that issue - and  we’ve backed him before when he was late - I’d pay him. Hell, I’d pay him just because 4k and change is not that much out of 60k plus per person.  

Six. Fucking. Years.  

I don’t need the whole payout that badly. 

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Harrison Bergeron

Harrison Bergeron 1798

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Just now, ChickenSandwich said:

But the guy is probably an asshole and it’s worth the attorney fee

Definitely, but aren't the bigger assholes his "friends" that have gladly floated him all these years for the extra tickets only to change the rules when they win? I think there is enough assholery to go around.

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ChickenSandwich

ChickenSandwich 9834

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Not enough facts in evidence. 
 

6 years of having to cover for a grown man for tens of dollars probably got old as well. What started as charitable by the group became expected by the leach. He just assumed they would always cover him and if they ever won they would drag his ass across the finish line. FAFO

Edited by ChickenSandwich
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Lhorn

Lhorn 4913

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I’ve change my mind on this. If he’s paid late before and they were ok with it and if they bought “x” number of tickets which included his share even thought they didn’t have his money yet then I think he should get a share. 
Most importantly, and this cannot be overstated, he’s still likely an asshole.  

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19069

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6 hours ago, Lhorn said:

I’ve change my mind on this. If he’s paid late before and they were ok with it and if they bought “x” number of tickets which included his share even thought they didn’t have his money yet then I think he should get a share. 
Most importantly, and this cannot be overstated, he’s still likely an asshole.  

Probably this. But they should pay him in pennies covered in shit or something like that. 

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NorthLoop

NorthLoop 14195

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6 hours ago, Lhorn said:

I’ve change my mind on this. If he’s paid late before and they were ok with it and if they bought “x” number of tickets which included his share even thought they didn’t have his money yet then I think he should get a share. 
Most importantly, and this cannot be overstated, he’s still likely an asshole.  

This is where I'm at. 

It sounds like he's a mooch and an asshole and they were just a bunch of pussies who didn't have the balls to kick him out of the group, which makes them assholes too. He should get paid. 

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13512

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1 hour ago, NorthLoop said:

This is where I'm at. 

It sounds like he's a mooch and an asshole and they were just a bunch of pussies who didn't have the balls to kick him out of the group, which makes them assholes too. He should get paid. 

I wouldn't be surprised that others paid late at times as well but weren't as bad as the plaintiff.  I bet this guy wins which also means the 16 guys have to cover his legal fees per Canadian laws. Decent chance that he walk away as the biggest winner from the lottery.

I don't participate in lottery pools but if I did, then it's money up front. And its perfectly reasonable to expect that you won't see each other every few days. And they're answers to that problem: venmo, paypal, or just pay a month in advance.

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irishtexan

irishtexan 11518

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12 hours ago, Wally Fairway said:

And you just believe this guy, because???

He is lying his ass off, hoping to get some fools to believe him. Seems like it worked.

What the fuck are you talking about, weirdo? It's not like I flew to fucking Canada and interviewed the guy. I quoted an article. I assume they have access to text or email records. If they don't and their quotes are based on an interview then they're shitty fucking journalists and they guy is cut out. But if written correspondence exists in which the "leader" of the group says that they'll charge him a higher interest rate, then he'll likely win, in my opinion. In any case, it seems like this guy's a bum if all of his "best friends" are willing to write him out of their lives for $4500 each.  

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closetohumping

closetohumping 17441

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20 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I wouldn't be surprised that others paid late at times as well but weren't as bad as the plaintiff.  I bet this guy wins which also means the 16 guys have to cover his legal fees per Canadian laws. Decent chance that he walk away as the biggest winner from the lottery.

I don't participate in lottery pools but if I did, then it's money up front. And its perfectly reasonable to expect that you won't see each other every few days. And they're answers to that problem: venmo, paypal, or just pay a month in advance.

Probably true.  Look I don't want it to happen but he probably wins.  Maybe a settlement would work?

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MrBig

MrBig 5398

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11 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

I do like that he found out through social media when he saw his BFF holding a big check, and not when he was contacting the group to pay his past due balance. 
 

It’s Canada. He’s going to win. 

He found out the day he brought them a free pizza. They probably kept him in the group because he was their pizza hookup. 

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13512

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This story confirms he was late in the payment but that he believed that he was in the pool.

https://www.casino.org/news/pizza-delivery-guy-sues-1m-lottery-pool-for-his-slice-of-the-pie/

Quote

The pool was put on hold during the pandemic, but resumed in March 2021, according to Tsotsos. He says he was texted by a syndicate member in June shortly before the win to ask if he was in, and replied in the affirmative.

He was told he would need to pay $30 and put an additional $10 into the pool, according to text messages transcribed in the filing.

It would be good if either side could produce the text messages and whether his inclusion was dependent on him catching up on the fees or not. 

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