I participated in and won 3 pools for the NCAA Men’s Basketball “March Madness” challenge this year!! Yay me!!

It’s the next best thing to winning the record-setting Mega Millions jackpot from last week (more on that in a moment).

 

I arrived at work today to collect my winnings from our “commissioner” to find the winner’s pot had been reduced because a few people failed to pay their part. Our group is private — so the only way to get in is for someone to add you and give you the password. It is rare that anyone doesn’t pay and/or disappears without a trace and/or no one else in the group says “I know DrHoopenstein90210 —  I will cover him.” So rare that it hasn’t happened in over a decade!

But it happened this year. And my winnings suffered because of it!

 

Shame on you, DrHoopenstein90210, whoever and wherever you are!!

Remember THIS kid from the movie “Better Off Dead”??

That’s gonna be me if I ever find out who you are …

 

Sorry. Where was I ? … Oh yeah. Office pools.

After I learned of the issue in my March Madness pool, I read THIS article about the woman in Maryland who claims she won the Mega Millions. Only issue is 1) she hasn’t produced the winning ticket yet and B) she was apart of an office pool who bought tickets as a group so, if she has the winning ticket, the winnings may not solely belong to her. When she’s not giving interviews to the local media, she’s apparently hiding out from her co-workers in fear.

What a mess!!!

Office pools are supposed to be fun. They build camaraderie and healthy competition and help lighten the mood of the staff. But if you can’t pay, don’t play! And if you can’t resist the temptation to dip into or keep all the winnings for yourself, just say no! And if you can’t be a gracious winner or loser, find another group!

The last thing you want is to damage your reputation among your co-workers and colleagues over something so seemingly insignificant that really has nothing to do with the work you do.

Pool Law