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Office lottery pools are informal, voluntary, and even camaraderie-building gambling activities in a workplace where coworkers contribute a predefined fee to a central pot and try to predict outcomes of events. At first glance, it may seem like predicting game results is pure luck and that these little bets can be harmless, but if participants are not careful, they can end up losing much more money than they had planned.
Big Popularity
Office betting pools are popular in working environments around the world due to their social element, and they are especially active around big sporting events. The US probably leads the way in terms of office betting pool activities, with a 2018 survey by the American Gaming Association showing that about 54 million people, or one in four Americans, participate in office betting pools every year.
In Europe, there is not an abundance of specific, granular data on office betting pools in national gambling reports. A telephone survey in 2020 in the UK showed that 15% of informants participated in an office betting pool.
More Than Just Simple Guesswork
A single stroke of luck can win any game, but the final standing in an office betting pool usually reflects proper preparation, even before the kick of a ball. The most successful participants move way beyond simple guesswork, and they organize their bets based on the available data. These players treat an office pool as a puzzle that requires logic and data.
Any effective office pool betting strategy involves understanding the internal scoring formats. Some office pool scoring formats include simple, accumulative totals, while others reward the participants with the best daily scores. So, the first step in an office betting pool is aligning the picks with the structure of the point system.
Removing the Emotional Bias
Having a system in place will reduce the emotional bias that can ruin a good entry in an office betting pool. Many people will simply pick their favorite team, regardless of the actual odds. If you want to have a chance of winning, you need to build a knowledge base of how specific teams play in certain conditions or places.
If you are dedicated enough, you can even follow odds fluctuations in top PayPal bookmakers, as they often indicate changes in variables like player injuries or suspensions, which can impact your decisions.
Carefully Picking Underdogs
To increase your chances of winning, you may be better off looking at how your group distributes its picks. If every person backs a certain favorite to win, there is no real value in following suit. It can pay off if you take a calculated risk and back the right underdog.
Note that you must not pick an underdog blindly. Smart underdog selection tips include checking whether there is an injury to a star in the favorite's team and whether traditionally, the favorite doesn't cope well with the underdog.
An Effective Bankroll Management Strategy to Avoid Big Money Losses
An effective bankroll management strategy can significantly impact your enjoyment in an office betting pool. General responsible gambling tips like sticking to your budget frame and never chasing losses apply, but you can also take a few other steps, based on the office betting pool format:
- Survivor and Eliminator Office Betting Pools: This is a season-long office betting pool format where participants choose a team to win every week. You are not allowed to choose the same team twice, so don’t waste your best picks carelessly.
- Pick’em and Spread Pools: As a weekly office betting pool, we suggest you use a flat betting approach and avoid emotional and high-stakes bets. Set a weekly budget and stick to it.
- Draft Pools: Here, you need to select a team of athletes to form a unique team and compete with each other throughout the season. Again, here, you need to limit the buy-in to a strict percentage of your overall bankroll.
If your office has more than one betting pool, you can diversify your bets across them and avoid losing the entire bankroll on one bad week.
A betting pool can become a tradition that employees look forward to every year, but to do so, it needs to be organized and have transparent rules.
Before you participate in an office betting pool, make sure to check whether you are breaking any local laws. In some countries, pools that involve money, chance, and prizes can violate regulations. On the other hand, there is the example of the UK Gambling Commission, which classifies office betting pools as “private gaming”, which is completely legal.
