How To Run A Vernons Easy Play Syndicate

The following text is reproduced without permission from the Playing In A Group leaflet available at Vernons Easy Play retailers. It's amusing to note that "syndicate" is a dirty word - the leaflet uses "group" almost everywhere instead (it's also very similar to the equivalent UK lottery syndicate leaflet). I've put my own additional comments inside [ ] delimiters.

Improve Your Chance Of Winning Vernons Easy Play

Playing in a group can increase the fun and excitement of playing Vernons Easy Play. Groups can be made up of friends, family or work colleagues. It's a great way of playing Vernons Easy Play and by following a few simple guidelines, playing should be easy and enjoyable.

For example, let's say you and nine of your friends [if you have that many] decide to form a group, putting in £1 a draw each. Instead of your £1 buying one entry, you'll have an equal share in ten entries, giving you ten times more chances of winning a prize [not strictly correct - it gives you ten times more chances of winning the jackpot. There's up to 99 duplicate fixtures in the 110 fixtures generated]. So if your group won a jackpot of £1,000,000, your share would be £100,000.

Getting Started

The first thing you must do when setting up a group is to decide who's going to be in it, how much they're going to pay for each draw and the corresponding percentage share of any prize.

It's a good idea to appoint a manager [essential more like !]. This person will be responsible for the running of the group, purchasing the tickets and the collection and division of the winnings.

Under the Vernons Easy Play Game Rules, a prize on a winning ticket is payable to one person only: this should, we suggest, be the manager of the group [make sure that person is very trustworthy]. The manager should write his or her name and address on the back of the ticket and keep it safe. It will be that person's responsibility to share out the winnings with the other members of the group.

If there is no [written] agreement and the winner of a prize transfers part of it to others, these gifts may attract Inheritance Tax. If the members of the group can prove that the distribution of the prize was made in accordance with a group agreement entered into before the win, no liability to Inheritance Tax will arise [effectively this means you need a written agreement]. It is important to note that Inland Revenue law and practice may change, the comments on Inheritance Tax are based on our understanding of Inland Revenue practice as of July 1998 [sadly, there's nothing else about Inheritance Tax e.g. Is there a personal allowance ? What's the tax rate (40%) ? etc.].

Your Group Agreement

When you've decided who's going to be in the group and before you start to play, you should draw up a group agreement. We suggest that the agreement should include the following:

The date the agreement was drawn up.
The names of the group members.
The appointed manager's name.
How much each member will pay per week and the corresponding percentage share of any prize.
What happens if a member fails to pay their contribution at any time [i.e. either they get nothing for that draw if there's a win or they get a percentage of what they would normally get and the rest is shared appropriately amongst the other members].
If the group has a big win, how the members will decide whether or not they want publicity.

[There's now a example of a "Group Playing Agreement", but it originally failed to include several of the above items, particularly the group manager's name, so I've included them]

                      GROUP PLAYING AGREEMENT

The Name Of The Group: _______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Member's         Weekly           % Of        Signature
 Name        Contribution (£)    Prizes

[One line per member]

Witness' Signature: ________________    Name: ________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________________
Occupation: ________________________    Date: ___________________ 199_

SPECIFIC GROUP ARRANGEMENTS

[You need to list the manager's name,
the payment failure contingency plan and how publicity will be handled
(either individual consent or as a group)]

Key Points

The agreement must be signed and dated by each group member and should be witnessed by, we suggest, a solicitor, doctor or someone of similar standing.
If the group changes, a new agreement should be drawn up and the old one terminated [a right pain this one - even if the draw payments change, you need a new agreement !].
Copies should be given to each member and the original kept in a safe place [perhaps with the independent witness ?], as the Inland Revenue may require to see it as evidence of the group agreement.

Running Your Group

Collecting money from the group
Whether members pay their money on the day of the draw or in advance, a record should be kept of who's paid what so everybody knows where they stand.
Remember: It's a good idea to decide what you are going to do if one of the members of the group can't pay for a particular draw. Get this clear from the start, just in case the situation arises.
Buying your tickets
The manager will be responsible for purchasing the tickets. Before this can be done, the group must agree how many entries they will make over how many weeks and complete playslips as required. Each entry per week will cost £1 [however, there's only 4 entries per playslip (compared to the main UK lottery playslip's maximum of 112 entries), so a big syndicate will have to fill in a huge number of playslips !]. Payment and playslips (if used) should be taken to a National Lottery retailer who will give you your Vernons Easy Play tickets featuring the fixtures selected and fixture date(s).
There are two ways for your group to play Vernons Easy Play:
- Weekly
  Up to four entries can be made on each playslip used. However, you can enter as many times as you like. A separate random selection of 11 fixtures will be generated for each entry.
  Alternatively, the manager can simply tell the sales assistant at the National Lottery terminal how many entries are required and the terminal will automatically generate the required number of random entry selections each week.
- Multiple Entries
  To make running your group easier, you may like to enter for more than one week when visiting the National Lottery On-Line retailer. Multiple entries allows you to enter your group for up to three weeks in advance. A separate random selection of 11 fixtures will be generated for each entry each week.
  Alternatively, the manager can simply tell the sales assistant at the National Lottery terminal how many entries are required and over how many weeks. Multi-week entries will be detailed on an extended single ticket, with each week's entry clearly indicated by the fixture dates.
Your tickets should be kept safe as they will be required to claim a prize. It's important that the manager writes his/her name and address on the tickets. You may like to make a photocopy of the ticket(s) for each of your group's members [hmmm...if the manager has to do that for each draw, then maybe he/she shouldn't be trusted with the job of group manager in the first place !].
Look out for the score draws
To see if one of your selections of 11 fixtures has won, check the number of Vernons Easy Play score draws in each selection. This can be done by checking the results on teletext, in national newspapers, through other media or at National Lottery On-Line Game retailers. Alternatively, you can call The National Lottery Line on 0845 9100 000 (calls charged at the local rate with the exception of mobile phones). For the hard of hearing using Minicom equipment, please call 0845 910 0045.
Remember: Winnings should be collected by your manager and shared out according to your group agreement.

Things To Remember

Vernons Easy Play does not encourage entries made by or on behalf of commercial and advertised syndicates and is not liable to make payments of any prize on a ticket which it knows or suspects has been resold or otherwise transferred by way of trade. There is no facility for [the] bulk purchase of tickets.

Each group member must be 16 years or over to play Vernons Easy Play or claim a prize.

The Player Code of Practice, which sets out the services provided for players, and the Game Rules and Procedures are available at all National Lottery On-Line retailers.

In the event of any discrepancy between this leaflet and the Games Rules and Procedures, the Games Rules and Procedures apply.

We hope these guidelines are useful [just about - they're more useful with my comments included !]. However, they are given without legal liability on our part and we would advise you to consider having a solicitor prepare the form of agreement [how many people really would do that, complete with solicitor fees probably exceeding the first year's winnings :-) ].

Vernons Lotteries Limited, Fortune House, Park Lane, Liverpool. L68 1AA. A member of The Vernons Group.