Can You Actually Get Busted for Betting in the Office Pool?

In Asylum's eternal quest to bring our readers the straight dope, we connected with legal expert and funny guy Tom O'Keefe to answer your burning legal questions. Got anything you want answered? Let us know.

Q: Can I get in trouble for partaking in my office's March Madness pool?

It's that time of year again, the time where my friends ask me if I want to place $10 on my ability to predict which college basketball team will make the Sweet 16, Elite 8 and Final Four. I'd get a better return on my investment by setting my Alexander Hamilton on fire. I have absolutely no talent for predicting these games, but apparently I am in the minority. And this minority status does not prevent my friends from asking the following questions: "Who should I pick to take it all?" and "Is my office NCAA pool illegal?" The answer to the first is -- I DON'T CARE. The answer to the second is -- probably.

Of course, I can't tell you about the legality of your particular betting pool unless I know its details and the laws of your city and state. Since, however, sports betting is illegal in most states, and in those states where it is legal a license is usually required to operate a betting pool. So let's assume your office pool is illegal. Will you be arrested? Should you hire an attorney? Pack your bags for the stone lonely? Probably not.

After the jump, find out if Johnny Law will take you down for placing a bet on the Big Dance.

March Madness pools are everywhere. I'm not aware of any office that doesn't have at least one. A lawyer friend of mine currently runs a huge March Madness pool with defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges. (Imagine that -- judges partaking in illegal activity.) These pools are so prevalent that representatives in at least two states have introduced legislation to remove office pools from their states' definitions of gambling -- thereby making them legal. Will such legislation ever pass? Don't bet on it -- hypocrisy is the one thing you can count on in politicians.

I can't and I won't endorse any office pools. I can tell you that certain activity is less risky than others. For example, pools with smaller stakes ($10 entrance fee as opposed to $1,000) are less likely to pop up on the law's radar. Running a pool is also more risky than just taking part in one. Again, a small-stakes pool is likely not going to irritate The Man. If, however, you take profit or "costs" or "fees" or otherwise keep any funds for yourself as opposed to paying all moneys out to the winner(s) -- you are much more likely to feel the weight of the law, and it's likely to be very uncomfortable.

You can, of course, get fired or otherwise reprimanded at work for taking part in an office pool. Use common sense. If your office has a stated policy against office betting pools, don't start one and don't partake in one. If such a policy doesn't exist and you choose to get involved in or start one, your best bet is to keep it on the down low. (My lawyer friend calls his pool the "Cambodian Benefit Event.") Sure the name is part "wink, wink, nudge, nudge," but it also gives his superiors an out if someone decides it is inappropriate. "I didn't know it was a betting pool, I thought it was charity." Plausible deniability goes a long way, my friends, a long way.

Any other questions you want answered? Don't be shy, send us a brief. All names will be changed to protect the innocent.