Everything we found in Oregon
Oregon changed its privacy rule in 2025 and has written rules for joint claims. Every fact below comes from the Oregon Lottery’s own pages and rule orders, ORS chapter 461, powerball.com and the IRS, linked in the sources; each one shows its source and the day we checked it. Pools can be created in every state that runs a lottery; Oregon is open.
Is a private pool legal here?
We read ORS chapter 461 and the lottery’s pages and recent rule orders. Nothing in them forbids a group of adults from pooling money to buy tickets and share a prize. The help page explains the key point: a ticket is a “bearer instrument,” which “just means the person who possesses the ticket is the winner.”
Oregon’s rules let several owners claim one ticket together. How the lottery handles a group: The pool agreement names who claims. The Oregon Lottery publishes a joint claim process: every owner of the ticket completes and signs a claim form and the lottery's joint claim form at the claim, and each owner receives an equal share unless the lottery approves an exception. (Oregon Lottery rule order, OAR 177-046-0110(5) (2025), checked Oct 8, 2026) A pool whose members hold unequal shares should read that rule before it claims.
Since January 1, 2026, OAR 177-046-0020 limits bulk buying, and pooling funds counts as acting together. Group purchase limits: Oregon does not allow people acting together, pooled funds included, more than 3% of the number combinations in one drawing without approval from the Oregon Lottery. (OAR 177-046-0020, checked Oct 5, 2026)
ORS 461.610 also bars selling or buying a winning ticket, so ask counsel before buying out a member’s share after the drawing.
ShareTheWinning is free, takes no cut of tickets or prizes and never holds money. Whether a particular arrangement is lawful is a question for counsel, not for us.
Minimum age
18 or older (Lottery game page, checked Oct 1, 2026). The help page applies the age to Scratch-its and jackpot games like Powerball. Members confirm their age when they join a pool.
Where tickets are sold
Retailers only. Asked “Can I play Lottery online?”, the help page says only sports betting and Second Chance entries are online. Couriers may work only through a retailer: under OAR 177-040-0053 a retailer “may facilitate ticket sales through a courier service only pursuant to a written contract with the courier service subject to Lottery’s review and approval,” never for anyone outside Oregon. That ban includes “Selling any interest in Lottery tickets, including interests in the proceeds of winning tickets” to people outside Oregon, so a pool with out-of-state members should ask counsel.
- Powerball multi-draw: Up to 24 drawings per ticket (Oregon Lottery Powerball page, checked Oct 5, 2026). A paper game slip offers fewer choices than a lottery terminal.
- Mega Millions multi-draw: Up to 24 drawings per ticket (Oregon Lottery Mega Millions page, checked Oct 5, 2026). The longest runs are on the lottery vending machine.
Powerball’s Double Play add-on: not offered in Oregon; powerball.com’s Double Play page does not list it.
Claim deadlines
One year after the drawing (ORS 461.250, checked Oct 8, 2026). ORS 461.250 sets the window in law.
Where to claim depends on the prize:
- Up to $600: any Oregon Lottery retailer, by mail, the Salem drop box, or a payment center.
- Up to $50,000: by mail, the drop box, or at the Salem or Wilsonville payment center.
- $50,000 and up: by appointment at Salem or Wilsonville; call 800-766-6789.
Can winners stay anonymous?
Yes. The lottery may not publicly disclose a winner's name and address without the winner's written authorization; the city, state, zip code, game, prize amount and selling retailer can still be published. (ORS 461.250; Oregon Lottery winner anonymity page, checked Oct 8, 2026) The anonymity page says the lottery keeps a winner’s identity private unless the winner signs its release form.
Taxes
- State withholding: 8% on prizes of $1,500 or more (State withholding table, checked Oct 1, 2026).
- Federal: The lottery withholds 24% federal tax when a prize minus the wager is more than $5,000. A prize of $2,000 or more is reported to the IRS on Form W-2G. (IRS Form W-2G instructions, checked Oct 1, 2026) The final federal tax is settled on your return.
- Local: Oregon has no local income tax on lottery prizes that we found.
When a group shares one winning ticket, the IRS instructions say “The payer is required to file Forms W-2G based on Form 5754,” so each member receives their own W-2G; see How a pool claims a prize. The split calculator applies the Oregon rate.
Claim offices
- Salem Prize Payment Center: 500 Airport Road SE, Salem, OR 97301. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.
- Wilsonville Prize Payment Center: 9760 SW Wilsonville Road, Suite 130, Wilsonville, OR 97070. 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.
Official site: oregonlottery.org.
How our pool record helps in Oregon
A pool’s protection is a record, made before the drawing, of who paid in and who holds the ticket. In a ShareTheWinning pool the members, shares and confirmed payments lock before the ticket is bought; the signed ticket is photographed and recorded before the drawing; and every change afterward is a new entry, never an edit. When a prize reaches the threshold for Oregon ($600 by default), the round goes on hold and we preserve an export bundle for the lottery, the accountant and, if it ever comes to it, a court.
The “If we win” stop on the Journey shows Oregon’s deadline and the privacy rule beside your numbers. For the first 48 hours after a win, read You won. The first five things to do.
