Why didn't you put another $10 in? You can't win if you don't play! You don't want to be the only one reporting to work the next day after the pool wins, do you?
I assume you're being sarcastic. Though if the pool wins big then everyone that joined in could be outta luck if the person that bought the ticket(s) decides they don't want to share.
assuming the last part is not sarcasm, I believe the courts have already had these type of cases in the past and forced the winner to share the winnings as it was a group purchase. I think the defendant tried to claim that they bought a separate ticket with their own money outside of the office pool money...
Once every few years, when the pool gets huge, my family--parents, sister and her husband, and my husband and me--gets some tickets. My parents or sister will contact me and ask if I went in, and I'll venmo over $5 or $10 (whatever they decide).
Brother in law also buys his own tickets. I don't know if he's a regular player, or if he only buys his own tickets when the pools get huge. But they always send us photos of the family tickets, so we know which are which, hopefully alleviating any issues, should they have a winning ticket because it will be clear whether it was a family ticket, or a BIL-only ticket.
Seems like it would make sense to do something like this for office pools--send out photos of the tickets (which also assures you they are in fact spending the pooled money on tickets) and include that email a list of who is included and at what amounts.
Also, as far as "but you'll be the only one at work if we win and you don't play", okay. My workplace will suddenly be quite desperate for employees and have lots of room in payroll. Unless they are a small business and the owners bought in and win big, they are going to need me. Sounds like time to negotiate a raise, or at least a bonus.