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Yes, Venmo helps with distributing the costs of beer and funding mid-game snack runs during the Super Bowl. But as far as exchanging money goes, social media reveals this is not the extent of Venmo transactions on this day — users also collect pool bets and other wagers on the big game through the service. In the olden days, a paper grid and cash money mercifully kept the technically illegal transactions off the record (even if it was casually discussed in every workplace). Now, a cursory check of Twitter reveals new systems that lay everything out for the Internet to see: Google Forms, Google Docs, carefully-photoshopped digital square boards, and of course, Venmo.
Exactly two years ago, Venmo, the peer-to-peer payment app loved by drug-purchasers and bill-splitters alike, went down in the aftermath of Super Bowl 50, when the favored Carolina Panthers lost to the Denver Broncos. People had to wait minutes, if not hours, to send payments, and boy were they mad.
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In most states, a contest such as a Super Bowl squares pool (or boxes pool) would be deemed to constitute an illegal lottery if it involved three elements: consideration (generally an entry fee), prize and chance. Are office football pools illegal? The football squares pool is as big a part of a NFL Super Bowl party as pizza and beer. Long a tradition in home and office football game viewing parties (and in particular for the Super Bowl), “squares” is a simple pool-based betting format that probably doesn’t interest serious bettors all that much. The 2020 Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs takes place in just a few hours today, which means time is running out to participate in Super Bowl squares.Popular in. Squares will often overlook key factors, like current form, injuries and scoring statistics, while placing spur-of-the-moment bets. Taking points with underdogs, plus betting OVER on game totals.
Venmo was vague about the whole affair, and attributed the disruption to “high volume.” However, according to two Venmo employees who spoke to The Outline on the condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions with their employer, Super Bowl Sunday is Venmo’s highest-traffic day of the year, and the crash was likely caused by a record-setting amount of user activity.
Still have a Super Bowl squares board I need to fill out by tonight. (Game of chance) 2 squares for $5. Accepting Venmo if interested.
— Jake Kowalski (@JAC0B_K) February 4, 2018Super Bowl MAX's are in! We have a MAX (3x) & Mega-MAX (4x) get both for $20 or each for $15 via PayPal or Venmo. DM for more information.
— Belly Up Betting (@BellyUpBetting) February 4, 2018***Perkins Post Squares***
Good luck everyone.
Contact us now if you haven’t already paid.
Venmo - @perkinspost
PayPal - MJPerkinsPost@gmail.com pic.twitter.com/qJenPxzX1r
One (now deleted) tweet invited users to respond to a Google Form with their Super Bowl predictions and Venmo the creator $5 for entry into the betting pool. (Please note the third question: “Will Pink say ‘Eagles’ before/during/after the Anthem?”) Another included a link to a Super Bowl squares board painstakingly designed in Google Docs and implored users to send user @Keith-Powers-4 $25 per square in order to join.
“Venmo is a big source [of betting traffic] for sure, whether it be a friendly bet or someone wanting to access the edge,” said John Anthony over Twitter DM. Anthony runs @SharpSportsINC, a popular Twitter account that helps facilitate sports-related bets through Venmo. To say this practice is technically frowned upon would be an understatement. Most pen-and-paper Super Bowl bets are illegal — federal law prohibits full-scale sports betting in all states other than Nevada — and people are explicitly prohibited from using Venmo for gambling. (Social gambling is legal in some states, which sometimes but not always includes wagers like office betting pools).
Regardless, Venmo seems to have steadily gained popularity in the casual sports betting world over the last two years. Anthony attributes that to the app’s general ubiquity. “It’s def more casual or considered normal,” he explained. “I mean people pay for everything via Venmo, it seems like, at the age bracket from 18-mid 20’s.” That is to say, sending someone twenty bucks through Venmo after filling out a nicely designed Google Form may seem less ridiculous than throwing down a $20 after scratching out some bets in your friend’s-uncle’s-brother’s cheeto-stained notebook, but it’s just as risky.
“Given the Super Bowl is one of the biggest social events of the year, Super Bowl Sunday is one of Venmo’s biggest payment days of the year,” Venmo spokesperson Josh Criscoe told The Outline. “To ensure a positive experience for people using Venmo, members of the Venmo team get together to watch the game and monitor systems to make sure no payments are fumbled.”
Super Bowl XLV is coming up on February 6th, featuring the Green Bay Packers versus the Pittsburgh Steelers. Las Vegas odds favor the Packers by 3 points, but how many of us are going to make the trip to Vegas to bet on the big game? Most people are more likely to place their wagers in small-scale Super Bowl pools with friends or coworkers. But are these friendly wagers legal?
Many states, including Colorado, South Carolina, and Maine, provide exceptions to their usual gambling laws for social gambling.
Social gambling exceptions usually require that participants have a bona fide social relationship outside of the gambling activities, and that all the proceeds of the gambling activities are distributed among the participants (so the organizer can’t take a cut). Some states also limit the amount that a gambler can win or lose.
However, in California, under California Penal Code Section 336.9, betting in an office football pool is an infraction punishable by a $250 fine. Texas Penal Code §47.02(a)(1) states that a person commits an offense if they make a “bet on the partial or final result of a game or contest or on the performance of a participant in a game or contest.”
Even if office football pools are legal in your state, you still have to watch out for the IRS. Gambling winnings, even for casual gamblers, are taxable and must be reported to the IRS. Interestingly, the IRS allows deductions for gambling losses up to the”amount of gambling income reported on your return.”
Small-scale football pools are rarely prosecuted even in states where they are technically illegal. But if you want to make sure your pool is truly legal, you may want to check your state’s statutes, your pool’s rules, and with your accountant. I think I’ll just be watching the big game with no money on the line.
Today on VerdictJoe, Joey, Joe-Baby, Sexist: Where’s Your Imposter Syndrome?
SMU Dedman School of Law professor Joanna L. Grossman responds to a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed criticizing soon-to-be First Lady Jill Biden for using the academic title she earned.Super Bowl Squares Gambling Illegal Immigrants
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