Betting syndicates, where several bettors pool their bets, may or may not be illegal, depending on the nature of the scheme. Again, the person actually laying the bet could be considered an agent, especially if they take a cut of the stake. However, lottery syndicates are extremely common and even officially encouraged. The legal fine point is whether the person collecting the individual stakes and placing the bets is doing so with or without profit (regardless of whether that person is also a member of the syndicate). Sweepstakes for the Grand National and occasionally other events are extremely common in offices, and are generally winked at if played for small stakes and not for profit (or that any profit goes to charity).