Studies have actually been done that show March Madness pools are a great source of employee camaraderie. How often does Doris in accounting share a few laughs with Seth in marketing? It’s the one time of year when Doris playfully threatens Seth by talking her form of middle-age trash. Sure, it is also true that American employers lose hundreds of millions of dollars (maybe more than a billion) in productivity, while everyone checks on the games and where they are in the pool’s standings (especially in the first round this Thursday and Friday when some games are played in the day time). But remember, it only comes once a year and its fun.

And, technically it’s also illegal. Or is it? When you hand over money to the person designated to run the office pool – you are placing a bet – a wager that is not sanctioned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

I reached out to Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed who told me, “Generally speaking, gambling in whatever form only runs afoul of the laws of the Commonwealth when the house takes a cut of the pot. I can't speak for other prosecutors but it is my position that there is nothing to prosecute if all the money that comes in goes back out. Of course if no money changes hands there can be no violation. I have never prosecuted a case based on an NCAA basketball tournament pool." Freed concluded by saying, "Kentucky will win it all this year.”

I then contacted the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office about the legality of office pools. Quite frankly, Attorney General Tom Corbett has other things on his mind this week. A Dauphin County jury is deciding the guilt or innocence of former State Representative Mike Veon and three of his top aides in the political corruption case known in some quarters as “Bonusgate.” The four defendants are accused of allegedly using taxpayer money for political campaign purposes. Oh, and another allegation is that taxpayers picked up the tab for meals Veon bought for participants in a weekly staff basketball game. See how all this stuff is related? I digress. Back to hoops.

Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office told me that the AG investigates gambling offenses “only when they are associated with organized crime.” But Harley added that there seems to be a big difference of opinion of whether the bracket pools are illegal or not. Some county prosecutors, like Freed, think they’re fine as long as whoever is running the pool isn’t keeping any money, but some believe bracket pools are in violation of gambling laws.

Cumberland County Common Pleas Court Judge Skip Ebert, who is a former district attorney, is one who does feel laws are being broken, "It has always been my opinion that college basketball pools are forms of gambling and would be illegal in this state...As with all gambling cases, unless some citizen is complaining, usually investigative resources are not used."

Harley pointed out that with law enforcement’s limited resources today, most police departments and prosecutors have more important crimes to worry about than busting office pools where the participants have thrown in $5 or $10 to make their picks.

Several states have proposed laws to make office pools legal if all the money collected from participants is paid to the winners. So far, only Vermont has enacted such a law.

The bottom line is that unless huge amounts of money are involved in your pool or the pool organizer has a little racket going and is keeping some of the proceeds, you should be able to enjoy your pool this month without worrying about going to jail.

Oh, and as a Philly guy, my heart is with Villanova or Temple, but I have to pick Kansas to win it all.