"Shit happens. I run a lot of lottos."
That's what Liverpool factory worker Brendan King says he was told by his colleague Robert Adams the morning after a workplace syndicate won $40 million in a Powerball draw on May 5.
Mr King believed he was entitled to $2,696,364, as a faithful member of workplace lottery pools.
In the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday, Justice John Sackar found that Mr King was not entitled to any winnings because he was not part of a one-off syndicate that Mr Adams had formed on April 29.
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The judge also found that Mr Adams did not breach a duty of trust, or any contractual obligations by excluding Mr King from the syndicate.
The court heard that Mr King was a regular contributor to the lotto syndicate operating at Prysmian's Liverpool plant and which entered into the Powerball draw.
But Mr Adams initiated a second, one-off syndicate involving 14 people on April 29. That day Mr King left work at 12.59pm, and Mr Adams arrived half an hour later.
The winning syndicate was made up of workmates Mr Adams came into contact with between April 29 and May 4, but Mr King was not one of those people.
All of the regular factory lotto pool members, aside from Mr King, were included in the second syndicate.
Mr King, a father-of-five, won just $12 in the same draw in May on a separate ticket as part of the original syndicate.
Mr King sued Mr Adams and the other members of the second syndicate - now all millionaires - arguing he was entitled to a share of the winnings.
He also argued that Mr Adams was in breach of trust for failing to agree to recognise his interest in the syndicate and to pay out his share of the prize money.
Mr King's lawyer Lachlan Gyles, SC, argued that his client had a right to be considered the 15th member of the winning syndicate, as he always thought there was only one group entering lottos in the factory and that, unless members opted out of the syndicate, they were to be included automatically in entries.
Mr Gyles said Mr King's colleagues had tried to put a "ring fence" around the winning syndicate in a bid to avoid losing about $200,000, or 8 per cent, of their prize money.
The court heard that Mr King confronted Mr Adams the morning after the win, saying: "Answer one question please: who of our original group has missed out or is not a recipient in this win?"
Mr Adams allegedly replied: "Only you. I'm not speaking with you. Go and see a f---ing lawyer."
Mr King later approached his winning colleagues and told them: "Don't worry about what you're going to lose. I've always been a part of this syndicate. There was only ever one syndicate."
Mr Adams' account of the conversation with Mr King included no profanities although he conceded, "I spoke more harshly than I should have."
He told the court that for years he had operated several separate lottos that did not involve Mr King or the other workers who formed the regular factory syndicate.
"Brendan is my boss ... I like Brendan and I am sorry this has ended up in court," he said in his affidavit.
The court heard that Mr King still works for the same company, but is now at a different plant.