Burning Question: Who do you like in the NCAA tournament?

This past weekend, the first of 65 teams punched their tickets to the NCAA basketball tournament by winning their conference tournaments. Later this week, the major conferences will hold their tournaments, culminating in the full selection of the championship field on Sunday.

In the private sector, this is cause for a great deal of friendly wagering via office pools. In the federal workplace, not so much. That's because, as the folks over at the Interagency Ethics Counci's IEC Journal helpfully remind us, office gambling is verboten in the federal workplace.

Specifically, federal regulations state:

All persons entering in or on Federal property are prohibited from-

(1) Participating in games for money or other personal property;
(2) Operating gambling devices;
(3) Conducting a lottery or pool; or
(4) Selling or purchasing numbers tickets.

Preventing Office Gambling
(IEC Journal)

Burning Question is a recurring feature that looks at key issues and compelling stories being explored at other publications and social media sites covering the federal government.