Verbal agreements are legal contracts but without the co-workers having a copy of the purchased ticket(s) they are screwed.
As I read the story, he was head of the pool and it's established a ticket or tickets were purchased for the date in question.
Absent some contemporaneous record he can produce listing the group's tickets, it's a question of fact for the jury regarding whether he's telling the truth about which tickets were the groups' ticket(s) and which was/were his.
The jury heard evidence damaging to his credibility - his lies about the foot surgery (sound like the unemployment scam was common in the industry). I also wouldn't be surprise if a jury thinks it's just to spread the wealth.