Quote:
Originally Posted by AzOther1
So, I'm looking at one of these $500 lammers (brag), nothing indicating 2017 on it. I assume (look out!) they will be different next year or are different from last year's (??)
I hate that they can't carry over year to year. Seems like a fairly simple accounting. Separate accounts for prize pool money in the STT, carry it over year to year, expect some loss of lammers, and carefully check for counterfeits.
Just MHO, of course.
I'm speculating, but I think a reason they choose to change the lammers every year is to avoid tax implications. On the player side, you offset gambling losses/buyins against gambling wins in the same calendar year, and carrying lammers forward would add a difficulty.
Let's say you spend $2500 on satellite buyins and win $7500 in lammers. Do you have $5000 in taxable income? Under the current system, no, because those lammers don't have cash value and you "have to" (wink) use them to buy into tournaments. If you cash in the tournaments, you then have taxable income. If you whiff the tournaments, you just have the -$2500 loss to offset any other gambling income you have during the year (if any). However, let's say you cash in the tournaments that you bought into with the lammers and break even, for $7500 total. You have $5000 in taxable income.
If you could carry those lammers forward to 2018, however, it's messier. Say you won the same $7500 in lammers on $2500 of satellite buyins in 2017. Then you use those lammers and cash for $7500 at the 2018 WSOP. You can't offset the $2500 in buyins against your win, because those were incurred in 2017. So you end up getting tagged with $7500 in taxable income. Most players wouldn't understand what is going on, and would complain to WSOP about the tax form reporting. It's cleaner and more credible for WSOP to maintain that the lammers have no cash value if they limit their use to the same calendar year. That said, still a pain for the players.