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Originally Posted by Jkpoker10
Something I have trouble with- I played many video poker sessions and lost money in vegas. How do they take my word? I have kept info and plan to create an excel sheet with the info. Stuff like time, casino, game played and win/loss for the video poker session.
How can people not just throw phony numbers and write off much more.
Good thing for me- I’ve kept ticket losses from horse racing at the track, sports betting tickets losses for proof, and other forms like mtt buyin receipts.
I just find it odd. Can’t I just say I lost money playing cash over what I actually lost and write that off in a phoney manner? How can they check that I won or lost a certain amount from a cash game table?
I’m not saying I’m going to do this but I find it goofy that they can expect accurate info from a gambler in spots the IRS can’t really audit.
I’ve kept really solid records of my wins / losses thankfully. It’s kinda annoying bc I want to write off a ton of losses as right now with poker and horses- I have 70k in profit from tourny poker and maybe 20-50k in horse betting (I hit a big Kentucky derby day for a $50k profit) and have since punted a bit but still most of my horse gains are in tact.
I have been filing a Form C as a Professional for 17 years. There are many years where I have made more money working as a consultant doing forensic accounting. In fact some years I have losses from the Form C. Just saying it is possible to be able to file as a Professional Poker Player while still doing work (as long as its not a full time job).
As for deductions, professionally you can deduct any type of travel expenses (Car, hotel, etc.). But I do not deduct meal expenses (you can if you eat with another poker player and discuss poker - but I just stopped filing because I didn't want to have to justify it especially if we didn't discuss poker).
As a professional I can deduct tips given after cashing. And tips for hotel stays. But I have no idea how that could be applied as a non-professional. My opinion is that it should be allowed (because it is specifically deducted from the winnings) but I doubt you would have a chance vs. an audit unless you got a receipt for it. In theory if you received a check for your winning total, a copy of that could be used as your tournament winnings.
In terms of cash games, as a professional I cannot count overall losses in a given year. Those losses can't be applied to say tournament winnings. But I do have to count winnings. In theory I could lie about it but I choose not to. The other disadvantage is that normally in other lines of investment/work you can apply losses from one year to future years (up to three) of income. But because the US Government isn't willing to trust cash game numbers, it just doesn't apply here. I've wondered about just doing it anyway in an honest way, but I basically haven't, and I have stopped playing cash games for the most part.
As for winning or losing money on video poker machines it is possible that the Casino could have a record of your total losses because you have to swipe your membership card at the machine. I would ask them, and if they do keep track (which as a computer programmer/system designer I would say is extremely likely) then just be honest about your total losses on your spreadsheet and that should be allowable. During an audit the government would have the ability to get your total losses from the casino.
I believe if you do not declare yourself a professional poker player that you can't deduct losses from tournaments against your other income for the year. And I also believe that you can't apply tournament losses from a prior year to winnings for the current year. But I would check with an Accountant who knows about gambling stuff.