Hey everyone,
Been so long since I posted, had to create a new account. Been a solid winner at limit poker for quite a few years now and ready to do it full time.

My main concern right now is getting health insurance. Any of the Pros have any recommendations on health insurance?

I appreciate any one's thoughts on the subject...

The HealthPartners Gold packages are a decent deal.
Free preventive of course, small co-pay ($25?) for office visits. Beyond that, they cover 0% up to a fairly small deductible, then 70% up to the max out-of-pocket (~4350), then 100%.

Bronze and Silver packages are typically junk, but they have a slightly smaller premium.

Marry someone with a full time job.

Keep your day job, unless you're ready to spend $600/mo for insurance you will never get to use. It will come with a $7K deductible, so that means when you do get sick or injured, you still pay your first $7k of medical bills out of your pocket before the insurance kicks in. Or, you can get and HMO plan where you pay a $25 co-pay (only to doctors on their list) and pay $900/mo.

Move to a country with cheap, quality health insurance that doesn't tax gambling winnings.

Welcome back and good luck ... 1943? MediCare Supplemental policies are readily available pretty cheap and most include Rx as well.

You are finding enough Limit action to go full time? Limit is typically even more reg invested than NL, so just remember that the more you play the more they will see into your game play, which may reduce your value spots over time. GL

How much are you willing to pay?

If youre under 30 single and dont have and medical conditions its cheaper to not be insured than underinsured. The high deductible plans are junk anyway unless you hit the cap.

I'll look into this one thanks.

My GF has a full time job... Maybe I should ask her to marry LOL. She hates poker, but she sure likes the $$$$.

How are gambling winnings taxed. I feel like I am going off the grid, did not consider this. Can you elaborate?

Yeah you're right about seeing the same rigs over and over... This is something I hate how about playing where I do know but there's only a couple of options. I'm going to try to spread out and go to different cities so people don't get to know me too well.

I am not under 30 unfortch. Don't have any health issues but am active and accidents happen. I would rather not have it but I worry what happens if you don't have it... can they turn you down show up with a broken arm?

I appreciate all the thoughtful responses, sorry if I posted in the wrong section of the blog as I see this got moved.

No, they will bill you, and you can make payments on it. When the bill comes, call them and tell her you don't have insurance. They will offer you a substantial discount like 99% of the time.

I am not sure what exactly you would like to know? Just to make sure you understand the “problem” in general: The IRS wants to tax your income. No matter if it comes from running a grocery store or playing poker.

In lots of other countries, gambling winnings are tax free. So if a US resident wins $1 mil in a given year, he ends up with less than a UK resident who earns $600k from poker.

I guess I'm just wondering how the government would even know I made money or not? How did they even know I'm a poker player?

They don't know, but you're required to declare all of your income when you file your tax return. Wages, salaries, tips, and other income. Even a horse with a clock in it's stomach.

You could ask the same questions about various other forms of crime.

They will know because as a responsible citizen of the USA you will be reporting all your income like a good doobie!

How will they really know? Cash players can fly under the radar more than tournament players since you get 1099Gs from some tournament winnings. You also can get a 1099 for winning promotions like High Hands as well.

Some casinos can offer you an annual statement of your wins/losses to justify some of your numbers used on your tax return. If you stay out of the pits and away from the slots this is harder to produce since your player's card really doesn't know your BI/cash out numbers for poker, but they can track your tournament entries.

As an independent 'contractor' you pay taxes for a couple of reasons .. One, because you feel it's the right thing to do or two, you don't want to get caught shorting the government otherwise. You also may want to consider that you will continue to pay into the Social Security system and thus be eligible for benefits later in life as well.

How well ... and how accurate ... you keep your records can both make sure that you only pay what you should and provide good proof should you be asked to do so later.

When you consider yourself a professional the income moves to a different part of the tax return and you can now also deduct the expenses you encounter along the way. There are some other threads you may want to search for on this site that deal directly with the tax side of poker.

Cash is still king in our world, but if you have a lot of 'trackable' assets (cash, car, boat, house) and your income doesn't justify that you can afford them then you may be subject to a 2nd look. I don't think anyone really knows how we get picked for an audit but you want to always be ready if one were to happen.

Long answer short ... You tell them you are now a Pro Poker Player. How much you tell them is totally up to you. GL

I was once eligible to be covered by a girlfriend’s employer-subsidized health insurance simply by having lived with her for a minimum of two years. I suspect that’s rare, but it’s worth checking her policy.

mod note: OK guys, discussion of tax evasion is not permitted here. Please cease with it. I'll be deleting future posts about it with extreme prejudice.

Youre not under 30.
You dont understand the ins and outs of paying taxes on gambling winnings
You ask questions about health insurance that my 18 year old son could answer
You want to "go pro"

What could possibly go wrong here?

+1

Awesome.

If I had the patience to wait 3 months, I'd see how it turns out.

The elephant has just left the room.

OP, Google is your friend. In just an hour or two you could know a ton about insurance and leave this thread behind. There really is no magic this-is-the-best-policy-for-a-poker-player insurance.