I think what WSOP is saying is that Form 5754 is NOT the be-all end-all for handling a staking relationship. Their are other ways to accomplish the objective of distributing tax liability of winnings.

I think it is also clear the WSOP just doesn't want to deal with this issue every time someone cashes for more than $5K net winnings. Remember it's not just the tournament winner that can file 5754 but everyone on the payout schedule who nets $5k or more. WSOP clearly doesn't want to deal with this.

However, I heard when Esfandiari won the One Drop, a line of his backers was out the cage door and WSOP did facilitate the reporting, so maybe the threshold is like $17 million in binkage, who knows.

It doesn't matter if they want to or not, they are legally obligated to accept a completed form 5754.

lol lego thinking everyone has the same marginal tax rate

From WSOP website regarding their position on Form 5754:

"An individual that provides the front money for a poker player is less the winner of a poker tournament (requiring a W2-G) than the beneficiary of a speculative financing arrangement or partnership agreement, which necessitates different filing requirements with the IRS.

Moreover, our terms and conditions provide that (1) no teams, substitutes, transfers, or assisted play will be permitted and (2) prizes are nontransferable. Accordingly, our terms and conditions specifically prohibit the hypothetical of more than one individual being designated as the “winner” of a single poker payout.

U.S. tax law provides a variety of avenues by which individuals may report their taxable income to the IRS in a manner that conforms with the underlying economics of their agreement. Players are advised to consult their tax advisors to determine the best course of action that suits their individual circumstances."

Think you need to rebut the above arguments, which seem sound to me.

Does the WSOP care about you or I being backed? Of course not; most of the recent November 9 participants had backers (and this may have been noted on the TV broadcasts). I believe their policy could have a simple insertion:

Our policy is in place to keep our costs down.

Put simply, as Hoodskier has pointed out, the WSOP is required to accept a properly completed Form 5754. Unfortunately, it's likely that only the IRS can make them change their policy.

What can we do as players? We can complain to the WSOP. We can bring it up to the WSOP Players Council (if that still exists). I'll bring it up again to individuals at the IRS (but don't hold your breath on them doing anything).

My lifetime employment continues....

I think WSOP is saying that "being backed" doesn't make a "multiple winner" scenario. How you finance your tournament entry is up to you, but only ONE player played the tournament, only ONE player played the cards, only ONE player cashed or won the tournament. I think WSOP's position is that Form 5754 doesn't apply.

I feel like all you would have to do to oppose this is to have each of your investors contribute strategy tips or other opinions on playing decisions (e.g. choice of tourneys) and you can easily claim that this influenced your "skills" and thus the winning outcome. Something like a coach or advisor status, which actually does happen in reality a lot. Marvin Rettenmair is staking a bunch of guys over in the 2p2 Marketplace and his advice comes with the investment.

What can you do? File a lawsuit. A lot of the players are lawyers.

Ironically this name-calling single post is the most "NVG" like in the thread which seems to be a fairly civil discussion back and forth which may be educating several readers.

Well Done!

Lego doesn't think that. See the bold and at least save the douchey lol replies for when you read the whole thing and are sure you have all the facts right:

You could easily extend this argument to other forms of gambling (i.e. lottery) saying that 1 person buys the ticket. If this were a reasonable argument at all form 5754 wouldn't exist.