This is going to be my last post in this thread, no reason to derail it any further.

1. If US citizens could as easily get out of the tax system as citizens of almost every other country in the world, lots of them would move to a country where gambling winnings are not or little taxed. Lots of European players did exactly that.
2. I am probably going to pay income taxes in the US this year unless I totally luckbox myself to a 6 figure cash somehow, somewhere.
3. I couldn't care less about your goals and dreams. Poker or otherwise.
4. Feel free to complain about me at the appropriate place and to the appropriate people.

Understood. But, why would you want to be a moderator on a poker forum, then?

This desire to see "less winning players" and help lesser skilled players the industry as a whole seems to have is very strange.

Do you go around to Casinos teaching degens better Black Jack strategy, too? Help out the old ladies on the slots?

People are doing all kinds of wagering in all kinds of situations where they're statistical long shots and nobody at these companies are stepping in to alter the situation and "improve" things for the losing players. They're actually giving they're customers free alcohol in many situations and intoxicating them while they do their wagering.

It's very weird the poker industry has so many people at the top looking to handicap other players at the top, or seeing it as a benefit to do so. Other companies that manage different forms of gambling seem to treat players as a whole with more respect and leave them alone. Unless of course, they're asking them if they need a refill on they're drink. Which, is how a company should treat a consenting adult while they make their bets.

It's not exactly marketable to decrease the number of winning players in the game. As much as you believe the stats show that it is. Lesser skilled players don't want to see successful players handicapped and decreased in volume. That defeats the purpose of logging on and playing the game.

Why would recs be encouraged to log on and play when they hear the chances of success have been drastically decreased? You poker pros and executives need to learn how to market the game better. I think your logic is severely flawed and it's hurting the game terribly. I get the point you're trying to make. That less sharks are more friendly to recs, but I don't think the recs will perceive what you intend for them to perceive. I think they'll equate less sharks to less chances of success and refrain from logging on at all.

What you guys are promoting is bad for the game. It's not marketable to tell lesser skilled players that they're so bad at the game that it's good for them to see more successful players chased off by the companies altering the game, or government taxation. All that means for them is that they're is less of a chance of being successful and that the extent of the success is much more limited.

A little OT but in line with poker taxes

I ended up making a decent amount last year playing cards. I worked the first 4 months, and then transitioned into real estate/poker about this time last year.

The vast majority of my money was made in that time period, and I ended up paying taxes on a little over 100K.

I took the first couple months off of poker this year to work on other stuff, including the real estate. I've made ~2K from poker so far this year, so nothing significant. I'm refocusing on poker again now.

If I'm reading things correctly, it looks like I need to pay estimated taxes on what I expect to make on the entire year, averaged out in four payments. So if I project myself to make say 60K the rest of the year, I need to pay taxes on that 60K, not the actual 2K that I've made, which would mean a higher tax payment than what I've actually earned for calendar year 2018.

I'm hoping I'm wrong and one of you tax experts can correct me, but this seems really dumb if true

Estimated tax payments can be pro-rated by quarter in accordance with your actual quarterly income. When you file your taxes, you break down your income on Form 2210 to report your actual income by quarter to avoid underpayment penalties. See the last paragraph on this page for more info:
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small...stimated-taxes

Thanks!!