is the money you make taxed?
since it's meant to be 'play money' is it counted as tax evasion? thx

I'm far from an expert in taxes, but generally almost any income you make is taxable in the US.

It's not play-money any more than casino chips are play money. The chips you are using to gamble with can be exchanged for money. You'd have to ask a tax expert when that income becomes taxable, whether it is when you have the money in your hand or when you win the chips.

Some countries don't tax gambling. You probably should have included which country you are from.

from UK where poker isn't taxed, but that's only because they tax the casino or poker site directly, I assume that PPPoker isn't getting taxed by the UK so does this mean that my income from their has to be paid tax on or not?

If you're in the UK you can safely play online poker on reputable sites (or live poker) without the tax man coming and knocking on your door. Gambling is not treated as a "profession" in Britain, even though some people do make money from playing poker full-time.
I'm not sure about the workings of PPPoker. Is it even licenced/regulated by the UK gambling commission?

You're not asking the right question. It's irrelevant if it's legal or not if you're not sure that you can get your money out of it if you win, or even it you lose some, personally I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole

The PPPoker I know is an online private club with money exchanged through an agent so that the app is technically a play money game. My guess is that it would be illegal in jurisdictions where raking poker home games or placing sports wagers through an unlicensed/unregulated bookie is also illegal.

Gambling winnings are not taxed in the UK, you are fine.

yea this is more my issue, might ask a lawyer or something

Relax. You don't have to pay taxes on the money, and the police aren't going to arrest you for gambling on the internet. Don't waste money on a lawyer, you're fine.

That's not the question though. He's asking about a platform that might or might not operate without a gambling license in the UK.

No, he's asking about whether his profits as a player must be reported to the government.

No. He's asking if the money he's making there is already taxed, meaning if the service provider payed taxes on the rake they collected.

In the UK, gambling operators have to pay taxes and players don't. His question is if said poker room does pay those taxes and if it's illegal to play there if they don't pay them.

yea this is exactly what I mean, I called some lawyers and didn't really find out much... call me paranoid but w/e

What would the legality be on those who act as agents on PPpoker - as they'd be making money from using it without actually gambling themselves?

Couple of newbies stirring the pot a bit .. not sure if that's nice to see or just 'interesting'.

I would imagine that this Ap is on a list somewhere 'to be looked at' (both US and abroad) and in general if there are issues that the target would be those 'big fish' at the top. That doesn't mean that the little fish wont be left out of scrutiny or even used to gain access to the big fish.

It sounds as if 'gambling' in the UK is OK and not taxed. So it's not really an income thing, but 'how' the income was obtained that may be an issue. Is it the gambler's responsibility to verify the legitimacy of the game? Perhaps. But even in casinos a typical gambler shouldn't be held responsible if they aren't following regulations.

I do think the 'Agents' are a different issue. They aren't gambling, they are 'contractors' who probably receive a commission on the amount of business they bring in, while possibly also taking on some level of responsibility/guarantee of return payments/cash-outs. I would think that this would be seen as reportable income if really put to the test.

The WPT 'membership' model in the US is legal in most states, but not mine so I don't know if they 'rake' play chips or not. Even WSOP play chips are 'raked' in an effort to get the Players to purchase more. So the play chip model may be a huge loop hole in the legal/illegal gambling system ... but I don't think the operators/operation escapes the tax man in the US which could lead to a major event somewhere in the upstream/downstream of the system. GL