Russ Fox blogs about the case here:

Excerpts

A Loss for the Taxpayer but a Win for Gamblers

The Tax Court today looked at the case of a couple who gambled in their local casino, won, but didn’t include the income on their tax return. That they had taxable income is a given, but there’s a very interesting and useful aspect of the decision.

During 2005 the taxpayers gambled on the slots at their local casino in Charles Town, West Virginia. For the most part they lost. However, on one lucky day they withdrew $500 from the bank, went to the casino and hit a $2000 slot jackpot, and walked out of the casino with $1600. The IRS sent the taxpayers a Notice of Deficiency for $2000.

The taxpayers argued that they should be able to net their losses from their other trips to the casino. That argument fell flat with the Tax Court.

.....see the blog for full details......

There is a major caveat to this decision: You need good records. By far, the lack of backup documentation is what trips us most gamblers in audits. For those gamblers who do keep good records, the Tax Court has given you a very nice belated Christmas present.