If you only claimed 6k on your taxes for this tournament you cheated on your taxes. also expenses are only deductible if you are a professional gambler and thus also pay the self employment tax

F uncle sam. He is the prick who ruined poker in USA.... but being the prick he is, he will bend you over the rail if he catches you. So be careful.

For those who don't know Caesars owns the Rio and the rights to WSOP, no Caesars property I've played at have supported chops which I think is stupid as it should be up to the players whether or not they chop.
While PH are listening to ideas on their series in the PH thread anyone who plans to play any PH events and agrees with the fact we should be allowed to chop if we choose, now would be a good time to express that.

I chopped one last summer and we were free to discuss but the clock had to keep running, would have been nice/easier if the floor helped but it wasn't a big deal.

The chops are easy to discuss the main issue is that they won't adjust the payouts to make it simple and save everyone a huge tax headaches.

Oh okay, I apologize. I'm interested in playing a few PH events too. I appreciate that they are listening. (I'm guessing their TD is in the thread responding?)

They do have a representative responding to some posts. My best guess is they will abide by Caesar's policy on chops, but you never know!

Has there been any "strategy" ppl have used to ensure players commit to their chops? Like gather everyone's driver's license/passport and give to the lowest payout and distribute them back out after everyone gets their agreed payout? Or something of that sort haha.

Good luck getting anyone to hand over their ID.

If u happens to be lucky enough to be @ FT or in situations where u can cash big $$ , stand on to your ground. Insist how u will protect your interest! Stand firm or do not chop. Simple

Actually, on the PH thread, the rep there says PH WILL HELP to facilitate chops.

Its a kind of rare scenario but last year i chopped one and my icm was worth almost exactly 4th place money so there was no risk involved in doing the chop. I just signed for 4th and they all did the rest amongst themselves. So dont snap-decline as there might be a fair and low-risk way of doing the chop.

Wrong about deducting expenses. I'm self employed and have been tracking all my expenses (mileage included, Foxwoods is a 4 hour ride each way), as per my accountant and have had no problem. I'm not a professional gambler but I am taxed at the highest rate and Maine has like an 8% income tax on top of the federal. I pay enough GD taxes (six figures) and I sure as he'll am going to take every advantage I can with in the law.

This is a good thought but something other then ID's will need to be used as ID's will be needed at the cash out window.

Just wanted to chime in here since I have some relevant experience. Was fortunate enough to chop two of these over the past two years. Those of you saying "don't chop" may change your mind if you find yourself at the ft, where everyone has 10bb's and you are facing the decision to chop for $15k or go out next for $2k. It's an easy decision really, but made much harder than it should be by Caesar's "no chop" policy. They are quite schizophrenic about it, since it's so apparent they want you to chop so everyone can go home, but won't put the slightest effort into helping the process along, and insist that everyone sign for amounts different than what they are actually getting. It's the main reason I don't play tournaments at any Caesar's property other than the Rio once a year, and I would be shocked if PH handles it any differently during their series.

Anyway, yes you are putting a lot of trust in your fellow man. Both times I signed for 3rd place $$, which was very close to actual amount I was getting. The chop almost didn't happen the first time, as no one wanted to sign for first- you are telling the IRS you netted $45k, when in fact you only got a third of that. Only people who will do that are either people who don't pay their taxes, foreigners who don't have reporting issues in their home countries, degens who have tons of gambling expenses to write off against the win, or the newbie who doesn't realize what they are getting themselves into by signing for $$ they didn't collect. Fortunately at a ft you will probably have at least one of the above to agree to sign for first.

Both times we went as a group to the cashing room at the Rio, and both times the group waited as each of us presented their ID at the window, signed the docs and collected the cash. Then, the Rio doesn't want you to stay in that room to divide up the $$ (no idea why not), so both times we adjourned to the hallway to split up 100K. There were no issues either time with anyone trying anything funky. Everyone was just tired (it's 7am in the morning), happy to turn $200 into $15k, and anxious to get their $$ and go home.

Bottom line is: you WILL want to chop, most likely, unless you are fortunate enough to be the massive chip leader, which will mean you have 30bb's instead of 10. I believe the main issue you will be dealing with will be finding the person willing to sign for first and second, since 3rd on down will be either close to the $$ actually received or less. Both times we gave the 1st place signer a bonus of about $1500 off the top for doing it.

This is spot on. I too chopped one of these last year. 7 left, avg was about 15 BB's, i was chip leader but didn't want to sign for $50k while getting 32k, so a foreign dude signed for first and i signed for 2nd which was about 33k. The staff was terrible, kept clock running, didn't help w/ any numbers, yet they were wanting us to chop so they could go home. It was very frustrating, but no players did anything shady.

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I was fortunate enough to chop one of these last year. I am from the uk and we agreed that I signed for 1st as my winnings are tax free and everyone tipped me a % for helping out their tax situation. The floor virtually suggested the idea but kept the clock running and made us crunch the numbers.

I was happy to chop despite specialising in turbos online, as it was a lot of money relative to the buyin and was super tired plus I was getting a bit extra for facilitating the chop.

Tbh on any final table when a chop is a possibility having someone from a nation with a tax treaty with the us should be of interest to everyone.

Some of the TD's "get it" wrt the chop, but they have to follow the rules of their employer. Nothing they can do about it. One of the stories from last year, or maybe I heard it in one of the ones I played in, was the TD said he couldn't stop the clock, but a scheduled break was coming up in 5 minutes and he strongly suggested the players work it out during the break.

As for PHo, their rep has already said they would facilitate chops, W2G's and all, in the PHo thread.

Do not chop play to win u only invested 200$ anyways
Don't be a p#%!?>

Easy to say don't chop but at 3 to 4 am it's tough not too knowing that you got to play again the next day. Especially if it's a bracelet event

Thanks for putting this together, great information here

But people are shady in poker I would just rather gamble money is money it's not everything...if I want all the $$$ I would play cash..

And don't be one of the idiots that keeps standing up looking at the other tables during the bubble even though the TD has already announced 5 times to stay seated.

You know I get why the Rio would not want a chop in the Main event or possibly all the bracelet events. But it is really short sighted on their part not to help with any other event. It's as beneficial to them as it is the players' to get 'er done and move on to other business. And it must not be a corporate policy because they have done it at other properties.

WSOP is a separate entity from the other CET properties. It has it's own set of rules.