How much winning would you report to IRS

[A Blind Squirrel]

Hey guys,

So hypothetically speaking, what would be the amount you'd need to win playing poker that you would report it as taxable income? Assume you are winning not in tournaments but in various 2/5 or 5/10 tables in 2-3 different casinos?

I don't mean legally how much, I understand it's technically all taxable income. I mean what would you personally do/recommend to someone?

Thanks

[nottom]

Hypothetically, I would report it if I won enough that it impacted my day to day spending habits. If I regularly went to casinos and won enough that I basically counted it as a secondary source of income then I would report it.

If I went to Vegas and won a couple grand then basically it paid for the trip and maybe I took home some extra cash that I would have ended up spending on dinner or whatever new gadget I wanted, then I'm not reporting it.

Honestly I guess the easier rule of thumb for me is if it ends up in my bank account (more than what came out) rather than my wallet or under the mattress then I probably end up reporting it assuming I am a winner on the year. And I'm not reporting and deducting gamblings winnings vs losses or any of that shit for anything less than 5 figures.

I of course don't have this problem since I pretty much always lose these days.

[win diesel]

If you plan on playing poker again in your life it's unrealized income and thus it would be zero. It's all one big session, amirite?

[Dr T Non-Fan]

I'd report it if someone else (like the casino) knew about it. You go to the cage with a few thousand in chips, someone might whip out a report to fill out.

As soon as you declare some amount, the IRS can ask for the records. Declare nothing, and the IRS won't have a reason to ask (unless it ssees you on tv at the WSOP ME FT).

Tournament winnings above some specific amount are reported. That's what I'd report.
I think it is best to keep real crappy records, and forget what you win when no one asks you to write something down. The rake/fees are already bad enough.

If you're going pro, forget what I advise. Write EVERYTHING down, even the mileage to the casino. Get real advice from a professional tax guy before starting.

[LifeIsAPoissonProcess]

I won a small tournament at an Indian Casino in Iowa several years back, and they made me fill out a form with my info in order to claim my prize (under $1k). The number I've heard tossed around is any thing over $1,199 in a calendar year. It seems like it would be hard to prove, because the amount is net of all gambling that year and I like to play table games that are -EV.

[gosuruss]

i think if you win more than 5k in cash game they report it. if you are playing small stakes and they dont report it then i would not pay taxes on it imo.

[FormLetter]

Is there a cottage business for money laundering using casino chips? Or something similar for tax dodging?

For example, say you go to the cage and get $10k in chips. You play for a bit and are at $16k. Rather than go to the cage and have a +$5k event possibly be recorded, you cash out some amount that doesn't show up to anybody as interesting, whether that is $10.5k or $9.5k or $0. Then you spread your chips out over several small transactions, either by yourself or using a small network/group of people who go and convert those chips into cash several hundred at a time such that no individual transaction gets noticed. You do that regularly to avoid income being demonstrated for tax purposes.

On the money laundering side, say you carry out an act of extortion that nets you $50k. You want to use it for legitimate purposes, so you need to launder it somehow. You go to a poker room, wait for some guy to leave the table with a pile of chips and offer to buy the chips from him. You hand him $10k in cash and get $10k in chips. You go to the cage, cash them out, creating a record, and let that stuff get taxed so you can have documented income to explain how your bank account has $40k in it when all you really did that year was carry out extortion for $50k which is illegal.

Alternatively for money laundering, you purchase winning lottery tickets for the prize amount (in cash) before the person redeems them.

[win diesel]

Originally Posted by FormLetter

Is there a cottage business for money laundering using casino chips? Or something similar for tax dodging?

For example, say you go to the cage and get $10k in chips. You play for a bit and are at $16k. Rather than go to the cage and have a +$5k event possibly be recorded, you cash out some amount that doesn't show up to anybody as interesting, whether that is $10.5k or $9.5k or $0. Then you spread your chips out over several small transactions, either by yourself or using a small network/group of people who go and convert those chips into cash several hundred at a time such that no individual transaction gets noticed. You do that regularly to avoid income being demonstrated for tax purposes.

On the money laundering side, say you carry out an act of extortion that nets you $50k. You want to use it for legitimate purposes, so you need to launder it somehow. You go to a poker room, wait for some guy to leave the table with a pile of chips and offer to buy the chips from him. You hand him $10k in cash and get $10k in chips. You go to the cage, cash them out, creating a record, and let that stuff get taxed so you can have documented income to explain how your bank account has $40k in it when all you really did that year was carry out extortion for $50k which is illegal.

Alternatively for money laundering, you purchase winning lottery tickets for the prize amount (in cash) before the person redeems them.

no need to get someone else involved..just get chips and play at some big cash game yourself

[Cynical Realist]

As far as the first question goes on reporting taxes - if it's just recreational, I wouldn't bother. Assuming also that poker is not your main source of income.

********************************************

Not really sure how this money laundering was working but late one Sunday night a few years ago, I'm playing Craps at NYNY. Some Russian mob looking guy on the other end has a lot of chips in front of him.

He's not betting anything too outrageous - mostly bets $25-$50 on several numbers. I was on the other end playing $100 - 3-Don't Come Method.

As we are playing, every half hour or so, he'd buy in for $1000 to $1500 in cash and get more chips. Now what was strange about this, was he wasn't losing, or running out of chips. So when he did it for the 2nd or 3rd time it became apparent that some kind of money laundering scheme was going on.... I just didn't know for sure how it worked. It was obvious the guy wasn't losing big (may have been up or down $500) but he kept exchanging cash for chips.

I said something to the Dealer on my end about he must be money laundering, but I don't remember her saying anything back except agreeing with me.

Thought it was interesting, even if I didn't know how it worked.

[Dr. John Zoidberg]

Any time I have to get a slip from a casino, I'd report it. Else,