Reporting Blackjack Winnings

Jetplane · Sep 1, 2007

Does anyone do this should I say do we "have" to do this. A casino I used to frequent had me make a card so I did it for fun. Well I've won over $XX,XXX and I don't know the law on reporting.

I had previously thought that you only pay/report JACKPOT winnings such as SLOTS/CARIB STUB/BONUS GAMES. I did win $50 at Carib Stud during this run... I was one short of a straight flush that would have paid great.

Can anyone tell me what to do in this case? Do I report my $XX,XXX in blackjack winnings and then tell them I lost most of it back? Which is basically the damn truth but I don't want to have to pay f*cking taxes on money I had already lost back.

Highdaddy · Sep 2, 2007

of course you don't report winnings on BJ

unless you don't like money

shdw01 · Sep 5, 2007

Technically, you have to report ALL of your gambling winnings....jackpot, blackjack, lottery, poker, etc. this goes on line 21 of your 1040

Your losses can ONLY be reported if you itemized your deductions, you can deduct losses up to the amount of your winnings. (on Schedule A)

The tricky thing is how to constitute winnings....this matter is a little grey...for example....if three hours at the blackjack table I won 60 hands of $200 ($12,000) and lost 30 hands of $50 ($1,500) is that $12,000 income and $1,500 deduction.....I would say no, that session is +$10,500....in fact, i would most likely group an entire trip to vegas as one session.

The last thing you should know is what will the IRS know.....if I go to vegas and play blackjack only, come out up less than $500 and is untrackable, there is virtually no chance the IRS will find out about this. However, if you win a $1200 jackpot or more on slot machines, a W-2G will be issued to you and you MUST report this on your Form 1040.

Without the W-2G, there isn't much that the IRS can base your income on....unless you have unusually large deposits in your account...if audited, they may ask what that is, and if you tell them gambling winnings....prepare to 1) pay taxes on it + penalties/interest and 2) get audited a bunch more times.

sorry if this was hard to understand.....congrats on the winnings...i'm jealous

Jetplane · Sep 5, 2007

shdw01 said:
Technically, you have to report ALL of your gambling winnings....jackpot, blackjack, lottery, poker, etc. this goes on line 21 of your 1040

Your losses can ONLY be reported if you itemized your deductions, you can deduct losses up to the amount of your winnings. (on Schedule A)

The tricky thing is how to constitute winnings....this matter is a little grey...for example....if three hours at the blackjack table I won 60 hands of $200 ($12,000) and lost 30 hands of $50 ($1,500) is that $12,000 income and $1,500 deduction.....I would say no, that session is +$10,500....in fact, i would most likely group an entire trip to vegas as one session.

The last thing you should know is what will the IRS know.....if I go to vegas and play blackjack only, come out up less than $500 and is untrackable, there is virtually no chance the IRS will find out about this. However, if you win a $1200 jackpot or more on slot machines, a W-2G will be issued to you and you MUST report this on your Form 1040.

Without the W-2G, there isn't much that the IRS can base your income on....unless you have unusually large deposits in your account...if audited, they may ask what that is, and if you tell them gambling winnings....prepare to 1) pay taxes on it + penalties/interest and 2) get audited a bunch more times.

sorry if this was hard to understand.....congrats on the winnings...i'm jealous

I completely understand your explanation. The problem is that I gave the casino my information to get a players card. They now know me like I'm their freakin biological father. They haven't kicked me out because I'm basically every pit bosses friend and probably 10-15% of their customers are also my customers.

$80% of their floor management team does business with me also so they already are rooting for me. I split my winnings between 2 somewhat close casinos... the next one is a long ways to drive.

So the space I am in between now is that when the bosses write down my money-in and then money-out... they know how much I am up/down and it has been over $2,000 or close to $3,000 recently while only buying in for $200 that day. Even if I don't cash it all on that day, they have a record saying I walked away with 27 Back $100 chips, which would state I have $2700 in chips/winnings.

It's gonna be a pain in the ass to get taxed on this bullshit. I'm gonna move and play anonymously and keep all my money forever.

myboymagic · Sep 6, 2007

Jetplane said:
I completely understand your explanation. The problem is that I gave the casino my information to get a players card. They now know me like I'm their freakin biological father. They haven't kicked me out because I'm basically every pit bosses friend and probably 10-15% of their customers are also my customers.

$80% of their floor management team does business with me also so they already are rooting for me. I split my winnings between 2 somewhat close casinos... the next one is a long ways to drive.

So the space I am in between now is that when the bosses write down my money-in and then money-out... they know how much I am up/down and it has been over $2,000 or close to $3,000 recently while only buying in for $200 that day. Even if I don't cash it all on that day, they have a record saying I walked away with 27 Back $100 chips, which would state I have $2700 in chips/winnings.

It's gonna be a pain in the ass to get taxed on this bullshit. I'm gonna move and play anonymously and keep all my money forever.

Without the w2-g form, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Ask the casino if they report anything other than the 1200.00 jackpots to the IRS

GreenDoberman · Sep 6, 2007

Are you serious about this?
Do you really think the casino reports your winnings to the IRS?

GreenDoberman · Sep 6, 2007

Casinos are only required to fill out paperwork when you buy-in for more than 10,000 or cash out for more than 10,000.
Otherwise, there is no paperwork.

shdw01 · Sep 6, 2007

as an accountant, i have to say it is not smart to fuck with the IRS

as a gambler, I don't think there is any chance the casino reports a single thing to the IRS.....i can't imagine how many people win money and them having to track it only costs them more money. I know a lot of casinos you can request a win/loss statement for a particular year.....i've never done this so i'd be curious to see what they give out and if it is reported.

Like I said, the only thing that can probably be traced to you is if you make unusually large deposits....keep the money under your bed matress and in your freezer and you should be fine!

Jetplane · Sep 23, 2007

GreenDoberman said:
Are you serious about this?
Do you really think the casino reports your winnings to the IRS?

What, do you think I'm just bullshitting? Come on... I'm nervous here. Now guess what--audit time for my personal accounts. Yippee... they are requesting 2004 and 2005. I gambled online then, think it's gonna shank me?

And about the casino reporting: THEY CALLED ONE OF MY FRIENDS INTO THE IRS and said they have proof of i'm winning $8,000 back in 20XX and yeah--he owned up to it. My math tells me that 8k is < 10k

I've never cashed in or out in excess of $10,000 in a single day or in a single week even. But over time I have put around $40k in input/output.

I'm thinking you guys are missing the boat when i said I SIGNED UP FOR A CARD with the casino. I know it's my own dumbass fault... but I don't know what info they keep on there. I am by no means a WHALE hahah, but if you consider me in my community... then i'd say i'd make the top 3% of people who put money into their establishment.