Global Poker Tax Issues

Every time I email them a question they just give the run around.

Here is a question I sent them about taxes on sweepstakes:
In your TOC it says that every hand in a ring game is its own sweepstakes.
I know that if anyone wins $600 or more in sweepstakes prizes that they owe tax at the federal level (USA).
So, doesn't that mean that even losers will owe a ton of taxes?
Right? because every hand is a sweepstakes and even losers win hands.
Can you please explain this and also this information should me made crystal clear on your website.
I may have to cash out and move somewhere else because of this.
Thank you
They responded with:
Thank you for contacting Global Poker Customer Support.

We completely understand where you are coming from and we respect your decision. However, please be reminded of our Terms of Use which states that:

2. YOUR OBLIGATIONS AS A PLAYER
2.1.6. You are solely responsible for reporting and accounting for any taxes applicable to you under relevant laws for any Prizes that you receive from us;

For more information, please check: https://globalpoker.com/page/terms-of-use

If you need further clarification, please don't hesitate to contact us back.

Best regards,

Sabrina

I'm not sure that makes it a scam.
It is similar to play state lottery scratch offs.

For example you might get luck and win say $1000.
But if you can offset your wins with losses for tax reporting purposes.

Say you spent buy exactly two $1 scratch off each day of the year.
So through out the year you spent $730 but you only found one lucky winner for $1000 and all other tickets you lost on. Then you would have only profited $270 dollars below the $600 mark and wouldn't need to file this with the IRS as it was below $600.

When they say...
You are solely responsible for reporting and accounting for any taxes applicable to you under relevant laws for any Prizes that you receive from us;

To me this seems to imply that they are not sending the information to the IRS and it is the users responsibility to report this information.

Global poker is a scam anyways. I was beginning to play but then I came to the bold print that states sweepstakes cash isn't worth real cash value. Sweepstakes cash costs you dollar for dollar, meaning you spend ten bucks you get 10 bucks is sweepstakes cash, but sweepstakes cash has a value of 1/2 that when you cash out. So if you have $200 in sweepstakes cash (the currency of global poker) and you cash out, you will only be getting $100 back. Definitely some scheming going on.

Have you cashed out?

I've cashed out 3 or 4 times 50-100 each time. 1 small issue one time, quickly fixed from their support team. Dollar for Dollar. Almost all the negative things I read about global are just plain false. The only knock I have on the site so far, slow development as far as getting new games (limit holdem) omaha etc. And the people with tax concerns, for the first year or so until recently you deposited and cashed out via paypal. If you receive over 20k in paypal per year, paypal sends the government a 1099. I believe that was the sites way of saying "hey if you win 25 grand on here and get hit with a bill for 9k don't blame us. Maybe thats why they went away from paypal?

Except there is nothing to offset these sweepstakes wins. The Sweepscash that you wager with has zero value. So therefore every pot you win counts towards the $600 tax free yearly limit. Once over $600, you owe tax on all of it.

Everyone who plays there owes the government a shit ton of tax.

I requested a cash out just as soon as I realized this.

I have no idea how US tax law treats sweepstakes wins, but I have a hard time believing that losers are taxed on the their losses. Common sense would suggest that it's your net overall profit/loss for a full tax year that is relevant. Also, I would fully expect to be solely responsible for my own taxes, so I see nothing wrong with their comment. While they may be using the every hand is a sweepstakes statement as some kind of marketing gimmick I would think that the IRS only cares about the bottom line, i.e., did you win or lose more over the course of tax year, AND, are you gambling professionally or recreationally?

This was an interesting thread. Glad I found out things about taxable income.

Except it isn't a gambling or poker site. There is no lose because you buy gold coins with a credit card and then they gift you sweepscash. Try to claim loses on your taxes and you will be audited and fined because there were no loses....

This is definitely not the case. I’ve cashed out on a few different occasions since I started playing in Feb. Each time I’ve been paid the total amount. Takes about a week to get the funds in my bank account, but totally legit. I play tournaments daily under the screen name Gaaangster. Don’t be afraid to deposit! More money in the player pool the better

You are both wrong and thinking too much.

Don't have a firm opinion of Global yet, have not played enough hands there...I have noticed the extremely fishy play and that's a plus.

Yea I have played on Global Poker and tried cashing out one time for $400 dollars it was such a strenuous process that I still have not cashed out on the site and more or less just use it as a fun play site to practice PLO. I will not be putting any more money into the site though.

Thx for this i was considering playing there cuz im tired of the other us based sites

Have you consulted a USA tax lawyer to clarify the tax responsibility issue? My understanding is that the Global Poker sweepstakes model works the same as the State lottery model (which is also a sweepstakes). For example...

When playing lottery scratch off tickets the tax payer is responsible for paying taxes when winnings (earnings) exceed $600. In order to off-set the winnings the tax payer would itemize (schedule A maybe?) their losses. That is, the tax payer would claim losses for the sum of the total scratch tickets purchased and pay taxes on sum of the total winnings.

To relate this concept to Global Poker. Each game (hand) is a sweepstakes. From each game the win/loss can be derived. Unfortunately, Global Poker has a difficult method to analyze the hand history from which to derive this information - so it won't be easy.

*Disclaimer - I am NOT a tax advisor and not in the tax industry so do NOT take my words for the truth, they are simply my understanding of how the USA tax system works with regard to sweepstakes models such as the lottery**

No, but I used to play at ClubWPT and they clearly spell out the subscription model, and hence why I don't play there (or on global) anymore.

Might as well have asked the guy at the drivethough about your taxes.

No reason for any establishment to tell you how to pay your taxes. There are so many different jurisdictions.

You will get that same answer from any poker room you ask. All they can tell you is if they reported your winnings to the IRS or other AHJ.

But just because they didn't report it doesn't mean that you don't owe tax on it.

I am not a tax professional but my advice is always pay your taxes. This is your responsibility and will save you a lot of headaches in the future.

Good luck !

Tomorrow will make it exactly 3 weeks since I resubmitted my bank info now that global poker has switched to worldpay. 3 weeks since I've attempted to cashout. Has anybody seen the reviews for Worldpay? They have a 1 star rating out of 5, with almost 500 reviews. In a world where we can use an app on our phones to instantly send $ into bank accounts, I am sure gp could figure out a way to pay their players. I keep getting strung along from customer service giving me excuses and asking for my patience. Do not deposit $ onto this site. We will have better sites in the U.S. soon enough, that hopefully will treat their customers better than global poker does(haha who am I kidding, they are all crooks). But I should know better having worked in the gambling industry years ago. Whether its a bookie at a dive bar, or a multi million dollar gambling site, it's still a highly unethical industry, run by criminals. People who are greed driven, who will stomp all over the guy beneath him, to gain an extra dollar. Keep this in mind ladies and gents, when you decide to take the journey into the dark world of gambling!

I had the same problem with breakout poker I think the owners are from Poker Minds and Duck quack poker with a minus 10 rating when it comes to customer support. I can only comment good things with a big sites like Poker Stars I get an email back usually within an hour and the cash out process is quick and easy

I'm glad I'm from the uk. No tax on gambling ��

I have an account on global poker but never played on there because im very suspicious about the site something just dont feel right about it.

I have actually cashed out multiple times from $50-$500. First I used to cash out threw PayPal. But then they changed there $ method. Paypal took 24 hrs tops for my money to reach my account after a cashout. Actually my first time cashing out took about 7 days while they verified all my information...But now with this debit/credit card deposit for some reason the first time I requested a cashout it took about 12 days to get my money. Had to send bank info etc. So far I have not had any problems. It’s been a while since I played and decided to play this morning. I just requested a cash out and this was reply on email...

We are now in the process of reviewing your request, and expect that your cash out request will be processed within the next 5 days. A confirmation email will be sent once your request has been processed.
If you have any questions, please contact Customer Service Team at support@globalpoker.com
We thank you for playing at Global Poker!
Regards

I have never had a problem with the cashout at Global Poker I more have a problem with the run outs on this site. I've been playing poker for a very long time and watching some of these run outs is insane. Take today for example, in the last hour I lost AA KK and JJ to hands such as 7 8, 2 3 along with some other ridiculous hands. I will fully disclose I have lost money on this site (And a good amount at that), but I have been profitable on most of the other sites I used to play at. I am leaning towards stopping play on this site.

I agree GP sucks

hhhmmmm.... so anyone who isn’t willing to be your tax consultant for free is a scammer????

Let’s face it: Playing there is illegal for US citizens as you can’t deposit without acting against the UIGA... so if you report your winnings then you don’t owe taxes but have all the winnings seized....

Um...no, none of that is accurate.

26 YEARS PLAYING LIVE POKER AT CASINOS AND ONLINE AND NEVER SEEN SUCH RUNOUTS AS I DO WITH GLOBALPOKER AND BLACKCHIP...SOMETHING IS VERY OFF,LIKE THEY KNOW WHATS COMMING..ALLIN WITH 23 OFF AND COMES RUNNER RUNNER FOR EXAMPLE.VERY ODDD..STAYYY AWAY!!!!

I have no clue where you came up with this or misread something that confused you but regardless you obviously have never cashed out at any point ever on globalpoker because if you had you'd know that if you cash out $103.50 of sweepscash you'll get $103.50 in ur bank account. There isnt even a debate regarding this cuz its a fact. Actually win and cash out then see for yourself

+1
All day, this. No matter what Global tells you....if you're not sure, consult a tax attorney or CPA. The only thing with this is the schedule A. This year standard deductions were increased significantly. In fact, for the first time in my adult life, I used the standard deduction instead of schedule A and that's with mortgage interest, donations, etc. etc. That means that....your losses may not necessarily be covered if you don't use a schedule A as it would all fall under the standard deduction, BUT, you'd still have to claim the income. Make sense? I know...it doesn't. B/C our tax system is f'ing screwy.

I don't think you know what UIGEA is ... probably shouldn't talk about things you don't understand. It is not illegal to play online poker in the US

2.1.6. You are solely responsible for reporting and accounting for any taxes applicable to you under relevant laws for any Prizes that you receive from us;

This is there way of saying they do not report your wins or loses to anyone. So the IRS has ZERO idea of any transactions. Take that for what its worth.