Are reported earnings BEFORE or AFTER you deduct their losses and entry fees?

[Poker Brat 2]

From a website on Evelyn Ng....

"Yeah, she's stacked. This former blackjack dealer earned over $250,000 in 2006 as a professional poker player. Oh, and speaking of stacked, "Evybabee" just made a cameo in the Xbox Texas Holdem game, aptly named "Stacked". "

When I hear the media reporting how much money a pro made last year, is that the gross or the net? Is it just actual, confirmed, tournnament winnings that are easily verifiable? What counts to me is their net. If they pay $10,000 to enter 10 times, and don't win $100,000 until their 10th time, they have an income of $0 for their efforts, not $100,000.

Plus, I would think that if the player plays cash games, not just tournaments, and if they're good enough to win them over time, their true personal earnings are much higher than just their total tournament winnings.

 

[MrDaMan]

I'm no expert and I'm not in the reporting business so what I say is a guess not a fact on this question.

I think what we hear when they report on poker players in sports shows is gross earnings without subtracting tourney fee's and taxes. If any one poker player opened up their personal tax records to the public I'd like to see it, it would be interesting.

I've never played at the pro levels but I imagine that any money's paid out of the casino to an individual for a certain amount which meets government requirements, ID is required and a 1099 is reported to the US government. (In the U.S. anywaY, not sure about outside the US) This includes cash and tournaments.

I've won over 1500,00 in a live tournament and they filed a 1099 to the IRS on me. I got paid in full but with the 1099 filed by the casino, I had to pay the taxes on that win. Now I keep all of my reciepts for tourney entries in case I win a big one so I can deduct them from the total before I pay.

I'm not a tax expert. I let a certified accountant do that stuff for me, he gets really angry with me when I come in with casino 1099's. At my level not being a professional gambler the tax bite can be quite stiff with little to no wiggle room for my accountant to work with.

 

[Poker Brat 2]

It seems to me, for tax purposes, the only thing keeping you from being a professional player and writing off travel expenses, entry fees, etc., is saying that you are one and filing a Schedule C at the very least.

 

[MrDaMan]

I do file a scedule C, I run my own business and make much more in that than poker. I have lots of deductions in my business, a 1099 from a casino is seperate from my business which is why I now save my live tournament reciepts and keep a journal of my onlne poker investments.

All of which can be deducted I believe, but still at the lower levels which I play for tax purposes I may or may not qualify for "professional gambler" status. Like I said my accountant takes care of this stuff he's mentioned a special "gambling licence" that you can get from the IRS that helps professional gamblers in tax issues. But I'm nowhere near that league.

Could be my accountnat is "old school" too, if push comes to shove I may have to find another, though for now I like this guy he's a real bulldog.

 

[reglardave]

How the media reports earnings, I haceno idea; I doubt if they do either, really. As for gambling winnings in general, reported income is after you deduct losses, fees, expenses, and the like, whatever is left is taxable.

In a case like "la NG", there is also her sponsorship fees, endorsemewnts, etc to take into consideration. Bottom line, I seriously doubt that a fan websaite has any real idea about "Evebabee"'s actual income. Unless she told them, in which case I'd doubt it even more.