I can't be that good at ratholing, can I?

21forme

Well-Known Member
#1
I always get a kick out of the win/loss statements that come out about this time of year, comparing their numbers to reality. Gives me an idea how well I'm ratholing, as well as which casinos I need to make more of an effort in the future.

Anyway, one particular casino had me down for a 15K loss. In reality, I had a 15K+ win there, over many sessions, in 2010. I know there's no way I ratholed 30K away, so it's puzzling how they came up with their numbers (and who got stuck with some big wins on their WL statement to balance their numbers).
 

blackjackomaha

Well-Known Member
#2
I was wondering something similar about my end of year win/loss statement. Since moving back to NE and playing my local stores the last 5 months of 2010, I won slightly more than $4k over numerous sessions. My win/loss statement shows a win of $150...not desirable, but definitely nothing to worry about.
 

Dyepaintball12

Well-Known Member
#4
My W/L Statement from the Ven.etian was way off. Like thousands off in my favor.

And another casino in the Midwest was $9,000 off in my favor.

Ratholing is just the best.
 

blackriver

Well-Known Member
#5
do they ever compare your buyin to you cashout for win/loss purposes? does lcoming and going with chips all the time draw unwanted attention or do ploppies do that a lot too?
 

Dyepaintball12

Well-Known Member
#6
blackriver said:
do they ever compare your buyin to you cashout for win/loss purposes? does lcoming and going with chips all the time draw unwanted attention or do ploppies do that a lot too?
That's exactly how they keep your W/L. Whatever the difference is between your total buy-in and cash-out.
 

blackriver

Well-Known Member
#7
I mean cashier cashout, not color up cashout. I assume you mean the same. But this sounds too arbitrary. But tallying all your session results at various games sounds very time consuming. id like to see some official procedure.

What if I buyin with 1000 in chips and lose it right away. Then buyin with $1000 cash in a high limit salon. Win 2k at blackjack and then 3k at baccarat and go to dinner, come back and lose 1k at roulette but win 7k at craps. I go to the high limit vashier and cash out 5k in chips and leave. What's my win/loss statement for the day? 10k? What if instead of dinner I played poker for an hour and won 2k?
 

BJgenius007

Well-Known Member
#8
blackriver said:
I mean cashier cashout, not color up cashout. I assume you mean the same. But this sounds too arbitrary. But tallying all your session results at various games sounds very time consuming. id like to see some official procedure.

What if I buyin with 1000 in chips and lose it right away. Then buyin with $1000 cash in a high limit salon. Win 2k at blackjack and then 3k at baccarat and go to dinner, come back and lose 1k at roulette but win 7k at craps. I go to the high limit vashier and cash out 5k in chips and leave. What's my win/loss statement for the day? 10k? What if instead of dinner I played poker for an hour and won 2k?
If you go to IRS web site, they explain this in detail. Basically, you can't offset losses from your winnings. In your case, your buyin is $1000 and your winnings are $2000(BJ), $3000(bacarat) and $7000(craps). So, you need to report $11,000 income to IRS. (Assume you did not skip dinner and play poker.) This assumes you are a recreational player. If you are a professional gambler in full time, you can itemize the losses against the winnings.
 

moo321

Well-Known Member
#9
BJgenius007 said:
If you go to IRS web site, they explain this in detail. Basically, you can't offset losses from your winnings. In your case, your buyin is $1000 and your winnings are $2000(BJ), $3000(bacarat) and $7000(craps). So, you need to report $11,000 income to IRS. (Assume you did not skip dinner and play poker.) This assumes you are a recreational player. If you are a professional gambler in full time, you can itemize the losses against the winnings.
My research has led me to the opposite conclusion. I've read that you can write off losses up to your level of wins. What a professional/incorporated gambler can do is write off expenses, like airfare, gas, meals, etc.
 

21forme

Well-Known Member
#10
moo321 said:
My research has led me to the opposite conclusion. I've read that you can write off losses up to your level of wins. What a professional/incorporated gambler can do is write off expenses, like airfare, gas, meals, etc.
moo, you are correct.
 

NightStalker

Well-Known Member
#11
Obviously one can offset your losses against winning

21forme said:
moo, you are correct.
Not sure what BJGenius was saying, can anyone explain?
If counters start paying tax per winning session, who will play the game!!
 

moo321

Well-Known Member
#12
NightStalker said:
Not sure what BJGenius was saying, can anyone explain?
If counters start paying tax per winning session, who will play the game!!
Good question. It's also not clear exactly what all should be reported. Report all winning sessions, and write off all losers? Or report net? I've heard different opinions, even from CPAs.
 

Sharky

Well-Known Member
#13
assuming you are not a professional gambler in uncle sam's eyes, you are allowed to deduct losses against winnings up to net zero...you MUST itemize and you MUST have records
 
#14
How would they even track how much I cash out at the cashier if they don't check ID there? It'll be time consuming to review the video footage for everyone cashing out.
 
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