I Just Hit a BBJ (2 Viewers)

I am not a tax guy. I heard on a podcast that euro players at wsop really wanted main event min cash at $15k not more because of withholdings. I’d have to research.

It's $15,000 minus the $10,000 buy-in or $5000 winnings/profit......you guys are saying the same thing without knowing it........
 
@Payback - I'm curious, if you went to the horsetrack and just picked up every losing ticket you could find until you showed 21K (should take too long if you are there for all races) in losses would that negate the taxes on this when you file next year?
 
When I see you at WCB next week, I have a business opportunity that I'd like to discuss... :whistle: :whistling:

Congrats!
 
I am not a tax guy. I heard on a podcast that euro players at wsop really wanted main event min cash at $15k not more because of withholdings. I’d have to research.
Reportable Gambling Winnings

Report gambling winnings on Form W-2G if:
1. The winnings (not reduced by the wager) are $1,200 or more from a bingo game or slot machine,
2. The winnings (reduced by the wager) are $1,500 or more from a keno game,
3. The winnings (reduced by the wager or buy-in) are more than $5,000 from a poker tournament,
4. The winnings (except winnings from bingo, slot machines, keno, and poker tournaments) reduced, at the option of the payer, by the wager are:
a. $600 or more, and
b. At least 300 times the amount of the wager, or
5. The winnings are subject to federal income tax withholding (either regular gambling withholding or backup withholding).

That would explain the $15,000 min cash statement.
 
@Payback - I'm curious, if you went to the horsetrack and just picked up every losing ticket you could find until you showed 21K (should take too long if you are there for all races) in losses would that negate the taxes on this when you file next year?

Technically yes, but that would be tax fraud so definitely not going that route. However, I just look at it like I've got a few tournament buy ins this year that I can get a rebate on if I bust.
 
@Payback - I'm curious, if you went to the horsetrack and just picked up every losing ticket you could find until you showed 21K (should take too long if you are there for all races) in losses would that negate the taxes on this when you file next year?

You will see people try to do this all the time at the track but....... (serious but) you will be questioned/audited if you don't have enough documentation. The IRS prefers you to keep a journal of your betting activity if you try to claim losses against you tax obligations for you winnings. In other words you better have a pretty good documentation of your gambling wins/losses and your losers/bets/tickets better match up really well to deduct those losses.
 
Thanks all! What a wild ride today was. It's been a few hours and I still can't believe it actually happened and wasn't a dream. For those wondering the action was:

$2/5 NL
I opened MP to $20 with 55, HJ calls, SB calls, BB calls.

Flop $80 :6c::4c::5s:

Checks to me, I bet $65, HJ tosses out 4 green chips, I can't tell if he wants to call or raise, dealer makes it a raise to $130, SB CR to $300. He'd been playing loose and making weird plays.... BB folds, I want to isolate SB and jam for a little over 1k, HJ who covers calls, SB folds, HJ announces he has a straight.

Apparently SB had 88 (Wtf flop CR?) and BB had AKs. BB had been super aggro all day and I would've expected him to 3bet PF 100% of the time with that hand. Super thankful he did not! The other lucky thing for us/me was we got a 7th player about 15 minutes prior. We were playing 6 handed or less about 80% of the day under reduced rake. IE not Jackpot Eligible! Anyways back to the action:

Turn ~$2400 :kh:
River ~$2400 :5c:

The funny thing is the room was running a promotion for quads where the winner get $200 and the table shared $400. As I rolled over the hand I said I got there in a big way, but you'll get a small rebate because I have quads. He's like I have a straight flush. My initial thought was fuck I lost I run so bad, but then I'm like oh wait I'm running good running bad.

Easily my best poker moment. All the other holdem players got $539 for the 50% room share so there was an amazing buzz in the room afterwards which was indescribable. Lots of congratulations given and several people who I play with often were pretty stoked they knew who won it, vs some random person.

In the end, I decided to tip $200 to the dealer, $100 to the floor, and $25 to one of my chip/food/grunt work guys. I'm also planning on giving this dealer an extra buck a hand for a while. He's one of the top 3 dealers in the room so I'm thrilled that he happened to be dealing it vs. one of the bad ones. This was also the dealers first BBJ hit and he's been dealing almost 20 year. The floor is always awesome for me (yeah I get special treatment sometimes...) so I gave him something as well.

The winner of the hand actually said something to me just before we got the cash not to follow his lead in tipping as he's got more money than he knows what to do with and wants to spread it around. I felt like then I didn't have to give as much as I knew he was going big. He tipped the dealer $1200, floor $300, and gave another $100 each to the massage girl and cocktail waitress. He had been drinking a lot before it hit, hence him playing 23s, but he picked up the pace after winning. He had to sit down for his payout he was so blasted.

Cash payout is required so I got some fat bricks of cash which was cool to hold for a while. Then walked down to the main cage, went through a few supervisors and got a check made out as walking around Tunica with a lot of cash is not smart.

I headed home later and got to relive the experience with my wife who was obviously super excited as well. Probably the only time she hasn't minded hearing a poker story. Timing wise it's always a good time to hit a BBJ, but even more special as we have a baby due in October.

Hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did living it today!

View attachment 309751

***Note the shirt I was wearing today. Pretty sure it brought me some luck.:p
View attachment 309752

That has to be the (non-pron ;)) post of the year.

Congrats!
 
Basically I need to play in some more tournaments to write off
@Payback - I'm curious, if you went to the horsetrack and just picked up every losing ticket you could find until you showed 21K (should take too long if you are there for all races) in losses would that negate the taxes on this when you file next year?
Didn't the latest tax law change this? I thought I read you can no longer offset winnings with losses? Not a tax guy - just thought I saw this as a change.

Edit - nevermind. Google says still available if you don't take the standard deduction.
 
One dealer shared a story with me privately tonight about the one and only BBJ that he dealt over 25 years ago. He used the tip money from it to take two of the other dealers who were his buddies to Tijuana for the weekend. He told me he got each of them a girl and himself 3 for an evening.

Paying for a BJ with a BBJ. How apropos.
 
Last edited:

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom