It pays to have the skill, but some were just lucky enough to win big. Here’s a list of the biggest gambling wins in history: 1. $590.5 million. Gloria McKenzie, a Florida grandmother, became the largest single winner of the Powerball lottery when she won $590.5 million in May 2013. She beat the odds of 1 in 175 million to win the jackpot. It pays to have the skill, but some were just lucky enough to win big. Here’s a list of the biggest gambling wins in history: 1. $590.5 million. Gloria McKenzie, a Florida grandmother, became the largest single winner of the Powerball lottery when she won $590.5 million in May 2013. She beat the odds of 1 in 175 million to win the jackpot. You’re allowed to deduct losses only up to the amount of the gambling income you claimed. So if you won $2000 but lost $5,000, your itemized deduction is limited to $2,000. So if you won $2000 but lost $5,000, your itemized deduction is limited to $2,000. Jan 03, 2020 For information on withholding on gambling winnings, refer to Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax. Gambling Losses. You may deduct gambling losses only if you itemize your deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040 or 1040-SR) (PDF) and kept a record of your winnings and losses. The amount of losses you deduct can't be more than the amount of gambling income you reported on your return. Anargyros Nicholas Karabourniotis (ανάργυρος καραβουρνιώτης, born November 1, 1950), commonly known as Archie Karas, is a Greek American gambler, high roller, poker player, and pool shark famous for the largest and longest documented winning streak in casino gambling history, simply known as The Run, when he drove to Las Vegas with $50 in December.
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rick
I have been doing some research on gambling and taxes and am somewhat in need of help. As we are just entering 2013, I am preparing to keep track of all of my wins and losses and basically keep every receipt I get, I will have everything logged and filed and ready for next years tax season. I read the thread on here: and it helped somewhat. Here is my scenario.. I do 'work part time', and as far as taxes go for that, I have a solid understanding. What is new is the w2g and logging my gambling wins/losses.. I play poker 'semi-professionally' and am amping my play up much more this year (including travel to LV, AC, etc..) I log every session within an app on my iphone called Poker Journal. It logs the following: start date, start time, end date, end time, break time, play time, game (stake, limit type, & game), location (casino), bankroll, initial buy-in, rebuy count, rebuy total, tokes(given to dealer(s)), tips (for cocktails, drinks, food, etc), cashed out amount, net profit, gross profit, net hourly rate, and even players. So this is the software I use to log my play, it is pretty solid and has basically everything I need. I even thought I can possibly add a custom field and put the dealer that is in the box when I sit down (possibly with their gaming badge number) and the dealer that is there when I leave, and/or the cashier that cashes me out. I think I have everything that IRS requires for a gambling log. (According to page 12 of IRS publication 529) When I play poker tournamets, I get a buy-in receipt and when I lose I have that for my records, and when I win, they also give a recepit of winnings. So for tournaments I am not too worried. The poker room supervisor will usually sign and another casino employee will also sign and both verify the payouts along with their gaming badge numbers. I think that is enough for providing a 'witness' sort of speak, if I dont have the payout recepit of winning, I have the buy-in receipt to report that tournament a loss. What my question is how this 'honor system' works for 'table games' as when I play poker at a live cash game, this is considered a table game and no one really keeps track of wins/losses other than the player (if they choose to). This app I uses has an export function so I can convert everything to Excel and/or other like programs. So is this information I log suffeciant enough? How would anyone know if I just made up my own wins/losses? I just want to make sure that its legit enough that when I file in 2014 that the IRS will accept my logs and we can be square. I obviously don't want anything to back fire on me as I do belive I play enough poker that I don't want to end up being audited or have someone come after me for tax evision. Any input would help and is appreicated. TIA!
GH
The key is to be consistent, with everything you do. As long as your logs are consistent, anything that meets the minimum requirements is acceptable; even self recorded notes. Head on over to PortableApps.com and download the portable version of Red Notebook. http://portableapps.com/apps/office/rednotebook_portable Then, develop a 'diary template' that you can use to track each of your gaming sessions. In addition to the required accounting information, I also record gaming conditions, notes, etc. This way, I am encouraged to use the program for more than just keeping track of wins/losses.
rick
Thanks GH. I definitely will keep consistent! That's basically what Poker Journal does. I paid $15 for it but it was worth every penny. It has custom fields that I can add so I also keep track of playing conditions and make notes and what not. The players section is intentionally for keeping notes on players. How they play, etc.. I thought it could be useful as well for taxes if I need to record people present. GH, do you play poker or just use the red notebook for other gaming expense? I only ask because I don't do any other gambling other than poker. So I recommend poker journal for the poker player. Otherwise I would probably use another notebook type app for logging my activity. Thanks for your input! Also, does anyone else know if I can ask the casino for a CTR or are they only necessary when the casino issues them?
GH
I do mostly BJ and VP. The VP helps, because I can monitor prospective tables that are nearby. I use Red Notebook, because it lets be keep track of everything I can imagine. All I do is create templates for: * BJ sessions. * VP sessions. * No play 'exploratory' expeditions to casinos. * General 'junk' you'd find in any AP notebook/diary. Technically, You could deduct the $15 as a tax preparation expense ;) CTR are filed by casinos with the IRS. If you check to website of most casinos, they have online win/loss statement requests. These are useful to ensure that your log is consistent with anything they reported via CTR. And remember, CTR are only required for certain dollar transaction levels.
Aussie
Will a casino withhold anything for taxes on a table game win in the US? If so how much do you need to win and how much will they withhold? When is it done, at the table or when you cash chips at the cage?
GH
I have never heard of taxes being withheld on table games. They do ask if you have any outstanding markers though
iluvdisco33
The IRS requires we all report every dollar we win at gambling. I'm sure people who win at table games comply.. I play some vp, and my log only includes date, place, any w2g's received, and amount won or lost at the casino regardless if or how many tax slips I've collected. I do not, however, in any year ever claim I've won more than I've lost, even though there have been some years that I've actually won. I've been audited once and they accepted my doctored up log. Easy peasy.
GH
The question asked was if casinos in the US withhold table game winnings. My answer was that I have never heard of a casino in the US withholding, or issuing W2G, when you tried to cash out chips from a table game. But, you as a player are responsible for logging and self reporting the income.
Ibeatyouraces
deleted
GH
I've been told on numerous occasions that W2G's for table games are issues on wins of 300-1 or more AND the win pays more than $5000.
Biggest Gambling Wins And Losses 1040
I regularly cash more than $5k in chips and have never been asked who the hell I am, LOL. Just because I cash chips at the cashier, doesn't mean I won anything.
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Published 7:31 PM EDT Mar 24, 2019
If you're betting on the March Madness basketball tournament — or other sporting events — probably the last thing on your mind is taxes.
Final 8:8, 18, 28. Final 9:9, 19, 29The number of units depends on the final bet you make. 3 to 1 odds roulette.
But taxes are relevant to gambling — and that increasingly will be the case as legal gambling spreads across the nation following a Supreme Court decision last year that gave states the green light to legalize, and tax, sports betting.
March Madness could be the largest sports-betting activity all year, with the American Gaming Association predicting 47 million people will bet a combined $8.5 billion, or 40 percent more than the public wagered on the Super Bowl.
Most of the March Madness winnings probably won't be declared for tax purposes, though it should be.
'All income is taxable unless it's excluded,' said Mark Steber, chief tax officer for Jackson Hewitt Tax Service. 'Winnings aren't excluded.'
The federal tax rules on gambling haven't changed much in recent years and weren't significantly altered by tax reform in 2017. The main provisions are:
Winnings are fully taxable and should be reported on your federal return. Gambling income includes money received from lotteries, raffles, horse races and casinos. It includes cash winnings and the fair value of prizes such as cars or vacations.
The casino or other entity paying the prize is supposed to issue you a W-2G form, especially for larger winnings. You also might be subject to federal tax withholding on larger amounts and required to pay estimated taxes.
You may deduct gambling expenses if you itemize deductions — provided that the amount of these deductions doesn't exceed the gambling income or winnings that you claim. In other words, you can claim losses up to the amount of winnings. To deduct losses, as with other expenses, you must keep records including receipts, tickets or statements, along with an accurate diary or log.
You can't reduce your gambling winnings by your gambling losses and report the difference. Rather, you report the full amount of your winnings as income and claim your losses (up to the amount of winnings) as an itemized deduction. Winnings are reported as 'other income' on Schedule 1 of Form 1040.
According to an example provided by TurboTax, if you win $5,000 this year but lose $8,000, you may deduct only $5,000. You can't deduct the remaining $3,000 or carry it forward to future years.
READ MORE: New poll finds 47 million Americans will place bets, many taking Duke
Records and taxes
As noted, the IRS requires that you maintain records of your gambling activities if you hope to deduct losses. Free online casino cards let it ride. Deductible gambling expenses include travel expenses to or from a casino.
Gambling winnings also are subject to taxation by states that impose income taxes. This means that if you win while traveling, you could face taxes in that state and those imposed by your state of residence (though double taxation wouldn't apply as the home state likely would provide a credit for taxes collected by the other, Steber said).
Whether you receive a W-2 depends on how much you win, what type of gambling you engage in and how sophisticated the organizing entity is, he said. If you win $50 in an office basketball pool, it's pretty likely nobody will issue you a W-2.
Of the estimated $8.5 billion in March Madness gambling, the American Gaming Association estimates $4.6 billion will be wagered in informal March Madness brackets. It's questionable how much of the winnings from those competitions will be declared, and thus, taxed. So too for the money that Americans will wager with friends or bookies and through online websites, mostly offshore ones.
How tax reform could matter
One tax reform-related change relevant to gambling is this: Because you must itemize gambling losses, it won't help if you don't have sufficient overall deductions to qualify for itemizing.
With the increased standard deduction from tax reform, fewer Americans will be able to itemize. The new standard deduction amounts are $12,000 for singles and $24,000 for married couples filing jointly.
'If you don't itemize, you won't get the benefit of gambling deductions,' Steber said.
He described the tax rules tied to gambling as somewhat mysterious and confusing to the general public, perhaps partly because most people don't often win thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more).
But when they do win big, taxpayers would be wise to seek professional tax guidance, he said.
Biggest Gambling Wins And Losses 2018
'You won't hear much about all this if you're playing for a $100 bingo prize, but the rules are still the same,' Steber said. 'If you win, you owe, and if you don't declare the winnings, you face some risk' of hearing from federal and state tax authorities later.
Sports betting trends
The taxation of gambling is more relevant following last year's Supreme Court decision in Murphy v. the NCAA, which made it easier for states to legalize and tax sports betting.
Irs Gambling Wins And Losses
Since then, eight states have authorized and implemented sports betting, while it has been approved but isn't operational yet in three other states and the District of Columbia, according to the American Gaming Association.
Legal sports betting is under consideration in 23 other states, including Arizona. The association has a state-by-state gambling map showing what's happening where.
Meanwhile, 63 percent of Americans support the Supreme Court's decision to strike down what had been a federal ban on sports betting, according to a survey released by the American Gaming Association. But only 23 percent of respondents think professional sports leagues should be able to take a share of any betting revenue, according to the poll.
The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans wagered roughly $1 billion in legal sports betting markets in January, spread across Nevada and six Eastern and Southern states. Nevada (primarily Las Vegas) accounted for slightly less than 50 percent of the total — the first time it has taken less than half.
In other words, a slight majority of all sports betting took place in legal markets that didn't exist a year ago, the association noted. New Jersey was the second biggest state after Nevada for sports gambling, by a comfortable margin.