Money won at casino

[newmexicoNita]

I must not be understanding you correctly. Are you saying that you deliberately stay under the withholding threshold so that you can cheat on your taxes?

I don't think that is exactly cheating: he either plays machines that won't pay enough in one royal or whatever to have to pay and when he gets close to the 1,200 he cashes out and starts over. Is that cheating?

 

 

Nita

[cruzincurt]

WHOGO...And your point is what? OK, I admit, I have lost money in the casino, slit my wrists.... and on other cruises I have come home ahead.

 

It seems to me the original question was: Has anyone ever won in the casino, to which the winners replied; not does anyone ever lose in the casino, of course we do.

 

Candy, that's my spot, I'll share.

 

The taxman is looking for a SINGLE hit of $1200 to generate a W2G, that's why some jackpots are $1199. It's based on the multiple of a single bet, not cumlative. ALL winnings starting at $1 are taxable, you just don't get a W2G, you all report them of course. Horse tracks are different where a single hit of $600 on a $2 bet (ie., 300 to 1 ratio) generates a W2G.

 

Not reporting even a $1 won is "cheating".

[madhouseinc]

I must not be understanding you correctly. Are you saying that you deliberately stay under the withholding threshold so that you can cheat on your taxes?

 

meant to say $1,200. What I am saying is that if you have a royal flush and get $1,000 you most probably would cash it in - I would and because of the way the law is written, they would not ask for your ID and SS - hey - I did not write the law, and if I went to another casino, or just down 3 machines where you were and hit another royal flush the same rule/law would apply. I feel very strongly that you cannot deliberately stay under your threshold in order to cheat on your taxes. I may play the quarter machines so that my highest payout would remain under the $1,200 (and the gambling alowance I have set for myself) but I shudder to think the monies I spent just trying to get to the $1,200. My royal this July was the first I got in 3 years. Also, you can deduct your loosings only if you a large win (over $1,200).

[cruzincurt]

MADHOUSEINC, not exactly true about the $1200 limit and deducting losses. Most, if not all of us, have "cheated" on our taxes. Ever win $1 on a lottery ticket or $10 in an office pool? If you did not report it as income on your 1040 you have technically "cheated". ALL such winnings, of any amount are considered taxable by Uncle Sam. You cannot deduct your losses and just call it even. On pari-mutual winnings of $600, or gaming of $1200, the government conveniently provides a W2G to remind you to pay your taxes. At a parimutual, they actually withold 20% because they don't trust you to remember to pay the tax at the end of the year. Because of the $600 rule, at parimutuals, people often by a $2 ticket 5 times rather than a single $10 ticket. (My DW is a parimutual clerk at the IRS window at a horse track.)

 

To comply with the law, you have to report all winnings, of any amount on your 1040 as income, then, and only if you itemize your taxes, can you claim your losses up to the level of your winnings on your tax credit form (Schedule A). Uncle Sam wants to see the in and the out itemized on your taxes. And you better have good records of your losses if you had a lot of winnnings backed by W2G's. Personally, I'll take a W2G anyday because it means I won.

 

Anyway, the original OP's post was about does anyone win at the casino, the answer is yes. The OP didn't asked about the morality of gambling or failing to pay taxes.

[Cruise Raider]

We have actually had luck, usually on the first and last days of the cruise, but a couple of times in the middle. Kind of goes the same for us in Vegas...some trips are good, some are not so good.

I know this is not proven, but swear the machines are luckier on the last day of the cruise. yeah, yeah, yeah, they all say!! We all have our theories.

We actually won the progressive on the Zuiderdam, the line up of 5 red flaming sevens. Some lady had just gotten up and we won about 10 minutes into playing the machine. (so, her mistake was coming back around to see our win)

Also have had luck on the Dawn Princess, video poker (the royal) and those silly little video games where you pick the number of lines and number of coins per line. Something about a lucky charm.

Celebrity Mercury had a very generous casino. I have known others besides me that have won on this ship.

I figure, if it pays for one or both of our cruises, it is a good casino.

[Candy]

...snip... I figure, if it pays for one or both of our cruises, it is a good casino.

I just need it to pay for the NEXT cruise!

 

Candy the ZuiderPrincess

[pudra Ti]

I won $4,500 on a slot machine in 2004! I casino staff said it was the most they ever paid on a slot. I went right into the safe and was used to finance a second cruise that year. The only problem is that they tax US citizens. My husband is a naturalized US citizen, but still retains his Canadian citizenship. He applied for a Canadian passport so the next time we have a taxable win--he's going to claim it tax free!