so let me get this new WPEX thing straight

[jasonHoldEm]

[ QUOTE ]
No names is by design.

[/ QUOTE ]

Translation:

[flight2q]

[ QUOTE ]
The player numbers are a glitch and will be removed shortly.

[/ QUOTE ]

So you're telling me that if the IRS asks who had gambling winnings corresponding to my gambling losses, I won't be able to point them anywhere.

I understand that WSEX is a rogue operation and doesn't give a [censored] about the IRS. But this doesn't meet my minimum standards for tax records.

Added: To be clear. The minimum would be something like including a summary for each day or session of who won/lost how much against me. The fact that some of the money is being diverted into rake complicates the issue. So perhaps the feasible adequate thing is just the complete hand histories.

And Bob, the IRS may ask you who you claim to have lost gambling to. They want to be able to assure those people are reporting gambling winnings (if they are in IRS jurisdiction).

[MicroBob]

your minimum standards aren't the same as the IRS's.

There are lots of sites that aren't compatible with P-Tracker.
you can still claim your wins and losses on your taxes without having a record of each individual hand that you played.

[WSEX GM]

[ QUOTE ]
And Bob, the IRS may ask you who you claim to have lost gambling to. They want to be able to assure those people are reporting gambling winnings (if they are in IRS jurisdiction).


[/ QUOTE ]

What do you tell them if you lost it playing poker at a brick and mortar casino?

Also, I would hardly call WSEX a rogue operation. They have been in business since 1996, licensed and regulated in the same location, Antigua, and have been one of the only operations to stand up and fight for the online gambling industry. You really need to do a little research on who WSEX is and all they have done.

I will make a statement on the "names" issue tomorrow.

Fred Balfour
GM
WSEX.com

[flight2q]

You are supposed to record who you play with.
If you fail to do so, you take the risk of
having your gambling losses disallowed.

Of course, even if you are conscientious, the
IRS could screw you if they think you are lying.

Added: By rogue, I meant from the U.S. government
viewpoint. We understand there is no love there.

[bills217]

[wax42]

I don't like that each hand history is in a different file, I would prefer all hands played on a given table on a given date to be put in the same file as is done on PokerStars. Storing each HH in its own file is inefficient because files on a hard drive have a minimum size, the cluster size, which depends on your hard drive and how you've set it up. On my system the cluster size is 32 KB, and the hand history files have like 1 KB of data each, so that leads to a lot of wasted space.

[DarkKnight]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The player numbers are a glitch and will be removed shortly.

[/ QUOTE ]

So you're telling me that if the IRS asks who had gambling winnings corresponding to my gambling losses, I won't be able to point them anywhere.

I understand that WSEX is a rogue operation and doesn't give a [censored] about the IRS. But this doesn't meet my minimum standards for tax records.

Added: To be clear. The minimum would be something like including a summary for each day or session of who won/lost how much against me. The fact that some of the money is being diverted into rake complicates the issue. So perhaps the feasible adequate thing is just the complete hand histories.

And Bob, the IRS may ask you who you claim to have lost gambling to. They want to be able to assure those people are reporting gambling winnings (if they are in IRS jurisdiction).


[/ QUOTE ]

You can get a daily accounting by going to their web page wsex.com. On the reports page is an account summary.

[SukitTrebek]

WSEX GM,

The strategy you're using to implement rake free is pretty bad. Instead, you should be taking all of the rake and making it restricted funds that must be bet on sports. Then you should be making every effort to ATTRACT THE MULTITABLERS that you're right now actively repelling.

I am one of these multitablers. I paid Party a sickening $20k in rake last month rather than play on your site. Ever since the big WSEX thread a couple weeks ago, I've been looking forward to the major update where I hoped to see instant hh's (with names), ability to play >3 tables, and a host of other improvements. I'd move my play over in a heartbeat if you ever did get these changes made.

Thus, last month I would have placed $20k in sports bets if you changed your strategy. How many bettors do you have that bet $20k a month? Some, but probably not a lot. How hard to you currently try to attract them?

There are lots of multitablers like me on this board, generating enormous amounts of rake, that would gladly move all of their play over and bet their entire monthly rake on WSEX. But they never will with decisions like no names in the hh (and seriously, 3 tables? wtf) You should be encouraging us to come to WSEX, play 5,10,15 tables, generate tons of restricted rake, and then bet it all on sports.

But at a minimum, you need to focus on getting a decent base of players regularly playing on your site. Most of the time, there's still hardly any tables going, weeks after going rake free. And adding names back to the hh will clearly attract at least some players to your site.

-Trebek

[Lori]

This seems a very good decision.

It allows the grinders and semi-pro type players to keep accurate records of their results and play while simultaneously making sure that they actually have to play poker (watching the opponents, learning how they play) at the same time which means that if they're going to hunt down the weaker players and beat them, they'll at least have to do it the old-fashioned way.

Given that the WPEX business model is hoping to use poker as a fun sideline to attract sports bettors, and is not a hardcore poker site, I think this is a perfect compromise.

If anyone asks you to go to the USA to discuss this with them, please decline the offer.

Lori