Re: Filing as a \"pro\" - minimum number of hours required?
A big issue that impacts the o.p. is whether or not he wants to file as a professional. Professionals pay the self-employment tax, amateurs don't. Many gamblers find that being a professional causes their tax bills to increase.
Indeed, the IRS has finally figured out, after years of resisting almost anyone filing as a professional gambler, that they can collect quite a bit of money by forcing many to file as professional gamblers. The IRS has a program where they examine returns to see if gambling income is the primary source of income (i.e. taxpayer's livelihood), and the taxpayer is not filing as a professional. The IRS send out a letter audit to those individuals. There have been several 2+2 posters who have written about this in the past.
The best advice I can give is what the o.p. has done--discuss this with your own tax professional as everyone's situation is different. He or she can evaluate what you should or shouldn't do.
-- Russ Fox
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