[DeadMoneyDad]

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Not $5K buy-in...$5K in winnings.

As for PPA, they need to start fighting back on tax issues, so this seems to be a good area for them to make the right connections and to show some strength.

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O.K. a net of $5k.

Even still it is a looser.

What is our position? You can trust us to pay our own taxes? We don't like the paperwork? We don't like the idea of with-holding? The IRS is a money grubbing whore?

All might indeed be true, but in the light of the majority of poker players who only hope to someday win $5,000 in a tourney to be faced with such a "problem"??? All the IRS is going to do is with-hold the third tier of tax rates? Not the top! That I could see as worth an arguement.

More paperwork for organizers of poker events? So what most people would say.

It puts on the side of saying in effect we are going to fight against paying taxes under current tax law. No one likes paying taxes, but this disolves any future arguement that we are willing to pay fair taxes on winning from poker which is a winner.

Why back by the PPA's efforts a measure that affects a minority of the "membership", looks bad, and creates future problems? I'm sure the majority of paying members, pro players and the casionos B&M and on-line, want to see this fought tooth and nail. But spending a lot of money of this non-issue now is a major mistake, given the number of basic issues the majority of poker players the PPA hopes to represent really care about!

Now look at it from the perspective of a non-poker player! Winning poker players don't want to be subject to with-holding? Where is the hook?

It gets even worse from the perspective of those that oppose poker and gambling in general. Most people know that if you make a $10,000 transaction you create paperwork. Most people know that in a casino you get a W-2G. To fight this issue as the PPA is a big looser!

Let the casinos both live and on-line fight it if it's a problem for them. Pro players it's another piece of paper and a little more work for your accountant to add up. For the vast majority of the 30 million "average" poker players, we either will never be affected or hope we have to deal with as many of these damn pieces of paper, saying we netted more than $5,000 a tourney, we can get our hands on a year!!!!!!!

This is a PR nightmare waiting to happen,

D$D