[WJL]

I talked to my accountant about this sometime back. Professional Gamblers pay essentially the same taxes on income as any other businessman. He has expenses, losses and income, and there are a lot of ways to handle all this. Income isn't counted until you cash out. Losses can be deducted from other income. Money placed in an online site is sort of like money placed in stocks; at the end of the year, you count what you cashed out as income, what you put in as investments, and pay tax at standard rates on the difference. Rake could well be deductible as a business expense. It may even be handled as capital gains rather than straight income.

All this requires some serious record keeping, but in a legal environment, the poker sites would likely be required to provide a 10XX form to total all these things for you. Lots of guys that are making big money from poker are already doing a lot of this themselves.

I know the taxes thing sounds pretty scary, but if you get a good tax accountant, and they don't really cost that much, it really won't be bad at all, IMHO. Given that you might double your income from the softer field of players in that environment, it is a net gain for the great players out there. I hope a lot of them are here.

If there are any tax accountants out here, I am quite ready to be told I am wrong, but this is my understanding. Where is Greg Raymer when you need him?