Taxes on Poker Income

[ajizzle]

I dont know anything much about taxes, and want to get an idea of what to expect when I get in touch with a cpa about filing then for 2007. Also, I suspect that people on 2p2 will have some more creative ways around the tax laws than your average cpa, which is why i'm coming here for advice first.

My salary is $34k per yr. At this rate, I will make about $6k playing poker. What are the tax implications of my poker income?

1) Can I contirbute my poker income into a tax-deferred retirement plan so that i only pay regular income tax on it when I take a distribution during my retirement?

2) Am i liable to be taxed on everything I make playing poker in 2007, or just the amount that I withdraw from my poker accounts. ie, like with stocks, is it considered an unrealized gain if i dont withdraw it from the poker account.

3) Are my poker earnings taxed as regular income, or at a much higher clip? Is there any way to get around this if it is taxed at a higher rate?

Thanks in advance.