Awful WSOP news from PokerStars

[broiler]

I think that you are misunderstanding my interpretation of driller's statement.

A person that gets into a tournament via satellite will have a larger taxable income for the entire tournament process than a person that buys in directly. They will both win 90k for the tournament proper, but the satellite person also has the income from the satellite win. We have no idea where the person that bought in directly got their money from, so it is not being considered a part of the tournament process.

I didn't want to get into your magic ticket point from the prior year because that point has been incorrect throughout this thread. In the past, the WSOP entry had no taxable value if it was a non-transferable, non-refundable seat. There is no taxable event (constructive receipt if you like) when you must cash in the event in order to get anything of value.

I agree with your statement that in the current situation there is a taxable event when you receive the 10k cash to enter the tournament and then another taxable event when you eventually cash in the tournament.