Live in Seattle and play online poker?

runningirl07 · #1 07-29-2007, 07:53 PM

Just curious if there are any professional poker players out there who live in any of the "banned states"? I'm thinking of moving to Seattle but was just curious if it's even posssible with this "job." Any information is very much appreciated!

Jimmy James · #2 07-29-2007, 10:09 PM

I don't live in Seattle, but I always see a ton of people are Stars with Seattle as the city they live in. So I'd say the law is not enforced just by the looks of that...

TomVeil · #3 07-29-2007, 10:15 PM

I live in Washington and play all the time. They've never enforced anything at all, to my knowledge. In fact, the state is actually getting sued based on their law. I wouldn't worry about it.

TheMathProf · #4 07-29-2007, 11:14 PM

With Lee Watkinson making the final table of the main event, and supposedly earning his seat on Full Tilt, I would venture that if he's not going to get hit, no one will (he's from WA according to ESPN).

jackflashdrive · #5 07-30-2007, 05:29 PM

When the law was passed, authorities said point-blank they had no intention of going after individual online poker players.

Only legal issues individual online players need to worry about -- in all 50 states no less -- are tax issues. The IRS has said that they regard online wagering to be a tax evasion scheme.

gringo · #6 07-30-2007, 06:20 PM

As a layman, I try to keep up with the legistlation and tax issues for online poker, and have never heard or read what you claimed "The IRS has said that they regard online wagering to be a tax evasion scheme."

If you have that in writing, can you furnish it please?

jackflashdrive · #7 07-30-2007, 06:32 PM

[ QUOTE ]
As a layman, I try to keep up with the legistlation and tax issues for online poker, and have never heard or read what you claimed "The IRS has said that they regard online wagering to be a tax evasion scheme."

This is something that my accountant (who specializes in gambling) told me a few months ago when he did my taxes. I believe that tcan probably be found in their internal documents, which may or may not be accessible via the web.

If you have that in writing, can you furnish it please?

[/ QUOTE ]

My accountant (who specializes in gambling law and is an enrolled agent with IRS) told me this a few months ago when he did my taxes.

yahboohoo · #8 07-30-2007, 08:19 PM

I live in Seattle. I play online poker daily. No individuals have been arrested or charged. In fact, I don't think anyone's been charged (except maybe that website reviewer, which was total BS). Our state legislature passed a rhetorical law to appease their Native Indian campaign donors.

[ QUOTE ]
"The IRS has said that they regard online wagering to be a tax evasion scheme."

[/ QUOTE ]
Online poker = "a tax evasion scheme???" That makes no sense at all. A scheme is a ploy. In this case, it would mean someone invented online poker as a ruse devised to screw the tax man. Online poker might be rife with tax cheats, but to classify the whole industry as a "scheme?" Phhbbbt... That's like saying tipping in restaurants is a "tax evasion scheme."

fnurt · #9 07-30-2007, 09:14 PM

The basic point is that if you keep money in an offshore bank account, and you only claim the profits in the account as income if and when you transfer them into a US bank account, that's pretty classic tax evasion. People understand this point if they have an account in the Cayman Islands, but somehow, they think it's different if the account in question is hosted at an online poker site.

Whether you really have income at each and every online poker session is a question more metaphysical than I care to get into. But if you run your PokerStars account up to $50,000, and you decide not to withdraw the funds into your bank account until after January 1 so you don't have to claim the income until next year's taxes, yeah, that's tax evasion. The money is income when you earn it, not when you move it from one account to another.

jeffman · #10 07-31-2007, 10:14 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I live in Seattle. I play online poker daily. No individuals have been arrested or charged. In fact, I don't think anyone's been charged ( except maybe that website reviewer, which was total BS ). Our state legislature passed a rhetorical law to appease their Native Indian campaign donors.

[/ QUOTE ]

could you give any more details about that