Poker winnings tax free..?

dl8860

dl8860

dl8860

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Just thought about this earlier today.. Do people who are professional poker players, (I mean the sort of guys who are good enough to just sit at their computer all day and make enough to live off) pay absolutely zero tax?
And would be eligible for the dole also? Due to the money they make technically being 'winnings' rather than income?

Sounds a rather attractive career proposition..
 
In the UK yes, winnings from "gambling" are tax free. Different laws for different countrys. I dont play professional but make a fair amount, all of it's tax free and I've never been questioned on it. In the UK it is just seen as gambling which has 0% tax on winnings :)
 
VTR said:
In the UK yes, winnings from "gambling" are tax free. Different laws for different countrys. I dont play professional but make a fair amount, all of it's tax free and I've never been questioned on it. In the UK it is just seen as gambling which has 0% tax on winnings :)
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Do you mind if I ask what sort of games do you play? Any how much do you make in a month?
 
dl8860 said:
Do you mind if I ask what sort of games do you play? Any how much do you make in a month?
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£15/hour average multitabling 25NL.

Regulary £1k a month up untill recently where I just haven't had the time due to other commitments.
 
if you have a lot of patience, and not even particularly advanced skills, then multi-tabling on nl cash games of around £30-50 can be fairly rewarding.
I've not done it regularly, but have played where i've put £100 in and 2 months later withdrawn 1k, just through grinding cash games. done it a few times now.
I always get to a tipping point though, where i literally can't stand to look at another poker table for a while and get completely disinterested in poker for weeks or even months.

btw. i play almost exclusively on ladbrokes, as they have the best banking system by far.
 
Pighardia said:
if you have a lot of patience, and not even particularly advanced skills, then multi-tabling on nl cash games of around £30-50 can be fairly rewarding.
I've not done it regularly, but have played where i've put £100 in and 2 months later withdrawn 1k, just through grinding cash games. done it a few times now.
I always get to a tipping point though, where i literally can't stand to look at another poker table for a while and get completely disinterested in poker for weeks or even months.

btw. i play almost exclusively on ladbrokes, as they have the best banking system by far.
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Do you mind divulging what you mean by 'just through grinding cash games' please mate?
 
sit there for hours, with 4-5 tables going, only play premium hands. Hell of a lot of folding.

the way that i do it is, i start with, say £50, then grind 'til i reach £75, then close that table, and open another one with £50. Some people would see this as not a good strategy, as it's best to get used to a table and the players, which i would say is true, but you're kidding yourself if you think you can read players online:)

not really going to make serious money that way, especially as it can get frustrating, just sitting there folding, but it's allowed me to withdraw some handy money recently. Allowed me to build my new system a few months ago.

btw my concentration has completely gone, when it comes to poker in the last month, only been playing tourneys recently,for faster play.
 
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Pighardia said:
sit there for hours, with 4-5 tables going, only play premium hands. Hell of a lot of folding.

the way that i do it is, i start with, say £50, then grind 'til i reach £75, then close that table, and open another one with £50. Some people would see this as not a good strategy, as it's best to get used to a table and the players, which i would say is true, but you're kidding yourself if you think you can read players online:)

not really going to make serious money that way, especially as it can get frustrating, just sitting there folding, but it's allowed me to withdraw some handy money recently. Allowed me to build my new system a few months ago.

btw my concentration has completely gone, when it comes to poker in the last month, only been playing tourneys recently,for faster play.
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Thats always been my biggest problem...concentration! Live play Im fine, plenty to keep me interested...online, I just bore myself to death.

So out of curiousity, what are the premium hands you would play?
 
Aces to queens. Other pocket pairs if its cheap to get in, but fold to overcards, depending on circumstance. AK to aj if its cheap enough. But not going any further if don't hit.
I don't actually tend to play position in that sort of game though. But I change tables a lot. So dont get to know players. But they don't get to onow me either!
I do get bored, so tend to play tournaments a bit more now, where I play very aggressively. I don't aleays play like that in cash games though. Only when I'm really grinding for cash.
 
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I find it's concentration that lets me down in the big tourneys. Played one a few months ago and had been playing for 11 hours with 5 minutes breaks every hour and it was 4am in the morning. I then out of frustration/boredom/lack of attention played a stupid move and lost all my chips. Only won about $1500 when I really should have won at least $5000 with the size of my chip stack and the number of players left.

The worst one was when I went out in 11th place when I was 3rd highest chip leader and the prizes worth $10,000 each were paid to 10th place. Why I was even considering going all in against the chip leader is beyond me when I am pretty sure I could have gone to bed and one of the other 10 players would have gone out first. I hadn't even spotted we were only one player away from everybody winning until it told me I had come 11th :(

Sometimes when you are folding hand after hand for a long time I end up playing hands I really shouldn't be.:(
 
sometimes when you see poker on tv, i think it is kind of a trick.
People see all the 'action' hands, so newish players have unrealistic expectations of how to play, they think that you can turn up at a cash game/tournament and just attack from the off, and the pro's that have been shown on tv, actually play tight and dominate them;)

And as for getting bored when going deep in a tourney, we've all done it:)

Paid £20 entry once, around 500 players, got to last 6-7, was in line for £250 for 7th but i'd been playing for so long, that tbh i just wanted it to end:D so started playing very aggressively(stupidly agressively) and they just waited it out whilst i was imploding:o
if i'd kept concentration, i could have won that

And stamina really does play a big part too
 
I've been playing the full tilt mutli table rush tourneys. When you quickfold a hand you're moved to a new table instantly with new people and given a new hand. Blinds are essentially decided by who quickfolds the most. I have had mixed sucess on these, average entrants are 300-350ish, and I've made final table twice winning about $50 overall ($1.10 buyin), but you need a big bankroll due to variance ****ing you over because donks shove any ace high hand and hit trips or something ridiculous.

Early on you just quick fold until you get a monster hand and get a double up because morons with shove anything. But as the blinds rise you need to play more aggressive with more hands, and blind steal when in position. I love these tourneys but, the variance is horrible. Last session I played I didn't make the money. I lost AA to 22, he hit his trips on flop. Lost KK to QQ, hit his trips, and lost AA to some nub who shoved with a **** hand and hit a straight on the river.
 
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