Page 6 - January 2008 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Bill Burton: About Gambling
CAasino Player Goals for the New Year
t the beginning of each new year, I sit down and re ect on the past year and make plans for the year to come. Many people make New Year’s resolutions, but I prefer to set goals. Resolutions are usually aimed at correcting some sort of negative behavior. On the other
hand, goals help to work toward a result that will have a positive outcome. It has been proven that resolutions usually fall by the wayside within a month or two because of dwelling on the negative. You are more likely to stick with and accomplish a goal because you are focusing on the positive instead of the negative.
is is the reason people end up using money that is needed for other expenses to play at the casino because they did not plan ahead.
Keeping a Logbook
It is important to keep a gambling log of your wins and losses for tax purposes. e IRS requires casinos to report any wins of $1,200 and over on slot and video poker machines and other games such as keno, lottery or horse racing. When you have a win equal to or greater than $1,200, you will be issued a W-2G form. A copy of the W-2G goes to the IRS and you are required to list these winnings when ling your income taxes. e IRS allows you to deduct gambling losses up to the amount of your winnings. You can only do this if you have documentation of your losses. Keeping a diary or logbook, is the way to do this.
It’s easy to start a log at the beginning of a new year, so January 1st is the day to start yours.
is may be the year you hit a big jackpot and a logbook will help you at tax time.
A proper log should contain the following:
1) e type of game and serial number of the
machine you played.
2) e date and location where you played.
3) Your wins and losses for each session or game. 4) Additional evidence of gambling activities.
Start your logbook today and set your goal to ll it out each time you visit the casino. When you hit that jackpot this year you will be glad you did.
I would like to wish you a very happy and healthy New Year. No matter what games you play in the casino, I hope you have fun!
Until next time, remember: “Luck comes and goes... Knowledge Stays Forever.”
Bill Burton is the Casino Gambling Guide and columnist for the Internet portal About.com, located at http://casinogambling.about.com. He is the author of 1000 Best Casino Gambling Secrets and Get the Edge at Low Limit Texas Hold’em available online at www.billburton.com. He is also an instructor for Golden Touch Craps, http://www.thecrapsclub.com.
e beginning of the year is the best time to set goals that will help you control your cash for your upcoming casino visits. Two goals you may want to set for this year are for building a gambling bankroll and for keeping a logbook of all your gambling activities throughout the year.
Building a Gambling Bankroll
Many of us have 401k retirement accounts and have money taken directly
I suggest you open a savings account at a bank across town where you do not have any other accounts. is way it will not be convenient to make a withdrawal on the spur of the moment. Once you open the account, all you have to do is set an amount to be directly deposited into this account each week. You will be surprised how quickly the account will grow. I have maintained a separate account for gambling, my 401g, for many years now. All the money I win
in the casino goes back into this account, and as it has grown, it has allowed me to move up in the limits that I play.
You Can Afford It
When I suggest opening a separate gambling account to players and have money directly deposited into it, I usually get the same response, “I can’t a ord to do it. I already have enough money taken out of my paycheck.”
I disagree! If you know you will go to the casino during the year, why wait until the day you are actually going to try to
nd enough money to bring with you. It is better to plan ahead and have a few dollars set aside each week than to try to come up with an amount on short notice.
out of our paychecks and deposited into our 401ks. is is a painless way to save as we never actually have the money in our hands. If we had to physically take money to the bank and deposit it in an account, chances are the full amount would not always get there because of
“I suggest you open a savings account at a bank across town where you do not have any other accounts. This way it will not be convenient to make a withdrawal on the spur of the moment. Once you open the
However, with the money
some unexpected expenses. account, all you have to do is
taken out of our checks, we do not really miss it as we never see it. We also remove the temptation do other things with the money.
Many people get paid by
having their company direct
deposit their pay checks
into their bank accounts. If your company does this, you can easily set up a “401g” and make automatic deposits into your special account. at is what I did.
set an amount to be directly deposited into this account each week. You will be surprised how
quickly the account will grow.”
Page 6
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
January 2008
About Gambling with Bill Burton