Best Place to Live To Play Poker

[Cactus Cactus]

For the tax year of 2006 I am going to go out of the country and take advantage of the 80K tax free. I have traveled extensively to Latin America and throughout Europe. Several places within these continents suit my taste however what I have noticed are that the games are the best from say 8PM - 3PM EST. What I would like is for my work schedule to be from 7AM - say 7PM. So if I want to play in "the best games" that would bring me somewhere in Asia / Australia. I have never been to this area, but I have been looking? Anyone have any suggestions???

[gila]

Do you want a roommate?

[Cactus Cactus]

roomate...possibly

[Brainwalter]

What 80K tax free?

[Cactus Cactus]

if you live out of the united states for 330 days or something like that you can get 80K tax free

[MicroBob]

I have no direct knowledge of this....but I thought I read that it was only 6 months out of the country to get the first 80k tax-free.
There are other issues to consider however (someone mentioned having to pay more in taxes than what he saved to the country he was in...or something like that....don't remember).

I would consult with a GOOD tax professional (as opposed to one of the lousy ones) before doing something like this.

And when you get it all figured out and get your pad set-up down-under or wherever then take me with you!!

[DarkForceRising]

I just read an article in National Geographic Traveler on "going it alone" and Austailia was the #1 recommendation. They suggested the Queensland region- laid back, friendly and they love Americans.

I hate you. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[David Ottosen]

I believe the 80K exemption applies only to earned income.

[Cactus Cactus]

Getting back to what micro bob said- so you only have to be out for 6 months, damn I think I might just catch a plane tomorrow, I've been out of the country for about 1 month. If I am out the rest that will work out perfect

[PapaSan]

I think you are looking at this through the wrong perspective choose the place that offers the most activities that you enjoy instead of the place that fits your "timezone" for poker. I moved from toronto to whistler so i could snowboard everyday and play poker at night i then moved to costa rica so i could nail latina hotties and play poker at night. Good luck wherever you go you will have a blast.

[djshawk]

Dude this is exactly what I want to do. I did a season in whistler season before last but this was pre poker. Now I'm back in the UK so your primetime is my sleep time, which sucks. Work sucks and so I've been thinking about heading back to Whistler and playing poker at night.

What did you do for accomodation etc? Is sorting out broadband etc easy? Want to do another season? /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[d1sterbd]

Matthew Hilger mentions this subject in Internet Texas Hold'em. There are definite tax benefits in living outside the US.

If I was playing full time, I would think it to be a no brainer to go somewhere else. I would pick somewhere that does not tax gambling, is warm, is near a casino, and has lower cost of living.

[PapaSan]

I'm heading back to whistler for the winter, i miss the riding too much. There's 2 isp options telus adsl or the local cable company whooshnet 35$ and 50$ the adsl is more stable. If you're planning to go there u should go in august or september or else u wont be able to find a decent place to rent at a good price.

[dink]

North Queensland, Australia.

is the best place in the world to live

laid back and relaxed, middle of winter and it is 25 celcius during the day.Still swim at the beach 5 mins walk away.

Watch out for the crocs, spiders and snakes.....

and we even have that internet thingy

dink

[Jack Fate]

if you are thinking asia, i would consider thailand. low cost of living and lots of hot girls.

[TylerD]

isn't it illegal to gamble in thailand?

[Granite]

I wouldn't suggest Australia for the whole year, as you would only have a tourist visa, and that would mean leaving the country every 3 months. I guess it wouldn't be a big deal to skip over to New Zealand or into Asia every few months.

Townsville is nice for the dry season, but the wet season is hell.

I would be thinking for quality of living with your poker earnings somewhere like Vietnam. You could live like a king there.

Regards,
Granite.

[TStoneMBD]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you want a roommate?

[/ QUOTE ]

count me in /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[dink]

What do you mean wet season?

we don't have a wet season, Townsville is a very dry place for Tropical north Queensland, not like cairns or Tully.

It does get bloody hot though in the summer,

I wasn;t suggesting living here I was just bragging about beautiful NQ

[Granite]

Fair enough, never been to Townsville that time of year, I assumed it was as bad as Cairns. I lived in Broome for 7 years, and it had a nasty wet season. Definitely something to avoid =)

My bad.

[Folding Pete]

I moved to Thailand to play poker for six months. I start playing about 8.00am (9.00pm Est) and play until 2.00pm (3.00am Est) maybe a bit later at weekends.

This is a vast improvement from at home where I would start at 10.00pm and play until 4.00am+.

The cost of living is very cheap in Thailand (though high quality accomodation is not as cheap as everything else). It is hot all year round (day and night) and has beautiful beaches. The people are very friendly and for foreigners it is quite safe. Cheap flights internally and to other parts of Asia.

Gambling is illegal in Thailand as I believe Internet gambling is in the US. However a lot of things are illegal here that are below the sight of the police. The risk of playing internet poker in a private place is very low (plocal police wouldn't understand what you were doing). If you are gambling in reality then there is a risk but goes on behind close doors or when there are funerals.

You can get consecutive 2 month visas in your home country and just do a border run (or take a short holiday - I'm just back from Angor Wat in Cambodia) every 2 months.

I was in Queensland last year so I would agree with those sentiments. Maybe next year I'll do just that spend a few months there playing but New Zealand does kick ass big time too. (And I still have to get to Egypt!).

Always be folding

[r3vbr]

Come here to Brazil, it's nice.

Also, check out islands on the carribean, would be so good to play poker from the laptop at the oceanside (every pokerplayer's dream)

[augie00]

hey, why don't you not be a jerkface and pay your taxes

[Nigel]

You guys are chasing a pipe dream. The 80k exemption is on earned income, gambling winnings are considered unearned income by the IRS. So you are SOL.

Either way you are going to be filing fraudulent tax returns, you might as well skip the airfare and just do it here from the comfort of your own home.

Alternatively, I would just advise paying your taxes in full.

Nigel

[sumdumguy]

Is the cost of living much lower in Brazil?
Which city(ies) would you recommend?

[MicroBob]

I think you are forgetting about those who file as a 'professional gambler' because they are playing full-time with the intention of making an income.

This is filing a Schedule C like any other small-business owner would do.

This is VERY different from some grandma who wins $80k on a couple of slot-machine pulls.


This thread shows why it is a good idea to consult a professional about this stuff.

Hopefully you can get someone who can help you out in figuring what you need to do in the other countries too (as far as occasionally leaving and coming back...what taxes you might owe over there, etc).

[Nigel]

I don't think the IRS is going to allow to you claim your professional internet gambling income as "foreign earned income", since it's the exact same income you are earning here in the United States.

Furthermore, there are no services being rendered overseas in exchange for this income. The whole thing was set-up so you don't have to pay taxes twice, and that's only on the first 80k, after that they don't even care. They'll double tax you.

I have a hard time believing they are going to allow Internet gamblers a free ride on 80k, just because they decide to sit on a beach in Phuket for 11 months out of the year.

This seems like a 1 way ticket to some serious IRS penalties.

Nigel

[Nigel]

And yes, what you said. Hire a professional.

But my guess is 1% of us are paying our taxes.

Nigel

[MicroBob]

seems to work okay for others...including hilger i believe.


it's something i may consier doing at some point but i would look to an expert first.

[MicroBob]

You mean 1% of poker-players around 2+2?

I doubt it. We've had about a zillion thread about this and it seems there are plenty of players around here who realize that the extra money they are making would be too easy to detect and that they better pay SOMETHING on it to avoid IRS scrutiny (or at least try to avoid it).


This was my 2nd year paying taxes on gambling income and my first filing as a 'professional'.

Actually, come to think of it, I'm a couple days late paying my estimated quarterly taxes too. Crap....gotta go write a check.

[Nigel]

You know of 2+2er's who are sucessfully claiming the 80k deduction overseas and that someone from the IRS has checked off on this? (you can file anything, doesn't mean it won't come back to bite you)

I'd love to do this myself but can't see how it would legally work. If you read the IRS info on their website the whole thing is structured to make it so that people can't just live overseas for the tax break alone, which is exactly what people would be trying to do here.

I'd really like to be wrong on this. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Nigel

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
people can't just live overseas for the tax break alone

[/ QUOTE ]



Amazingly, some people might actually enjoy living in Aruba or Japan or Argentina or somewhere too.


The tax-break would be pretty cool. But I would very seriously consider doing this even without the tax-break.

So I'm certainly not one that would be doing it just to save on the taxes.
I am AWARE that I MIGHT save on taxes though.

Should still save plenty on general living expesnes in most places anyway.



One of the great things about this 'job' is its portability and I don't think it's such a crime to have some kind of interest in taking advantage of that.

[johnnymac]

LOL, I was wondering how long it would take the 'pay your taxes' police to arrive at this thread.

Joe

[EStreet20]

One of my college roommates spent a semester on the gold coast in Australia, said it was amazing. I'd probably just pick Belgium or Germany, best beers in the world.

Good luck,
Matrt

[dink]

No drama's Granite,

I was just joking with you, although T'ville is much drier than cairns.


As for the other poster, belgium does have the best beers in the world. mmmmmmmmmmmmm BEEEEEEERRRRRRR

[spydog]

FWIW, I am a US citizen living in Ireland. You only receive the 80k tax credit on earned income. Unfortunately, your poker income is considered unearned (much like interest and dividends) and you are obligated to pay tax on that income. Sorry to burst your bubbles.

Now...back to that Rochefort I was drinking.....yummmmy.

[r3vbr]

Cost of living here is MUCH lower. Minimum wage is like 90$/month here. With 3$ you can buy a meal. And let's say if you want to rent a good apartment it'll cost you like 400$/month. Best cities are the ones by the beach... Avoid São Paulo because its got pollution and crime. Rio is nice.

[kantu]

bali is super inexpensive, great weather, good food.
thailand is probably the most western friendly (lots english spoken) and is inexpensive too.