Real Life Challenge

[Onaflag]

I don't know where to post this nor do I know if anyone even cares to read another stupid challenge. This one will affect my lifestyle and I'm kind of scared.

The Reason: The IRS claims I owe them $5000 from previous years. Whether I think I do or not (I don't think I do) my employer has no choice but to withhold a certain amount each paycheck. This will be around $800 a month. It is an uncomfortable amount and I want to make it up by playing poker "full-time".

I have a bankroll that I play live 3/6 with. Sometimes I play 6/12, but I don't think I should during this challenge. We'll see how that goes.

I work 40 hours a week and pass by the cardroom on my 5 minute commute home. It's a small 3/6 type cardroom. Typical SSH.

My goal is to get as close to the $800 a week as possible. I figure I can play between 6-11pm weeknights (20 hours) and another 20 hours combining Fri, Sat, and Sun afternoons for a total of 40 hours each week.

At 2.5BB/HR, I'd make $600 a week. Can 2.5 be achieved? According to the experts, no. This is what we'll find out. How good of a player am I at typical SSH 3/6 and what kind of winrate can be achieved over a period of several months?

I really have no choice but to do this. My BR is too small to contribute to the IRS crap and too small to make much of a difference in the long run on the financial pain I'm about to suffer. If I lose my entire BR, I'll stop and disclose what it was I started with. Until then, it is my secret. (It's not 300BB)

I will still goof around with my online BR, but I will not be playing 3/6 online. I have problems with online play (distractions) and will not be trying to achieve my goal by playing online. I'm not a very good multi-tabler and 3/6 online intimidates me. Funny how 6/12 live is still in my comfort zone but 3/6 online isn't. But that's another thread.

I will post an update every Sunday evening unless I get overly flamed for this challenge.

Why am I posting this? I am NOT a professional poker player. I think there are some people here like me who have full time jobs, yet play poker on the side who might want to know what "one of us" can accomplish 40 hours a week at 3/6 B&M.

Tomorrow is Thursday. I'll update Sunday for this short week.

Let the fun begin!

Onaflag..........

good luck brotha

[inanevoyage]

One question. Is this money from non-payment of gambling taxes from playing online?

I'm scared to death that will creep up on me.

[nate1729]

Do you have a wife/family?

[SuperflyMD]

update?

[Onaflag]

I just got home, earlier than expected. My daughter called my cell phone. Locked out of the house. Both her and my wife forgot their keys. Crap. I was just getting in a groove.

First, yes, I have a family. No, the IRS problems are not from gambling taxes. I used to do a lot of 1099 work and they claim I have unreported income from some of those jobs. I have long since stopped side work like that, but am positive I reported everything correctly.

Like I said in the OP, the hit will be uncomfortable, but certainly no real hardship. I make very very good money at my 9-5er and have always considered my BR reloadable if need be. This challenge is to see if I can take an underfunded BR and both a) not go broke, and b) make up for what will be taken from my paychecks.

Okay, I started this thing Thursday so this is a short first week.

Total Hours = 26
Total BB = -33

Yep, I'm down $200 so far. I'm sure I could have come close to breaking even had I not been called home tonight. Table was nuts. I just had to score a couple pots and the week would've ended okay.

Thursday night, wouldn't you know, was the single biggest loss in my poker life and the first night of this challenge. I went through 4 racks before giving up. I've never done that before. Card dead, flop dead, and snap city about sums it up. Some call it variance. It came at a bad time. The fourth and final rack was lost to tilt and when I realized what was happening, I got up and left.

Friday night got my spirits up again. Although I finished even, it was up down up down up down all night.

Saturday night was great. Tables were loose/passive which allowed me to score $260.

Today, I dropped $60. Sunday is normally one of my most profitable days, but things got off on the wrong foot. It almost deserves a thread of its own, but basically, there's a $60 tourney locally that I DO NOT play in. I play cash for an hour prior to the tourney (doors open one hour before the start of the tourney, I dropped $20), then wait for the first people to bust out and sit at the first cash game that starts up with all of these busted out, on tilt, tourney losers.

During the break, my name got erased from the list, and when I noticed, it was too late. I stormed out, all pissed off at the floor, and drove 20 minutes to the next nearest card room. An hour there, down a normal $40 so far, starting to get good reads on the players, and my daughter calls. Oh well. Tomorrow starts another week.

My BR is dented, but survives week 1. This is kind of fun. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

Onaflag...........

[nervous]

Why don't you try playing online?

[Onaflag]

I do play online. The truth is, I don't like it as much as B&M. I'm an IT Manager and around computers day and night, have been most of my adult life. I drink when I play online. That's bad. I don't drink at the cardrooms. TV. Wife. Daughter. Internet. E-mail. Kitchen. This forum.

You have to be very focused to succeed online. I am not that focused. I am a winner online, but that is only because I remain at 2/4 and under and $11 sngs. Bump me up to 5/10 and watch my BR go in the toilet. Play 6/12 B&M and watch me win. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

Onaflag...........

PS. An online winner has electronic papertrails whereas a B&M grinder does not. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[pecto]

What about bonus whoring? You can make 800 $ / month between bonus +rakeback at 2/4.

[AaronBrown]

You might have better EV challenging the IRS. Employers often make 1099 errors, with smaller employers they are not all accidental. Also, if you did forget some income, you may have some expenses to go along with it. Did you ever subcontract work? That can cause a lot of problems.

Remember, the IRS's job is to collect money. If they get a 1099 from someone, and don't see a duplicate attached to your return, they're not going to ask a lot of questions like "which one is right?" or "maybe this income was reported as wage income?" or "is this the right social security number?" They'll just send you a bill and think about it if you complain.

Playing with the IRS is less fun than playing Poker, but you're playing with their $5,000 at this point, you've got nothing to lose.

Of course, if you've already done that, never mind.

[SuperflyMD]

Any updates?

[Onaflag]

[ QUOTE ]
Any updates?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. I didn't think anyone was interested. I'll update tomorrow. I'm too tired right now.

Onaflag............

[Jalapeno]

I agree. My 1099s from 3 years ago were in disarray and the IRS claimed I owed them over $10K. The EA I talked to said that the IRS does things like this even when they know it's likely that they're wrong or a little bit of investigation on their part would clear up the matter. They just want to do zero work in resolving any perceived accounting discrepancy, so they reflexively throw it back over the fence to you. The EA wrote to the IRS on my behalf. The letter was straightforward, so initially the EA was instructing me how to write it myself. I didn't want the burden of another potential screwup, so I paid him additional to write it instead. It took a second letter and a phone call, but only because the IRS worker bee handling this case was dense.

800 a week? Lets see that's about 80hr at $10 per hour... never mind your screwed.

hahaha. You can't make this much bonus whoring and rakebacking at 2-4. hahaha

[cardcounter0]

[ QUOTE ]
The Reason: The IRS claims I owe them $5000 from previous years. Whether I think I do or not (I don't think I do) my employer has no choice but to withhold a certain amount each paycheck.

[/ QUOTE ]

You have been elected to reply to all the "why should I pay taxes on my poker winnings" type posts and all their various relatives of "how will the IRS know about my credit card transactions", "can my neteller account be traced", etc.
/images/graemlins/grin.gif

get a good accountant.