poker taxes

[theBruiser500]

I need to start paying taxes on poker and am utterly lost. I have absolutely no idea how taxes work. For instance, someone said something to me about paying estimated taxes on a quarterly basis, but I just called a tax person very briefly and they seemed to say I just pay yearly. Or, I pay for my college, can I get tax deductions for that. Or, I lost 2k flipping a coin with my friends, lost 4k in bad loans, are these tax deductible things?

Could anyone recommend some good books to me on the subject? Thanks.