How do taxes work for an American living abroad?

[geormiet]

I'm an American, pretty new full time poker player, living in California. 2005 was the first year that I ever paid taxes (on poker winnings or otherwise) and needless to say, it was a bit of a punch in the gut.

Moving to a different location is not out of the question for me, and I was wondering if someone might give me a simple explanation of how taxes would work if I were to live abroad.

I've heard that if you live out of the country, you don't pay taxes on your first 80k of income. Is it this simple?

Also, can an American simply move to, say, Canada or New Zealand and maintain residence as a non-citizen there indefinitely?