Another Tax Thread on Online Winnings

[Prickly Pete]

Ok, I've been digging through info online and threads here and am comfortable with the fact that I need to file my online winnings as other income (since I also have a full-time job and won't file using Schedule C). And my losses are itemized deductions.

My main question is how people deal with defining a "session" online. According to a Cardplayer (I believe) article I read, poker sessions should be each table you play. So, for example if I play mostly $33 SNGs online, a a 4th or lower is a losing session of $-33. And a win is a winning session of $117 and so forth.

Doing it this way over a full year (only have about 6 mos this year), could possibly yield huge numbers for my AGI (adjusted gross income) as well as huge Itemized Deductions. And large amounts for Itemized Deductions is a red flag for the IRS. Furthermore, I found that at levels of AGI above $139,500, your itemized deductions are reduced by 3%.

And that AGI may be easier to hit than you think. So if you had $100,000 of income plus $100,000 in poker winnings and $70,000 in poker losses, you'd have to exclude $1,815 in losses.

So, for those of you who have done this before and/or know what you're doing, could you give me some insight here? I want to do things the right way, but the most advantageous right way. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]