Why we don't have to pay taxes ...

It's my first post, so hello everyone; great forum with terrific info!

Anyhow, take this for what it's worth, but a friend who works for the IRS (he actually audits people) told me that I shouldn't worry about claiming taxes on my internet winnings. He said that they don't worry about 'that stuff' yet ... this is when I was around the 10-20K mark in overall profit, now I'm a little over 30K and quickly increasing as I have just moved up stakes.

I know there will be those who respond and say that it is wrong not to pay taxes or that I am incriminating myself by posting this (if the IRS really wants to track me down off a message board, so be it. I'd hope they'd have more important fish to fry).

The tips given were to keep the money in a non-interest baring account (that way the IRS can't track the money) ... no savings accounts, CDs, mutual funds, etc. .... also he said to keep the cash outs under 1K each and don't have anything too large that will draw attention to it.

With my increase in limits (playing as high as 30/60 limit and $50 sitNgos) and increased time playing (I just graduated college and have a part-time job in my 'college profession' as a writer/journalist) leaving me to play an insane 10 or more hours to play each day for the last month, I expect to be in the six-figures range by tax time.

I'm at a crossroads myself if it is right to claim or not. Right now I'm thinking to just save it all (I have it all in a checking account right now) and use it for a huge downpayment in a year or so when I will be looking to buy a house. I think this whole tax discussion is very interesting and I've talked to several people who have polar-opposite opinions on this, so anyone who wants to give their two cents is appreciated.

There are those who have told me they claim all of their live winnings, but have never claimed any online profits and never will. But some on this board feel it is a deadly sin not to claim every cent won everywhere.

I think the best, and funniest, point I heard on here was that it's funny how the IRS would tax winnings to something illegal; are they going to start taxing drug dealers next?