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Keeping Casino Logbooks

If you're a serious player or gambler, it is important to keep itemized logs of daily amounts lost and won at the slot machines so that if you do win a jackpot, you can offset the jackpot total against all the losses it took to get you there. Dates, times and places are important to include in these journals. Keeping the names of any employees or witnesses who are able to verify your losses may be helpful. All of this may seem a lot of work, but when forced to deal with the Internal Revenue Service, your records can never be too detailed.

A simple way to tally or record daily wins and losses is to carry a small notebook, diary or journal. This will make it easy for you to jot or write down information as you play. If someone is playing with you, both of you may want to take turns recording necessary information. All transactions or events should be accounted for during or after each gambling session. The more verification you have of loss deductions, the more substantial and acceptable your loss claims will be.

Even if you're only playing casually, it may be wise to keep at least an informal record, as you never know when you might hit the jackpot. It will also let you know, in black and white, how you have done at the machines.

Sometimes the IRS demands additional evidence for gambling losses. These might include airline tickets, hotel bills, gas receipts or signed documents from witnesses who are able to verify your losses. Witnesses could be other players, the change person, slots host or casino supervisor. All of the time put into this documentation process will be well worth it if you hit some sweet ones or big payoffs.

Slots club players may also get loss documentation from the casinos. Their sophisticated tracking systems keep tally of everything, hours played, amount of coins bet, wins and losses, coin denominations, all for the purpose of tracking your action and giving you comps for your good play. If you nail a jackpot or two, this documentation is indisputable evidence for your claims.

I remind you again that you will need to seek competent tax advice from a professional should you hit some big wins, and especially if you hit a monster jackpot. But these aren't the worst worries in the world to have, figuring out all the ways to minimize your tax burden from a multimillion-dollar jackpot.

You best take it easy on a tropical beach for a few months before you tackle the serious implications of that one.