For those of you who bet football...

[Costa Rican Gopher]

CRG's shameless plug for the year:

For those of you that plan to bet football this year....Make sure it's with www.Bookmaker.com. In business since 1986 it was the first offshore sportsbook and has 23 years of paying their customers promptly. Bookmaker.com is where Las Vegas go's to for their lines.

Bet Football, Baseball, Baskets, Hockey, MMA, Horse Racing, Casino, Poker, Bingo, Online office pools, you name it they've got it. Bet as little as $1 online or as much as $100,000 over the phone.

Sign up and use Promo Code: KO2008 to receive a 25% bonus + Free $25 Future Bet (Odds to win NCAA Champ, odds to win the Super Bowl, etc) + Free entry to Poker Tourney + Free Entry to Blackjack Tourney.. Use your Visa or Mastercard, or send Western Union/MoneyGram/Moneybookers. Bank wires available for larger deposits.

www.bookmaker.com
Promo Code: KO2008

 

[The Big L]

Just curious...how prompt are the customers (say someone in Minnesota) paid?

 

[Donovan]

Stupid question, is this legal? If yes, I'll probably do a parlay card a week for fun. If it's illegal or "questionable," I'll probably skip it, I'm paranoid of big brother.

 

[Alan Shore]

Costa Rican,

Is there a payout fee?

 

[froggopher]

Offshore betting

I thought the good old U.S. government was really cracking down on all this betting stuff. Can someone betting get into tax trouble?
I certainly would not want the IRS on my ass for any of this, but many people do it all the time.

Go Gophers!!

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Just curious...how prompt are the customers (say someone in Minnesota) paid?

The fasted way to get paid is using one of the E-Wallets they offer like Moneybookers. They can deposit your winnings back into your Moneybookers account the next day.

The second fastest way is Western Union or Moneygram. They advertise that you'll receive your payout in "Up to 7-10 days". It's been my experience that a Western Union payout usually takes 3 days but they're covering their butts by saying UP TO 7-10 days. i.e. If you call the day after the Super Bowl it might be 7-10 days, but usually 3-4 days.

If you deposit with A credit card there is a 30 day wait on payouts until you money has cleared the bank (This is industry standard and doesn't bother most players.)

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Stupid question, is this legal? If yes, I'll probably do a parlay card a week for fun. If it's illegal or "questionable," I'll probably skip it, I'm paranoid of big brother.

First off I'm not an attorney so my advice is only friendly advice. The bottom line is it's a gray area. There are approximately 10,000,000 people betting sports online, playing online poker, online casino, betting the ponies, etc and no bettor has ever been charged for any sort of crime connected to their hobby.

 

[howeda7]

I thought the good old U.S. government was really cracking down on all this betting stuff. Can someone betting get into tax trouble?
I certainly would not want the IRS on my ass for any of this, but many people do it all the time.

Go Gophers!!

Attempts to crack down have all been aimed at stopping the financial institutions from processing the payments or trying to force ISP's to block the websites. The former was somewhat effective, but not really with all of the various e-wallet services available. In the old days you could just withdraw funds directly from your checking or even use a credit card. Now you usually have to go through a 3rd party processor. Still not very effective at stopping anyone.

Minnesota tried to be one of the first to force ISP's in the state to block internet access. This is a joke and a horrific 1st ammendment violation. The ISP's basically ignored them and they have since rescinded thier request.

Could you get into tax trouble? Probably not. Unlike say, Mystic Lake, these sites aren't going to be sending you any 1099's. But if you do win a significant amount and want to be on the safe side, claim the income. As long as you do, there's nothing to get you for. You can deduct whatever amounts you have lost in the same year (assuming you have some sort of documentation.) It's not the IRS's job to determine if you came about your income in a legal way, only that you properly claimed it and paid taxes on it. But it is the IRS that sometimes gets the notorious criminals (Al Capone). The standard joke is, the IRS doesn't care if you're a drug dealer, as long as you report the income.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Costa Rican,

Is there a payout fee?

One free payout per month for new customers. They have an awesome loyalty program though where you earn loyalty points as you wager. Most customers cash in their loyalty points in exchange for a free payout if they need more than one a month.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

I thought the good old U.S. government was really cracking down on all this betting stuff. Can someone betting get into tax trouble?
I certainly would not want the IRS on my ass for any of this, but many people do it all the time.

Go Gophers!!

Again, I'm not an attorney but what most people I know do is to just declare their win/losses on their tax returns. There's actually a field for it. If you've been to the casino, flown to Las Vegas, played scratch off cards, played online poker or bet football online, this field is where you'll declare.

* Howeda7 nailed this one.

 

[howeda7]

Again, I'm not an attorney but what most people I know do is to just declare their win/losses on their tax returns. There's actually a field for it. If you've been to the casino, flown to Las Vegas, played scratch off cards, played online poker or bet football online, this field is where you'll declare.

* Howeda7 nailed this one.

To be clear, you can't claim losses if that's all you have, you can only claim losses against any winnings you have. So if you're at a net loss for the year (as most people probably are) then there's no need to claim anything.

 

[ColNathanJessup]

Is the code you posted a referral bonus code or what? They say a 20% bonus on new accounts. Is this different? Better?

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Is the code you posted a referral bonus code or what? They say a 20% bonus on new accounts. Is this different? Better?

I was able to get you a better deal than originally posted (A flat 20% bonus got bumped up to 25% + The free futures play + Poker tourney entry + Blackjack tourney entry) but you'll need to use Promo Code: KO2008 at signup and then contact 'Live Help' or email them and tell them you received the "Go Deep" promotion and want to claim it. If you have any problem just shoot me a PM with your account number and I'll get it handled personally.

 

[ColNathanJessup]

I was able to get you a better deal than originally posted (A flat 20% bonus got bumped up to 25% + The free futures play + Poker tourney entry + Blackjack tourney entry) but you'll need to use Promo Code: KO2008 at signup and then contact 'Live Help' or email them and tell them you received the "Go Deep" promotion and want to claim it. If you have any problem just shoot me a PM with your account number and I'll get it handled personally.

That's cool, thanks.

 

[Golden Drummer]

Try CentSports.com.

It's a totally free way to bet on sports and if you accrue $ 10.00 or more they will send you a check. The betting is paid for by advertisers and you start with a balance of $.10 Pretty Cool.

www.centsports.com

 

[FireCosgroveGuy]

Has anyone verified that this site is legit?