Fire and Ice
April 3, 2009
Dear Mark:
What are your thoughts of making all the numbers
4-5-6-8-9-10 in any order before a seven? This
of course is the Fire Bet, which some casinos
now offer. The pay-off is 1000 to 1. Norm M.
Top thought: After doing the back-of-the-napkin
math, giving the house a 25 percent edge on your
play, I wouldn’t call smart gaming.
A number of casinos now offer what’s called a
"Fire Bet" that pays if the shooter makes at
least 4 different points (among these: 4, 5, 6,
8, 9,10) before the seven rolls. Usually playing
from $1 to $5, but sometimes as high as $10, the
bettor is betting that a hot shooter will set
and make multiple valued points; in order for
the points to count towards the Fire Bet, they
must all be different. For instance, a player
that hits a point of 5 twice would get credit
for only one point on his or her Fire bet,
rather than two, because it was the same number.
The fire symbol the dealer places on the layout
will mark the different points as the shooter
makes them. For the first three points hit,
there are no payoffs. However, increasing odds
are paid for the fourth, fifth, and sixth
points; 25 to 1 odds are paid for the fourth
point, which would be $125 for a $5 bet; the
fifth point pays at 250-1 odds, which is $1250
for a $5 bet; and the sixth point pays, as you
state, considerably more at 1,000 to 1
odds: $5000 for five buckaroos.
While having an enormous payday of $5,000 for a
$5 bet might whet your appetite to grab the bet,
it doesn’t change the fact that this wager is
easily the worst one you can make on a crap
game, with a huge house edge of 24.70%.
Dear Mark: I just hit a sizeable jackpot
and was issued a W-2G by the casino. Can you
recommend any books in relation to gambling and
taxes so that I can explore all my options?
Vance F.
To paraphrase the French police inspector in
Casablanca, far too many players are “shocked,
shocked” at being issued a W-2G for a slot
jackpot as little as $1,200, and that Uncle Sam
kindly requests some of that windfall.
Thankfully a few authors learned on the subject
of gambling and taxes have written books on
this bewildering subject.
“The few details the IRS provides to guide
gamblers through the tax maze are general,
vague, open to individual interpretation, even
contradictory,” so says Marissa Chien (a tax
consultant and gambler) and Jean Scott in their
book, Tax Help for Gamblers. Scott and Chien
cover everything from the handling of wins and
losses; the gambling session; player and casino
recordkeeping; filing your tax return; the W-2G
withholding rules; and guidelines for state-tax
considerations.
Another book that covers this complex subject
is, How to Keep More of What You Win: A
Gambler's Guide to Taxes, by Walter L. Lewis
(CPA). Covering all the subjects above and then
some, it too is an excellent resource when it
comes to all the tax-related concerns of
gambling wins. What I like best about this book,
Norm, is how easily Lewis explains such
complicated tax issues in a simple, easy to
understand manner for tax law neophytes.
As tax time approaches once again, now the only
thing standing in the way of gamblers and the
IRS is, the tough part, actually hitting a
jackpot.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "The
attraction of gambling is the possibility of
wealth without work." --San Braids, The
Intelligent Guide To Texas Hold'em Poker
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