Meet my good friend John Doe a video poker player whose experience is not in any way unusual. He lost 12k in 2012, he lost 12k in 2013 and he won 30k in 2014. Looks like he has a nice edge. But he had to give back 10K of his 2014 win in taxes. Most states will get some too in addition to the Feds. He has a theoretical edge but he has lost money. Welcome to the real world Johnny. He is not allowed to carry forward gambling losses from prior years to offset a gambling win from the current year. He cannot claim a net gambling loss for any given year. He can only use gambling losses to reduce or offset a gambling win for the same year. The Government is doing to him what Bill Clinton did to Gennifer Flowers. This is a common occurrence that I have not seen any gambling writers who write about video poker point out. Happy April 15 everybody.

