Start Date
8-1-2011 9:45 AM
End Date
8-1-2011 10:30 AM
Track
2. Track 2 - Poster Session
Subject Area
Finance and Economics
Faculty Member
Bo Bernhard bo.bernhard@unlv.edu
Abstract
This two-part paper is intended to explore the task of differentiating a professional gambler from a leisure gambler, specifically, among online poker players. The first part of the study consists of a statistical analysis to identify the requisite number of hands of online poker required to identify winning players, that is, players who should expect to show a profit during a given year. The second part of the study involves administering a survey that assesses players’ perceptions of whether they consider their own play to be that of a winning player.
Once both parts have concluded, we will investigate whether players that should have identified themselves as professionals (according to the secondary data analysis) did identify themselves and claim their winnings as taxable income. If there is a large divergence in normative and positive behavior between these two approaches, then this may indicate that the current tax policy institutions are failing and need revisions for this, relatively new, sub-group of professional gamblers.
Keywords
online, poker, tax, survey, gambling, policy
Identifying Online Professional Poker Players: A Revealed and Stated Analysis Approach
This two-part paper is intended to explore the task of differentiating a professional gambler from a leisure gambler, specifically, among online poker players. The first part of the study consists of a statistical analysis to identify the requisite number of hands of online poker required to identify winning players, that is, players who should expect to show a profit during a given year. The second part of the study involves administering a survey that assesses players’ perceptions of whether they consider their own play to be that of a winning player.
Once both parts have concluded, we will investigate whether players that should have identified themselves as professionals (according to the secondary data analysis) did identify themselves and claim their winnings as taxable income. If there is a large divergence in normative and positive behavior between these two approaches, then this may indicate that the current tax policy institutions are failing and need revisions for this, relatively new, sub-group of professional gamblers.