Monthly Win Loss Statements Online MGM

I was just informed that I can pull up MGM Win Loss statements by Date, Resort, Type (slot/table for me), Start Time, End Time, Machine Number, Coin-Out, Coin-End, Plus Jackpots, Less Coin In, and Total for each machine/table session.  And hard total at each end.  Very cool.

I just did mine for Beau Riviage 3 day trip last week.  Could have pulled up any date separately.

Would eliminate need to write all that down if one keeps a diary.  Or at least compare with one's own figures.

I should have titled this "Daily Win Loss Statements...."  Or even "Session Win Loss..."

Candy

Given that the casinos have had that information, at that same level of detail, for every player's action, for at least twenty years makes me wonder why they haven't made it available until now. Maybe because slot players don't really want a blow-by-blow account of their money disposal experiences? Maybe you just want to see the car you wrecked and not a pile of glossy stop-action photos showing the crash, a tenth of a second at a time?

Sort of like you get drunk and pass out on the barroom floor, and the bartender gently wakes you and shows you a detailed log of what you drank, when you vomited and where, plus a high-fidelity audio recording of exactly what you said and to whom. Maybe you'd rather not know the details?

IMHO you aren't far off about wanting to avoid the truth about one's casino 'spending.'  I don't  know either why I'm just now knowing about this being available.  My Host forwarded it to me, how to access it off the MGM web site.  I've never been one to keep a daily/session diary (too much trouble, lol), but for those that do this looks quite nifty. 

Some say they don't trust the accuracy of the win-loss for tax reporting, and those have always contained the disclaimer about that, as does this one.   

Previously those win/loss statements only contained yearly totals for coin-in, coin-out, jackpots, plus or minus, etc.  Now this one by MGM, and I assume the others do or soon will, contains it by each and every sesssion, slot or table.  If a card was used.

I clicked on the "Month" of my last trip which included three consecutive days.  Then I clicked on "Game", which spelled out each and every session by the clock, slot and table. 

It was amazing, like a real trip diary, as in "gee, when did I actually leave a table ahead by that much?", or of course "wow, I lost a bunch in forty-three minutes.  What machine was I on?"  It does the calculating for you,  each session, table, and slot individually.  Don't know about poker or sports as I don't do those.   If you've used a card, of course.

BTW, when you click "Game" you get "Slot" or "Table" data.  Doesn't break it down into VP, JOB, DDB, Golden Piggies, Blackjack, 3 Card Poker...anything like that.  Just Slot and Table.  But way more than you used to get on the yearly win/loss.

Anyone who has an MGM players card can access theirs in years up to the present 2026.

Candy

It does not eliminate the need to to track your own losses.   Every casino website that has these statements has a disclaimer that the statements are not to be used for tax purposes.   There is no guarantee that the tracking is 100% correct, since its based only on the data they have.  Because casinos know their tracking systems aren't foolproof, they explicitly refuse to legally vouch for the numbers if you get audited.  

If you look at the page with your win/loss, at the top it says, "This is NOT an official tax document."  In the totals column with your win loss, it says "Total Estimated Win/Loss".  Estimated!

Below that, on  the same page you are viewing your data, it says this:

""Your win/loss information includes unverified, estimated slot, video lottery terminals and table games wins and losses, but does not include other wins and losses (or gains from wagering) such as slot tournament wins and losses, giveaway party prizes, race and sports book wins and losses, harness racing wins and losses, poker wins and losses, or keno wins and losses. Therefore, this win/loss information statement does not constitute a complete and accurate accounting record—it merely provides an unverified estimate that you can use to compare to your own records and is not a substitute for the records you are required to keep under applicable State or Federal tax laws.""

 Best use of these statements is as a secondary backup rather than your primary proof. If you are audited, the IRS will rarely accept a casino win/loss statement by itself. However, if you present a detailed, contemporaneous!!! daily diary of your own, a casino-issued win/loss statement can serve as corroborating evidence to show the IRS that your personal records line up with the casino's data.

AQK, if you read my followup post I stated all that and agreed with it.  I've never kept a diary of my play, too much trouble. 

I was audited once, a letter audit specifically in regard to my gambling loss claim on  my return.  Along with the letter informing me of the audit was a booklet explaining how to respond to the audit, including list of IRS "acceptable" supporting documents, which included personal diary, losing lottery and horserace tickets, losing keno tickets, and casino win/loss statements; actually a long list of things one could send in.  I only had the casino win/loss statements, which I sent in with  my response.  Subsequently my "return" was accepted, no further action needed.

I can't imagine an IRS auditor going through all those kinds of documents, hand-scratched diaries, racing and lottery tickets, calculating it all to confirm somebody's claim of gambling losses against winnings.  I also have always wondered why they would accept a personal diary, which anyone could fabricate. 

And the amount of my 'loss' claimed was laughably minimal, IMHO.  But since they thought they had the time and resources to audit returns such as mine, so be it.

So, yes I knew all that you said regarding the casino disclaimer.  I know casinos won't stand behind anyone's tax return because they can't.  They don't know how much non-card inserted gambling someone does, how anyone calculates their own figures.  The IRS must have algorithms to consider personal diaries etc. and make determinations.   

I posted this because I'd never seen a win/loss with such detail, whether anyone uses them or not.

Candy

I hadn't seen this before, excellent.  I like to play with numbers sometimes and this is a nice resource for that, thanks for info.

as for sending to IRS, my take on these statements from the Jean Scott book was they weren't recommended because they might open doors you don't want.  Such as showing table wins, those aren't reported to IRS but they could choose to ask about those.  

No casino issues a win/loss statement for table games. That's because it would be useless for tax return purposes. (And yes, you could still get a W2-G if you hit a progressive side bet or something.)

For that matter, no win/loss statement, even from slot activity that's presumably tracked, is in and of itself meaningful. You pay taxes on your NET gambling results. What happened on June 24 or October 19 is only a small part of that. And your total win or loss at the Golden Commode is only a portion of your overall gambling activity--which is all the IRS cares about.

My point is that win/loss statements are a polite fiction anyway. The IRS has no way of evaluating or verifying your total overall gambling activity or crucially, your results. They basically rely on your honesty. And they know damn well that if you have a hot session at the BJ tables and cash out $900 ahead, you're not going to report that. Nor will most folks report table game losses, because in the absence of a detailed daily log, there is no supporting documentation. Same with winning or losing sports bets, poker sessions, etc. etc. etc.

Obviously, a person's gambling results only affect their tax return if those results were positive (setting aside the horrible Trump 90% rule for the moment). And just as obviously, most people don't report wins or losses that weren't recorded; so the primary purpose of doing an overall calculation and submitting it is to offset W2-G wins. And yeah, if I had a 20 grand win early in the year, I'd make sure that all my losses for the rest of the year were documented...my wins, not so much. Like saving all my losing sports bets tickets, while quietly stuffing my sports bet wins in my wallet.

My point is that the IRS knows all this. They actually have no way to determine your total wins or losses from gambling--only your documented results.

Kevin, hate to say it but you are really wrong here.  Every win loss statement I've ever gotten has a column for table win or loss, plus or minus, and the amount is figured into the totals.  I'm not dreaming, I have mine right in front of me.  This updated version now available from MGM is right on the money, no pun intended.  Looking at mine, I had a couple great sessions on 3 Card Poker, by date and clock times.   WTF, how did I come out so far ahead on Friday the 13th of year 2029 on table 2568 from 13:27 to 15:45?  Memorable because we got straight flushes and trips and 3OKs, etc.  The losing sessions aren't so memorable, just playing down to zero or just enough to tip the dealer a dab.  Just a memory of what you bought in for and what you left the table with.  Still, the new statement appear frightfully accurate, as far as they go.  But it is evident why some do not use a card with their play.  Trade off getting points/comps for the play vs less taxable winnings to show.

Now, granted, for years I only played $5 Blackjack tables.  I would chuckle when my w/l statement had my table win at $200.  Every dang year!   As if they said "why bother, just count her as winning $200" for the year.  I always had plenty of total loss to support my gambling loss (only up to amount of win, of course).  Very true that it is nice to have a big table win without signing a W-2G, but, like Jean Scott said the table does have it counted, and will show up on the w/l, because the pit asks the dealer how each player came out after they leave the table, and it is recorded.  Plus, of course, when one hits something on the progressive meter taxes are withheld right there, if over the IRS limit.

You maintain those w/l statements IN CASE you are audited.  I guarantee the IRS accepts them, BUT to a point which is information of their own keeping.  I'd love to be a fly on the wall and watch an auditor doing calculations on a gambler's wins and losses, especially one who has their personally created spread sheet OR hand written ledger plus win/loss statements, losing horserace tickets, losing lottery tickets.  How picky do they get?  Enough for a giant headache, I'm guessing.

Ever try to argue with a casino about the accuracy of your win/loss statement?  I sure haven't.   I'll guess it is an exercise in futility. One can only argue your own figures with the IRS and hope they agree.  But this new and detailed version of the w/l is impressive, and may not be favorable toward the player, depending.

Candy

Thanks Randall.  Glad it appears helpful to you.  Most folks are skeptical.  They just have to see it to believe it.  And sure enough since table w/l is now so detailed on it, it might not be beneficial to the tax paying gambler, depending on individual circumstances.  It appears to be consistent with my own table and slot experiences this past trip, as much as I can recall. 

Candy

I have found a lot of people never look at their's, like someone said probably don't want to know, but I really like it. I often do little experiments for fun, and in the past the only way to get coin in was by month, so if you wanted to get coin-in on a specific session you had to make sure that was the first time you were in a casino. So I'd save Park Mgm until I had an idea or got in an argument then I'd go there. 

Silly things like if you played that stupid Goldfish game for an hour at a specific bet how would your tier, slot dollars, Holiday gift shoppe pts etc. look compared to coin in.