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It’s Time to Get Our Friends (the Players) Involved!
By Jeffrey Compton, Publisher (and a player!)
I am angry!
I’ll get over it, but right now I am a player who is sore as hell at the casino industry!
The IRS has proposed to revise a regulation that will complicate my life as a player and as a taxpayer. But I am not mad at them – I’m sort of disappointed but not surprised.
What I am mad about is that I have not been contacted by any of the casinos who have my email address, to advise me, the player, of this proposed change – or to suggest any course of action that I (as a taxpayer, a citizen and especially a voter) could take to help prevent it.
Unlike most state gaming regulations regarding licensing or finance or who can be present in the counting room, the proposed IRS regulation to lower the slot gaming winnings threshold from $1,200 to $600 negatively affects casino customers as much (if not more) than it affects casinos. Now quarter video poker players will receive a W2G whenever they hit a Royal Flush. So will $1 Double Double Bonus or Double Bonus players when they hit Four Aces. Triple Play through Hundred Play machines will become “W2G factories,” even for nickel players. A comparable number of nickel and quarter slot players will be affected as well – many of whom currently stick to that denomination because they get no W2Gs.
And for higher-denomination customers the news is even worse. Today for someone playing $5 five-coin Jacks or Better video poker, the entire jackpot-hits machine-locks attendant-gets-player-information-takes-it-to-the-cashier comes-back-with-W2G-form-and-cash player-signs-W2G attendant-pays-customer-and-hopes-for-tip procedure occurs only if the customer hits a Straight Flush or a Royal Flush – about once every 18 hours of play. But under the new rules this rigmarole will take place whenever he hits a four-of-a-kind – which happens on average more than once-per-hour. The customer is not winning more or hitting more jackpots – just getting eighteen times more hassle – and much less playing time.
To put it bluntly – players, especially frequent experienced players (that is, the casino’s best customers) are going to be angry about this – and they will be especially angry when they realize that maybe they could have done something. Nobody likes to be in a bad situation that could have turned out differently if someone had appropriately asked for their help!
In meeting with IRS officials, providing them with relevant information/arguments, and keeping the industry continually informed, the AGA has done a yeoman’s job. But neither the AGA (nor CDC Gaming Reports) has a direct connection to the 1.7 million people who work in the gaming industry nor the millions of people who participate in the industry as players and customers. But many of the people reading this column do have access to these “friends of gaming” – via email, social networks, day-to-day contacts, or (at the very least) direct snail mail. And it is time to call our friends to action.
What do you ask them to do? According a recent email from Sara Rayme, the AGA’s senior vice president of public affairs, there are several things a customer/taxpayer/citizen/voter can do – all of which would take less than a half-hour of time, in total:
(BTW – I hope that all of you, reading this, will do the above by the end of the day!)
No one has asked me to write this column, but the idea is not original. A few decades ago when I was on the board of directors for Chorus America (the National Service organization for all choruses and choirs), certain members of Congress threatened to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts due to some grants that did not play well in red states. The various arts organizations met with the (primarily Republican) congressman to not much avail – but when we asked for grass roots support from all the many individuals involved in the arts (artists, performers, managers, administrators, board members, and especially audiences) Congress was deluged in mail – and you will note that the National Endowment for the Arts is still in place today.
The casino industry does not want this change – and neither do the players. And it is time that everyone makes their voices heard.
It’s Time to Get Our Friends (the Players) Involved!
By Jeffrey Compton, Publisher (and a player!)
I am angry!
I’ll get over it, but right now I am a player who is sore as hell at the casino industry!
The IRS has proposed to revise a regulation that will complicate my life as a player and as a taxpayer. But I am not mad at them – I’m sort of disappointed but not surprised.
What I am mad about is that I have not been contacted by any of the casinos who have my email address, to advise me, the player, of this proposed change – or to suggest any course of action that I (as a taxpayer, a citizen and especially a voter) could take to help prevent it.
Unlike most state gaming regulations regarding licensing or finance or who can be present in the counting room, the proposed IRS regulation to lower the slot gaming winnings threshold from $1,200 to $600 negatively affects casino customers as much (if not more) than it affects casinos. Now quarter video poker players will receive a W2G whenever they hit a Royal Flush. So will $1 Double Double Bonus or Double Bonus players when they hit Four Aces. Triple Play through Hundred Play machines will become “W2G factories,” even for nickel players. A comparable number of nickel and quarter slot players will be affected as well – many of whom currently stick to that denomination because they get no W2Gs.
And for higher-denomination customers the news is even worse. Today for someone playing $5 five-coin Jacks or Better video poker, the entire jackpot-hits machine-locks attendant-gets-player-information-takes-it-to-the-cashier comes-back-with-W2G-form-and-cash player-signs-W2G attendant-pays-customer-and-hopes-for-tip procedure occurs only if the customer hits a Straight Flush or a Royal Flush – about once every 18 hours of play. But under the new rules this rigmarole will take place whenever he hits a four-of-a-kind – which happens on average more than once-per-hour. The customer is not winning more or hitting more jackpots – just getting eighteen times more hassle – and much less playing time.
To put it bluntly – players, especially frequent experienced players (that is, the casino’s best customers) are going to be angry about this – and they will be especially angry when they realize that maybe they could have done something. Nobody likes to be in a bad situation that could have turned out differently if someone had appropriately asked for their help!
In meeting with IRS officials, providing them with relevant information/arguments, and keeping the industry continually informed, the AGA has done a yeoman’s job. But neither the AGA (nor CDC Gaming Reports) has a direct connection to the 1.7 million people who work in the gaming industry nor the millions of people who participate in the industry as players and customers. But many of the people reading this column do have access to these “friends of gaming” – via email, social networks, day-to-day contacts, or (at the very least) direct snail mail. And it is time to call our friends to action.
What do you ask them to do? According a recent email from Sara Rayme, the AGA’s senior vice president of public affairs, there are several things a customer/taxpayer/citizen/voter can do – all of which would take less than a half-hour of time, in total:
- Submit a comment directly to the IRS (This must be done by Tuesday, June 2)
- Contact their member of Congress (for both this and the above the AGA offers a recommended script)
- Nearly 100% of Congress is on Twitter – so tweet: Tell the IRS: Don’t cut gaming winnings threshold, which would harm customers, and reduce state revenues #NoMorePaperwork
- Send a message to a Congressman on Facebook: As your constituent, I’m asking you to please tell the IRS not to reduce the slot gaming winnings threshold from $1,200 to $600 because it would severely harm the customer experience and reduce state revenues. #NoMorePaperwork
(BTW – I hope that all of you, reading this, will do the above by the end of the day!)
No one has asked me to write this column, but the idea is not original. A few decades ago when I was on the board of directors for Chorus America (the National Service organization for all choruses and choirs), certain members of Congress threatened to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts due to some grants that did not play well in red states. The various arts organizations met with the (primarily Republican) congressman to not much avail – but when we asked for grass roots support from all the many individuals involved in the arts (artists, performers, managers, administrators, board members, and especially audiences) Congress was deluged in mail – and you will note that the National Endowment for the Arts is still in place today.
The casino industry does not want this change – and neither do the players. And it is time that everyone makes their voices heard.