Arcimede$ IRS Transcripts

[coach belly]

he may have won it, then lost it in the years following, which would explain his reticence to share recent tax returns

How would recent tax returns, or any tax returns for that matter, reflect a net gambling loss?

[redietz]

They wouldn't, but the implication is that if he balanced the wins out with losses, rather than using massive deductions as he claimed earlier, then he almost undoubtedly lost. If there are no wins listed, also, for recent years, it would suggest he wasn't really gambling. He would then have a tough time matching his claimed wins on this forum, of which he posted photos, with the returns for those years.

[coach belly]

They wouldn't, but the implication is that if he balanced the wins out with losses, rather than using massive deductions as he claimed earlier, then he almost undoubtedly lost.

For recent years, if he balanced out wins with losses, so that he claimed no net win, then that means that he lost the money he won from 2000-2009...undoubtedly?...is that right?

If there are no wins listed, also, for recent years, it would suggest he wasn't really gambling. He would then have a tough time matching his claimed wins on this forum, of which he posted photos, with the returns for those years.

OK...assuming no wins are listed for recent years, suggesting that he wasn't gambling, then how would he have lost his "professional" winnings...if he wasn't gambling?

[jbjb]

All of this "step up in denomination/quit when ahead" stuff was just illogical, non-mathematical bad advice. His "hate the casinos/do what they don't want" advice, however, was spot on, I think.

Agreed, although I don't necessary "hate" casinos.

[redietz]

For recent years, if he balanced out wins with losses, so that he claimed no net win, then that means that he lost the money he won from 2000-2009...undoubtedly?...is that right?



OK...assuming no wins are listed for recent years, suggesting that he wasn't gambling, then how would he have lost his "professional" winnings...if he wasn't gambling?

I didn't say he had lost his winnings, if winnings there were. I said he may have. We'll never know, which is fine with me, because it's pretty much irrelevant, unless one thinks somebody's tax returns prove Rob's strategies bypassed the laws of probability. I prefer to believe Rob won.

You know, coach, when it comes to the whole topic of whether Rob "lied," to me it comes down not to the question of whether Rob's strategies resulted in his winning, but if Rob truly believed they were the key to his winning. If Rob truly believed that, he would have kept logs of number of hands and winnings and number of royals and so on. Then he would have rubbed them in our face, rather than the occasional photo op with a jackpot. We didn't see any of that on this forum. Would the proclaimed greatest video poker player ever, awash in critics, not keep such records? Considering he said he played only a few hours a week, how hard would it be? What would be his motivation to not keep those records? What would be his motive for not sharing those records?

If Rob's like your usual clairvoyant or psychic, his answer should be that record-keeping was beneath him and interfered with his process.

[james40]

I didn't say he had lost his winnings, if winnings there were. I said he may have. We'll never know, which is fine with me, because it's pretty much irrelevant, unless one thinks somebody's tax returns prove Rob's strategies bypassed the laws of probability. I prefer to believe Rob won.

You know, coach, when it comes to the whole topic of whether Rob "lied," to me it comes down not to the question of whether Rob's strategies resulted in his winning, but if Rob truly believed they were the key to his winning. If Rob truly believed that, he would have kept logs of number of hands and winnings and number of royals and so on. Then he would have rubbed them in our face, rather than the occasional photo op with a jackpot. We didn't see any of that on this forum. Would the proclaimed greatest video poker player ever, awash in critics, not keep such records? Considering he said he played only a few hours a week, how hard would it be? What would be his motivation to not keep those records? What would be his motive for not sharing those records?

If Rob's like your usual clairvoyant or psychic, his answer should be that record-keeping was beneath him and interfered with his process.

I recommend you read this again:

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder is a destructive preoccupation with one’s own personal adequacy, power and prestige. People with this disorder crave for admiration, have an unreasonably strong sense of entitlement and are often preoccupied with unrealistic fantasies of success, beauty and ideal love. Unlike malignant narcissism, narcissistic personality disorder is defined as a mental illness in DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the Fifth Edition).

[redietz]

I'm trying not to read it again because it's so spot on vis-a-vis Rob, it's scary. Evidently Rob is a gentle soul in person (do not know -- have not met him), but online he becomes a whole 'nother thing. The "ideal love" angle really nails it.

Hard to believe textbook definitions can come alive like that. The overvaluing of RV's, the perfect marriage, the four-cell-phone braggadocio, a way to win that is his alone, a perception that there exist "the critics," it's all unsettling.

[Alan Mendelson]

All of this "step up in denomination/quit when ahead" stuff was just illogical, non-mathematical bad advice.

What he suggested was not exactly crazy. When I play video poker I know that there are times when the machine sucks my money, and there are times when the machines pay out.

The step up in denomination strategy is the HOPE that after losing XXXX dollars at a low denomination, that you will finally hit something at a higher denomination. The belief here is that machines don't stay cold forever. Now-- there is NO proof of this and the only way to test it is to have Rob's kind of bankroll. What was it, $57-thousand?? I NEVER PLAYED THIS STRATEGY but I can understand how it would be successful if you had that kind of money in your pocket.

I also understand the idea of quit when ahead, and frankly, had I quit when ahead many, many times, I would have been a very happy guy instead of being a miserable guy. Of course there are exceptions when you win big -- and then keep winning big. That's what happened to me with that $100,000 royal. If I followed Rob's strategy I would have quit after that quad that paid $5,000. The basic idea about quitting when ahead is that big winners don't come along that often. Now, be honest -- do they?

Regarding why we will never see Rob's tax returns: I think he just doesn't want us to see them, and for good reason. I don't doubt his wins either, but he told us of some stuff that he maintains was legal for offsetting his wins. I also wouldn't be surprised if he did some other funny stuff in addition to deducting groceries and dinners with his wife, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

But did Rob Singer win big? Yes. He won big. Are his tax returns Kosher? I don't think a Rabbi did his taxes for him.

[coach belly]

I didn't say he had lost his winnings, if winnings there were. I said he may have.

OK...but you speculated that his "reticence to share recent tax returns." was because they could reveal that he may have lost his previous winnings.

Can we now agree that is not valid?...because one year's tax return cannot reveal previous year's losses.

You asserted that a return showing gambling losses negating all W2G wins "undoubtedly" means an overall loss.

Of course, net zero does not mean a loss...that's pure speculation on your part...some might even call that "projection".

But, if you are convinced that net zero actually means a loss, then that would apply to everyone...not just Singer...right?

[Alan Mendelson]

one year's tax return cannot reveal previous year's losses.

Let me explain this and without referencing Rob. This is just an explanation about reporting wins and losses on your tax return.

Each year you are required to report all of your WINS. Not only your W2G wins but ALL of them. Then you can deduct from those wins your LOSSES but only up to the amount of the WINS.

As an example:

Bill won $178,653 playing poker, video poker, betting on horses, playing penny slots, and shooting craps. He reports $178,653 as his winnings.

But Bill lost $678,850 that year. That money over and above the $178,653 that he won came from his winnings from previous years, plus his inheritance, plus his job, plus credit card cash advances.

When it comes to his TAX RETURN, the only amount he is permitted to SHOW on the return as losses is $178,653 which equals his actual wins. All the other money lost will not show on his tax return.

[coach belly]

You know, coach, when it comes to the whole topic of whether Rob "lied," to me it comes down not to the question of whether Rob's strategies resulted in his winning, but if Rob truly believed they were the key to his winning. If Rob truly believed that, he would have kept logs of number of hands and winnings and number of royals and so on. What would be his motivation to not keep those records? What would be his motive for not sharing those records?

If Rob filed as a professional gambler, then shouldn't we assume that he kept gambling records?

You are asserting, that because he has not revealed the records, then he didn't keep them.

You haven't revealed your records either...does that mean you don't keep records?

What's his motivation not to produce his records? Who knows?...maybe he threw them out.

But please don't tell us YOU know...some troll would call you a liar for that.

You don't know the truth about Singer...so don't give me truly this or truly that...that's bs.

[coach belly]

When it comes to his TAX RETURN, the only amount he is permitted to SHOW on the return as losses is $178,653 which equals his actual wins. All the other money lost will not show on his tax return.

My point exactly...one year's tax returns cannot show that a previous year's winnings were lost.

he may have won it, then lost it in the years following, which would explain his reticence to share recent tax returns.

[Alan Mendelson]

What records do you think Rob needs? As far as wins go: he needs the W2Gs and he needs his daily logs for win and loss. He doesn't need to keep track of the number of hands, or the games he played, or the denominations. If had them, great -- but not required. And they would not show up on his tax returns.

For his Schedule C deductions he would need a log or itemized records and receipts and these would include mileage logs, hotel bills, tips he gave (LOL), meal expenses, groceries for all those parties he had for teaching people how to play video poker, and band-aid expenses for pushing the buttons so often that he got blisters.

Was he teaching people how to hit more royals? No. If he did, then he would need a tally sheet on the number of hands played and the number of royals he hit. But he wasn't.

[james40]

If Rob filed as a professional gambler, then shouldn't we assume that he kept gambling records?

You are asserting, that because he has not revealed the records, then he didn't keep them.

You haven't revealed your records either...does that mean you don't keep records?

What's his motivation not to produce his records? Who knows?...maybe he threw them out.

But please don't tell us YOU know...some troll would call you a liar for that.

You don't know the truth about Singer...so don't give me truly this or truly that...that's bs.

I think some troll just did.

[james40]

I'm trying not to read it again because it's so spot on vis-a-vis Rob, it's scary. Evidently Rob is a gentle soul in person (do not know -- have not met him), but online he becomes a whole 'nother thing. The "ideal love" angle really nails it.

Hard to believe textbook definitions can come alive like that. The overvaluing of RV's, the perfect marriage, the four-cell-phone braggadocio, a way to win that is his alone, a perception that there exist "the critics," it's all unsettling.

Don't forget the craving for admiration and the unreasonable strong sense of entitlement. Is is an eerie definition.

[Spock]

If Rob was lying about all these results over the years, why would he spend all this time and mental energy doing so over a 10-15 year period making perhaps tens of thousands of forum posts spanning many different internet message boards?

Maybe the better question would be "How could anyone spend so much energy and so many forum posts over such a vast amount of time trying to convince the world he was the greatest video poker player in the world without ever being able or willing to supply a single piece of non-controvertible evidence supporting that claim?"

[james40]

Maybe the better question would be "How could anyone spend so much energy and so many forum posts over such a vast amount of time trying to convince the world he was the greatest video poker player in the world without ever being able or willing to supply a single piece of non-controvertible evidence supporting that claim?"

Mental health issues are life-long issues.

[arcimede$]

I think the NPD is the biggest reason for Singer lies. Keep in mind he lost his inheritance and job back then. He had nothing to support the NPD driven mental image of himself. He also wormed his way into writing a monthly column. He needed something to write. Without his "I am the greatest gambler" persona what did he have? Zilch.

BTW, one of the attributes of people with NPD is they can be very charming. However, it is all any act. They do it whenever they think it will help them. If it ever becomes obvious an individual cannot help their self image, they drop them like a rock. We discussed this quite a bit on freevpfree.

[slingshot]

I do wish Alan had taken him up on his offer to watch him play and explain his plays.

[Alan Mendelson]

I do wish Alan had taken him up on his offer to watch him play and explain his plays.

I know his plays. Nearly all of his plays are conventional video poker plays. His "special plays" are few. Even that play where he had three queens and three to the royal, he said he faced that situation only twice in his life. And of those two times, he took his shot at it ONCE.

While his "trademark" is his special plays he plays like the rest of us play.

When I shot that series of interviews in my room at Caesars, Rob first met me and Jason downstairs in the high limit room where I was playing double double bonus VP. Rob sat next to me and watched me play and offered his advice -- except he didn't have to EXCEPT on one hold. I was dealt a high card with three low cards to a straight flush. He said, "aren't you going for the straight flush? That's the correct hold." Well, I just held the high card. Indeed three to the straight flush was the correct CONVENTIONAL play and that's what Rob was suggesting.

There were no "special plays" tips given to me -- and he watched me for awhile.

Because he TALKS about the special plays doesn't mean that's ALWAYS how he plays.

He's also had a bad rap for "quitting when ahead." Frankly, except for the APs of the world, it seems like everybody in a casino tries to quit when ahead. As I've said before I regret that many times I didn't quit when ahead.