Players dream of hitting a big jackpot when they play the slots. When that day comes for you, you'll have questions about the taxes you must pay on the winnings.
Monday, Monday, didn’t get one slots player down at Wynn Las Vegas. Playing $10 on a $1 Wheel of Fortune Gold Spin Triple Gold, one player hit for $1,734,677.19. The woman, who asked not to be identified, won a $3.8 million jackpot Thursday morning playing a $1 slot machine. It was the largest payout ever at a Seminole Tribe of Florida-owned gaming property.
Hand Pay Jackpots
When you hit the winning combination of symbols for a large jackpot, your slot machine locks up. Depending on the machine, the lights on top of the machine may come on and start flashing, music may play or bells ring. Betchain no deposit bonus. A slot attendant arrives promptly to see what you have won.
On jackpots smaller than $5,000, an attendant verifies that you hit the jackpot and then assists you in claiming your money at the cashier's cage. In the case of a large or progressive jackpot, the casino may have technicians come and check the machine to certify that it was functioning properly when the jackpot hit. If you hit one of the wide-area progressive machines such as MegaBucks, the slot company that operates the game comes out and verifies that machine before giving you a check.
When you hit a jackpot, you have the option of taking your winnings in cash or check. Usually, large amounts are paid by check. In the case of the MegaBucks or similar multi-million dollar jackpots, you receive a check for the partial amount, and then you have 90 days to decide if you want to be paid a lump sum or an annual annuity on the balance. If you select the lump sum option, you receive only a percentage of your actual winnings. For example, the full winnings of one multi-million slot jackpot is paid in 25 annual installments, or you can take a lump sum of 60 percent of the winnings.
IRS Withholding
All casino winnings are subject to federal taxes. However, the IRS only requires the casinos to report wins over $1,200 on slots and video poker machines or other games such as keno, lottery or horse racing. When you have a win equal to or greater than $1200, you are issued a W-2G form. This form lists your name, address and Social Security number. The casinos are not required to take out withholding tax on jackpots under $5,000 as long you supply your Social Security number. If you don’t provide your Social Security number, the casinos withhold 28 percent on small jackpots.
You can request a specific amount of withholding tax to be taken out of any jackpot you win. Some players like to do this to avoid a big tax payment in April when they file their income tax returns. The additional withholding may not be necessary if you keep a log book. The law allows you to deduct gambling losses up to the amount of your winnings. Tarzan slot machine free play. You can only do this if you have documentation of your losses. Keeping a diary or log book is the way to do this.
Proper Identification
Slot Jackpots As They Happen
Casinos can refuse to pay you until you produce proper identification—a photo ID such as a driver’s license, military ID or passport.
If you don’t produce an ID, you are photographed and the casino holds your winnings until you come back with proper ID. For this reason, you should always carry a valid form of identification with you when you visit the casino.
When the casino checks your identification, it also checks your age to make sure you are legally old enough to play. The minimum age for gambling varies from state to state, but under-age gamblers are not be paid if they hit a jackpot. This is the law in all jurisdictions, and it has been upheld in court.
Plan Ahead
Before you start playing your favorite slot machine you should have a plan for the day you hit a jackpot. Players become excited when they hit the big one, and this may affect the decisions you make about your winnings. It is helpful if you know ahead of time how much withholding you want taken out or whether you want a check for all or some of the amount. Good slot games.
One of the most frequent questions I get asked by slot machine players is, “Should I play max credits?”
Years ago, anybody that had any knowledge about slot machines knew that you always play the maximum number of credits or coins. It was similar to video poker where you should never play without betting max coins because if you do, you won’t qualify for the bonus when you hit the royal flush. If you can’t afford to play max coins then you need to drop down in the denomination you are playing. In other words, if you can’t afford to play 5 credits on the dollar machine ($5 per spin) drop down to the 50 cent machine so you can play 5 credits ($2.50 per spin). This advice held true for slots as well because almost all slots offered a jackpot bonus.
Let’s first take a look at why that advice was so important. If you didn’t play the maximum coins on those machines you did not qualify for the bonus the machine gave you for the jackpot. By not playing max coins you were not receiving the maximum payback percentage from that machine. As I’ve talked about in the past, every slot machine is set to payback a certain percentage of the money it takes in. This percentage is set over a long period of time so it doesn’t mean that if you put in $100 on a machine that has an 88% payback, you would win $88. That wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense and wouldn’t be much fun. It is set for the long-term, but the casino is guaranteed to make money over the long haul on that machine.
By not betting max coins, you are lowering the payback percentage even more. Some slots have a low set payback percentage so you certainly don’t want to do anything to make it even worse. The best example is the large progressive Megabucks slot machine that I’ve posted about before. You should be shot if you are playing that machine without playing max credits. That slot machine already has a low payback, usually between 85-88%, and by not qualifying for the jackpot that payback is lowered even more. Not only that, but if you ever did hit the jackpot not playing max credits, you would probably want to jump off a bridge. NEVER play these games without max credits bet.
A common mistake that many people succumb to is when they are down to their last credits. Say they are playing a $1 Megabucks machine that requires three credits to qualify for the jackpot. They might put in $100 and when they get down to only $2 left, instead of going through the hassle of cashing out $2 or having to put in another $1 they go ahead and spin the reels with only 2 credits bet. DON”T DO IT. I’m saving you a life of psychiatric counseling if you ever hit the jackpot in this situation.
With the introduction of video slots things have changed dramatically. This advice is no longer viable for many machines. In fact, you want to do the opposite for any machine that doesn’t have a bonus jackpot. As a player you are better off playing one credit on a dollar denomination machine than 4 credits on a 25 cent machine. The reason is the higher denomination machines are usually set at a higher payback percentage. In essence, the proper play on slot machines has reversed. However, there are some video slots that do offer large progressive jackpots or bonus jackpots so for those machines the old rule holds true. Always play maximum coins on those machines or play another machine.
The bottom line is as a gambler you need to understand what you are playing. I know it’s fun to put money in a machine you’ve never played before and just hope for beginners luck, but if you do that on the wrong machine and realize you could have won the million dollar jackpot, you will never forgive yourself.
Slot Jackpots On Youtube
When this does happen people try to comfort themselves with the notion that the machine only let them hit the jackpot because they weren’t betting max credits. They tell themselves it would not have hit if they were betting maximum credits. That’s completely false. The RNG has no idea how many credits you play, and the RNG sequence for the jackpot is the same no matter how many credits you play. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news to anyone this has happened to, but as long as the machine uses a RNG it’s true.