Gambling winnings reporting for Federal purposes

[jnd2546]

My interpretation is that "gross" winnings get reported as income. ( not the net of wager cost); then overall annual losses  ( difference between winnings and wager cost) gets entered as miscellaneous deductions and may or may not help depending on whether itemizing is beneficial.

Is this correct?  

Thanks for insights!

[BobKamman]

Well, sometimes the winnings exceed the losses . . .

Also, professional gamblers try to get away with netting winnings and losses on Schedule C.  Some get away with it.  

[jnd2546]

Forgetting about the status of professional gambler, am I on solid ground that "netting" of "wager bets" and wager winnings is not how the federal tax law interprets " gross winnings"??

[BobKamman · Accepted solution]

Yes.  Well, no.  "The IRS allows recreational gamblers to report net gambling winnings and losses using the "session method," which nets wins and losses within a single, continuous, and uninterrupted period of play at a single location. Only the net gain from a session is generally included in Adjusted Gross Income."  But the problem is that no one keeps records of each "session," and I don't think any casinos do that either.  

[jnd2546]

Thank you Bob. Did not know about session method but under due diligence, unlikely that could be produced.