Very interesting stuff. I always wondered why the IRS treated like we were trying to get away with something and just common criminals, when to my knowledge we reported every penny we made correctly, and filled for all of it. I'm now thinking that they were lumping us in with the other teams, and we caught heat for their bad behavior.
There is a lesson to be learned here. If one is part of a community, that's perceived as a cohesive group (like professional gamblers) it only takes one bad apple to spoil it for the bushel.
We had nothing to do with the other teams, and no financial connection to them. But of course the IRS had no way of knowing that. They must have assumed if one team is trying to get away with something, they probably all are.
Now here's the question: will even one person intending to break the law in a casino now refrain because of the knowledge that it could hurt more than just themselves...I doubt it.
~FK
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Mickey" <mickeycrimm@...> wrote: There's a little more to the story than meets the eye. Frank may have run a clean ship but that doesn't mean the other teams did. Down and out "to hell with the IRS" hustlers would sign W2-G's for up to 10%.
Steve was a poker dealer at the Colorado Belle when I was spending lots of time in Laughlin from 1996 to 2002. He told me about being down and out when he first came to Las Vegas....and going to work on Tuna Lund's team.
I asked him what was going on with the W2-G situation. Who was signing? He said "There was lots of swapping seats going on. I signed a bunch. A few years later I started dealing poker, got married and settled down....then the IRS dunned me for $50,000. They finally settled with me for $7,000. I had to make payments until I got it all paid."
Tuna is dead now. "To hell with the IRS!" would probably be a nice litle epitaph on his tombstone.
