Poker players and dealers should support Ron Paul (shameless political plug)

Ron Paul is one of only two candidates (the other being Bill Richardson) who have stated clearly that they would repeal the UIGEA (the 2006 law that put such a huge dent in online poker). (See http://pokergrump.blogspot.com/2007/10/poker-players-are-political-wimps.html.) If that isn't enough reason for lovers of the game to throw their support behind him, I just learned of another one.

With the Nevada caucuses approaching early next year, today I heard a radio ad for the candidate in which he announces his support for a measure that would exempt tips from the income tax. (See http://dailypaul.com/node/2513.) This is a pretty smart move to set onesself apart from the field, in a state where so many people rely on tips for a living. I have done no research on what kind of support this proposal has received from others in Congress, but it's easy to imagine that it will become popular. Republicans who claim to be for cutting taxes get a chance to prove it, and Democrats who claim to champion the working stiffs can do the same. Not many millionaires are dependent on tips for their sustenance.

One of the obstacles to becoming a poker dealer is that one typically starts off in smaller rooms on the shifts with the least action (because the more senior dealers know when the tip income is most available and take those shifts when they can). You can end up "on break" for the majority of a shift. But the government still collects tax at a rate of presumed tip income that they have negotiated with each casino, whether or not you earned that much--or anything at all--on a given day. In other words, it's not too difficult to finish a pay period owing more in taxes than you actually earned. That's just insane, but it's going on all the time. It makes it hard to break into the business to spend the first few months in a negative-income situation.

So if you're a poker dealer, or a poker player who would rather see the dealer be able to keep the tips you offer rather than forwarding them straight to the IRS, Ron Paul should be your guy in 2008.