• Tax On Slot Machine Winning At Buffalo Raceway Results

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Buffalo Raceway encourages responsible wagering. If gambling is a problem for you or someone you care about, help is available 24 hours a day. Call toll free 1-877-8HOPE-NY To learn more click here.

Do you like to gamble? If so, then you should know that the taxman beats the odds every time you do. The Internal Revenue Service and many states consider any money you win in the casino as taxable income. This applies to all types of casual gambling – from roulette and poker tournaments to slots, bingo and even fantasy football. In some cases, the casino will withhold a percentage of your winnings for taxes before it pays you at the rate of 24 percent.

Casino Winnings Are Not Tax-Free

Casino winnings count as gambling income and gambling income is always taxed at the federal level. That includes cash from slot machines, poker tournaments, baccarat, roulette, keno, bingo, raffles, lotteries and horse racing. If you win a non-cash prize like a car or a vacation, you pay taxes on the fair market value of the item you win.

By law, you must report all your winnings on your federal income tax return – and all means all. Whether you win five bucks on the slots or five million on the poker tables, you are technically required to report it. Job income plus gambling income plus other income equals the total income on your tax return. Subtract the deductions, and you'll pay taxes on the resulting figure at your standard income tax rate.

How Much You Win Matters

While you're required to report every last dollar of winnings, the casino will only get involved when your winnings hit certain thresholds for income reporting:

• $5,000 (reduced by the wager or buy-in) from a poker tournament, sweepstakes, jai alai, lotteries and wagering pools.
  
• $1,500 (reduced by the wager) in keno winnings.
  
• $1,200 (not reduced by the wager) from slot machines or bingo
  
• $600 (reduced by the wager at the casino's discretion) for all other types of winnings but only if the payout is at least 300 times your wager.
  

Win at or above these amounts, and the casino will send you IRS Form W2-G to report the full amount won and the amount of tax withholding if any. You will need this form to prepare your tax return.

Understand that you must report all gambling winnings to the IRS, not just those listed above. It just means that you don't have to fill out Form W2-G for other winnings. Income from table games, such as craps, roulette, blackjack and baccarat, do not require a WG-2, for example, regardless of the amount won. It's not clear why the IRS has differentiated it this way, but those are the rules. However, you still have to report the income from these games.

What is the Federal Gambling Tax Rate?

Standard federal tax withholding applies to winnings of $5,000 or more from:

• Wagering pools (this does not include poker tournaments).
  
• Lotteries.
  
• Sweepstakes.
  
• Other gambling transactions where the winnings are at least 300 times the amount wagered.
  

If you win above the threshold from these types of games, the casino automatically withholds 24 percent of your winnings for the IRS before it pays you. If you cannot provide a Social Security number, the casino will make a 'backup withholding.' A backup withholding is also applied at the rate of 24 percent, only now it includes all your gambling winnings from slot machines, keno, bingo, poker tournaments and more. This money gets passed directly to the IRS and credited against your final tax bill. Before December 31, 2017, the standard withholding rate was 25 percent and the backup rate was 28 percent.

The $5,000 threshold applies to net winnings, meaning you deduct the amount of your wager or buy-in. For example, if you won $5,500 on the poker tables but had to buy in to the game for $1,000, then you would not be subject to the minimum withholding threshold.

It's important to understand that withholding is an entirely separate requirement from reporting the winning on Form WG-2. Just because your gambling winning is reported on Form WG-2 does not automatically require a withholding for federal income taxes.

Can You Deduct Gambling Losses?

If you itemize your deductions on Schedule A, then you can also deduct gambling losses but only up to the amount of the winnings shown on your tax return. So, if you won $5,000 on the blackjack table, you could only deduct $5,000 worth of losing bets, not the $6,000 you actually lost on gambling wagers during the tax year. And you cannot carry your losses from year to year.

The IRS recommends that you keep a gambling log or spreadsheet showing all your wins and losses. The log should contain the date of the gambling activity, type of activity, name and address of the casino, amount of winnings and losses, and the names of other people there with you as part of the wagering pool. Be sure to keep all tickets, receipts and statements if you're going to claim gambling losses as the IRS may call for evidence in support of your claim.

What About State Withholding Tax on Gambling Winnings?

There are good states for gamblers and bad states for gamblers. If you're going to 'lose the shirt off your back,' you might as well do it in a 'good' gambling state like Nevada, which has no state tax on gambling winnings. The 'bad' states tax your gambling winnings either as a flat percentage of the amount won or by ramping up the percentage owed depending on how much you won.

Each state has different rules. In Maryland, for example, you must report winnings between $500 and $5,000 within 60 days and pay state income taxes within that time frame; you report winnings under $500 on your annual state tax return and winnings over $5,000 are subject to withholding by the casino due to state taxes. Personal tax rates begin at 2 percent and increase to a maximum of 5.75 percent in 2018. In Iowa, there's an automatic 5 percent withholding for state income tax purposes whenever federal taxes are withheld.

State taxes are due in the state you won the income and different rules may apply to players from out of state. The casino should be clued in on the state's withholding laws. Speak to them if you're not clear why the payout is less than you expect.

How to Report Taxes on Casino Winnings

You should receive all of your W2-Gs by January 31 and you'll need these forms to complete your federal and state tax returns. Boxes 1, 4 and 15 are the most important as these show your taxable gambling winnings, federal income taxes withheld and state income taxes withheld, respectively.

You must report the amount specified in Box 1, as well as other gambling income not reported on a W2-G, on the 'other income' line of your IRS Form 1040. This form is being replaced with a simpler form for the 2019 tax season but the reporting requirement remains the same. If your winnings are subject to withholding, you should report the amount in the 'payment' section of your return.

Different rules apply to professional gamblers who gamble full time to earn a livelihood. As a pro gambler, your winnings will be subject to self-employment tax after offsetting gambling losses and after other allowable expenses.

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The Buffalo animal-themed free slot game initially gained its popularity in the land-based casinos. When most of software manufacturers made the transition and brought the machine to virtual casinos, the online version became even more played. Players prefer to play free Buffalo slot machine games, which is available in the format of 5 reels and 4 symbols spinning per each reel. The machine is specific for its 1024 ways to win (fixed paying lines), and the changeable feature is the number of reels, while it is usually the other way around in video pokies.

Buffalo	10	50	100	300
Eagle	50	100	150
Tiger	50	100	150
Wolf	20	80	120
Elk	20	80	120
A and K	10	50	100
Q and J	5	20	100
10 and 9	2	5	10	100

How to play Buffalo slot machine

Tax On Slot Machine Winning At Buffalo Raceway Results

The design is not the most attractive feature of this slot. Buffalo is a casino slot game that couldn't be defined as a graphically high, and the symbols are 2D. There are many cutting-edge machines nowadays, yet again, bettors prefer the traditional classic Buffalo over many new free slots. There are many things tied to Buffalo theme in the world and many people like them due to size and strength – buffalo sabres or buffalo wild wings is an example. Some would like to see the buffalo grill menu or buffalo bisons running wild, but it’s all about buffalo slot machine review. Hopefully some American football Buffalo Bills team fans will find this buffalo slot machine for their liking. We have tried to see why:

• The big number of winning lines is praised among players because it matches symbols in more than thousand ways. This, compared to slots with 20 or less lines, secures more paying combinations.
• Buffalo slots is a low volatility, penny slot. The bigger part of players are low / medium rollers, and this machine gives them the chance to bet between $0.1 and $100.
• The machine features free spins for its bonus. This is the most wanted additional game in the slot world and is not hardly triggered.
• The jackpot is 300 coins, one of the lowest jackpot amounts online. However, compared to the total bet amount, this is a fair number. Moreover, you can win it without even betting max; all betting values are eligible for the jackpot.
• The return-to-player is 94.85%

Coin Denomination and Betting Values

The changeable features here are Reel Cost and Bet per Reel. The cost of reels goes from x1 to x40. As you reduce it, the reels you are betting on will lower, too, until you are left with only one betting reel. The line bet can be set between a penny and $2.50. These two configurations result in the amount shown in Total Bet, which varies from max $100 to min $0.01. Remember that all the free spins, once triggered, pay the values based on parameters that you've set before the additional game started. The same goes for the Auto Spin option. An expert's advice is to bet one coin on a video slot that has multiple lines. In this case, 1024 lines are all in play, so it is enough to just set $1.00 total bet. This will, according to studies, lead to higher and more frequent rewards.

Buffalo Slot Machine Tips

The most important part is free spins. Most players prefer to play free Buffalo slot game among other casino entertainments exactly for this reason. You'll have much greater odds of activating them by making all the reels count (x40 cost) because this gives more space for 3+ scatters to show and match. Also, if you are playing in the free demo version, you'll begin with $500 balance. Don't start betting on the max $100 right away or you might end up the gameplay after only 5 tries.

Here are the list of properties that will serve as free tips that are necessary to achieve the minimum level of awareness for preventing troubles and bring winnings.

• Play / Stop – 'Play' triggers the spinning of the Buffalo's reels. Once the round begins, this button will change itself to 'Stop' and by pressing it, you'll stop the spinning before it automatically finishes.
• Win – The amount bellow 'Win' is the price you have won after a played round by landing a combo of symbols. All the payments found on the pay lines are added together, and their total amount is shown in this window. Once you press 'Play' again, the price will transfer to the total balance.
• Balance – Right next to the Aristocrat's logo, you'll see your wager shown in dollars that represent coins when you are playing for fun. Once your balance is insufficient, you can change (lower) the coin selection in the free play, or reload the game. Players for real money can increase their wager and continue where they stopped.
• Auto Play – The auto spin button is connected with 'Play'. It allows players to set the auto spinning after 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 times. Auto Play will stop once the Free Spins are triggered, or you run out of coins.
• Settings – This option opens a new window where you can check or uncheck Sound Effects, Ambient Sound, and Spacebar Spins the Reels. When you open the game, the first two configurations are checked by default. The third one is convenient for computer players when the spacebar can be used instead of the 'Play' button.
• Question Mark (?) – Here, you'll find five filters:
  • Feature: Explains the scatter card and free games additions;
  • Pay Tables: Shows the value and function of all the symbols, but only in the case of your stake being set at 1.00 coins;
  • Game Rules: Additional info about special symbols, and the gameplay;
  • Reel Power: Shows the reels (Xtra Reel Power);
  • Instructions: Explains different buttons. The machine's history can be viewed from here.

Ordinary Symbols

In total, there are 13 symbols appearing on the 5 Buffalo's online slots reels. This is the most common number of icons in online slots, although here they are matched in 1024 ways from left to right. There are 11 standard icons provided in the table above.

When you play the free Buffalo slots game, the same-named symbol is stacked, meaning that it can show itself multiple times on one reel. It is even possible, especially with the help of Wild, to fill the whole screen with these symbols. As you can see, only it and 10 and 9 symbols are paid when 2 of them are matched. Others count only for 3+ of them found on a win line. If your total bet exceeds $1, these above-mentioned winning values will be even higher, and if it is less than $1, the values will reduce.

Bonus Symbols

Two extra symbols exist in the slot:

• Wild – Wild is present in almost every up-to-date video slot and is highly beneficial in the matching of symbols. This bonus card shown as a sunset acts as any available symbol excluding Scatter. During the regular play it appears only on the reels 2, 3, and 4, while in the free games, it will multiply the total payment by two or three times.
• Scatter – This icon triggers the additional bonus games if 3, 4, or 5 of them are landed. It is shown as a golden coin.

Bonus Features

The Buffalo slots machine don't claim the download or registration. Also, it lacks special features such as gambling option and bonus games. However the following ones are enough for players to win big, and even multiply their win by 27 times!

• Xtra Reel Power – This bonus gives bettors a chance to bet on the number of consecutive reels they choose (from the first to the fifth). Furthermore, the third horizontal row of symbols (counted from above) will be added to the gameplay. The total bet changes according to the number of betted reels.
• Free Spins – From the main screen, 8, 15, or 20 free spins can be activated depending on the number of scatters. Every round played during these spins is completely cost-free and can only bring benefit. Moreover, if only 2 scatters are found on the display during the feature, 5 extra free games are awarded.

Myths and Facts

Most players think that the Xtra Reel Power is applied to the 1024 lines. However, these two additions have nothing to do with each other; the first one, as above-mentioned, is about reels and their cost. If you wish to know why the Aristocrat company created exactly 1024 ways to win, simply multiply 4 rows on 5 reels (4 x 4 x 4 x 4) and the answer appears.
An interesting fact on the way to learning how to win Buffalo slot machine with own strategy, you'll see that it has a higher RTP percentage in the online version compared to land-based casinos (90% to 92%).

A myth about online video machines is that players will activate more winning combos if they bet on only $0.1. Though this is available at Aristocrat games page Buffalo online slot, consider the fact that every fair machine works by using Random Number Generator (RNG). Therefore, the odds are the same, no matter how large is the rollers' stake.

The Sequels and Similar Games

After the original version, Aristocrat created three more sequels! They are Buffalo Deluxe, Buffalo Legends, and Buffalo Stampede. As the new parts in the series were coming, we could see graphics and features improving every time. However, the software provided stayed true to the original and kept the trademarks through all the sequels. The last game differentiates the most, with a progressive jackpot, expanding reels, and free spin options added.

FAQ

📌 What Is the Buffalo Slot and Is It Available Online?

Buffalo is a popular land-based game that had a huge fan following. Its popularity led the gaming software developers to make a transition and bring this title to the online world. It tasted success here as well. The Buffalo slot is developed by Aristocrat and can be tried out on many of the licensed, reputed, and reliable gambling sites. It comes with 5 reels and 1024 ways to win. There will be 4 symbols spinning on each of the reels. This is an animal-themed slot that gives plenty of chances to gain big wins. The attractive features offered include free spins, wild and scatter icons. The gameplay is simple with high-end graphics, and 2D animal symbols.

📌 Can I Play Buffalo Slot for Free?

You can. This title is available on many of the reputed and popular gaming websites. Most of them provide this game in the free practice mode. This is suitable for all the players who are new to online casinos. You can check the gameplay and its features by trying out the practice mode. The biggest advantage is that you can check it out as many times as you want before playing for real cash. Once you get well-versed in it, you can always opt to place the real money stake.

📌 How Do I Play Buffalo Slot with Real Money on the Internet?

To play this game with real money to win some prizes, you need first to find out the online gaming website that has this in its portfolio. Once you locate the site, the next step is to sign up for an account. Choosing sites that offer an attractive welcome bonus for the new gambles is a good option to bet with less money from your pocket. After signing up, you need to deposit the money required and then you can start to set the reels rolling.

📌 How to Play the Buffalo Slot?

Before you set the reels rolling, you need to choose the bet size. This is done by pressing the menu button provided on the bottom of the game screen. Press game settings to adjust the reel cost and bet per reel. Use these arrow keys provided under each option to set the total bet. There is also an autoplay option. Choose the number you want to allow the reels to spin continuously. Once done, move to the main game screen and press the spin button to play manually.

📌 Where to Play Online Buffalo Slots for Free?

The Buffalo slots casino game is offered both in free and real money versions with no download at the renowned online gambling platform, Slotozilla. All bettors from around the world are welcome to visit the site; the slots here are free from download and depositing as long as players want to spin 'for fun'. Once they decide to move on to the real play, where coins start representing a real currency, primarily signing up is required. After this, by using e-wallets, bank transfers, or credit cards, customers need to place a wager and then choose to bet on a slot. Next to Buffalo slots machine that is free and no download, there are over 1800 machines filtered on the SZ's pages by their themes and types. Some of the all-time favorite casino machines are WMS's Zeus, IGT's Cleopatra, NetEnt's Lights and Starburst, iSoftBet's Rango, and more.