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Your income tax is due in four days, and you hit a big jackpot in 2007. Or maybe you're figuring the stars will line up soon and that big payday will hit this year. Either way, Russ Fox, an author of poker articles and a tax expert with Clayton Financial and Tax in Irvine, Calif., blogs about both topics, at taxabletalk.com. Fox, an enrolled agent in California, offers the 411 on your 1040:

Q. What can you claim?

A. There are two basic points about the U.S. tax code as far as gambling: You can never have losses that exceed your winnings, and that includes professionals. But you can take as an itemized deduction your losses up to the amount of your winnings. The other major point, which creates audit situations, is insufficient records. You absolutely should keep a gambling log.

Q. How do you do that?

A. Buy a small notebook and write down the date, the casino name, the table number, the game you're playing, the start and end time and the results, and you have met the IRS requirement. If you play online, do the same thing, but keep a spreadsheet.

Read more of this online gambling article here...