Originally Posted by guv1976

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I think that the casinos issue 1099's, not W-2's.

And a non-professional can only deduct gambling losses against winnings if (s)he itemizes deductions; if you do not have enough deductions to justify itemizing, then you are out of luck, and get to pay taxes on your winnings, even if you had a net loss from gambling over the course of the year.

Of course, this may all be moot for the OP, since it appears that -- even if one itemizes -- one cannot deduct gambling losses against non-gambling "prize" income of the type involved here.