ANyone have any idea what type of mailers are sent from 4 winds?
Bounce Back Cash or Mailers from 4 WInds
ANyone have any idea what type of mailers are sent from 4 winds?
Mailers from Four Winds are typically "stuff" and drawings. Hotel offers
are normally included and depending on your play level are free or very
competitive. I suspect the hotel offers can be worked if you contact your/a
host.
Their point program is a little different than most locations. But in
comparison to Ameristar, I wouldn't expect a high volume of 3x, 4x, 5x point
days. Nor would I expect a bunch of $ coupons for each individual day like
the Horseshoe does.
Last year, we took advantage of their get a percentage of loses back when
you joined the slot club. After that initial visit, between my husband and
I there were at least two dates per month that we got up to $200/$400 in
comp play combined between the two of us that made the 1.5hr drive worth
going. We were getting one monthly and one to two weekly mailers after
that.
After about 4 months and an unlucky streak there, we returned to playing
mostly at our more local casinos and the mailers are now the 1x monthly
promos and maybe their bigger holiday/giveaway promos. Free Play is offered
variably at the $5-$20 and on their special monthly days maybe gets up to
$20/$40.
The Freeplay in the mailers works similar to the MGM system. You must put
at least one full bet into the machine and then select the amount of Instant
and Comp Play you want added to the machine. Every hand you play, it adds
that bet amount to your working bankroll in the machine. So if you lose a
hand, it's like a push in BlackJack, otherwise you get an extra bet on top
of what you won for the hand. So you are forced to play out the bounce
back and comp cash before you cash any of it out and it must be done at the
machines. Overall, the interface for getting the comp play is the best I've
seen, but it definitely gives a different feel to play VP when the comp play
ticks down over other slot programs.
FWIW, haven't been since probably July.
Michigan does not automatically withold the 4.35% state tax from W2G wins. However they do expect you to file a Michigan non-resident tax form if you owe tax. If you are an Indiana resident can you claim state tax paid in Michigan as a credit? There is a rumor that Indiana will not honor tax paid on gambling wins in Michigan. Is this true or is there a better way to file this?
The states around the Midwest should be reciprocal states. You end up
reporting what you've paid in state G-2 taxes to your non-home states in
every location you gambled in on their non-resident forms. You must pay out
of pocket the taxes at the time they are due and wait for refund checks from
the states that owe money back to you.
In past years, Indiana refunds to non-residents filled on April 15th have
taken until almost August to receive the refunds owed. And don't be
surprised if they ask you to back up your claims with the G-2s and the
original supporting information at some point in the refunding process.
Indiana makes a decent chunk of money because non-residents don't file these
forms every year at tax time.
Remember that G-2 and gambling income is income. While there are some rules
that make it hard to take deductions and losses, the states still treat
their state taxation as they would other income tax by non-residents. To
all of sudden stop doing so would cause some general problems with other
non-gambling income amongst the states. Consult your CPA for current 2009
tax rules.
Also take a look at Marissa Chien's Book: Tax Help for Gamblers. It's easy
to understand and answers a lot of questions.