Last night, one of Jay Leno's guests was Australian Joseph Hachem, who recently won $7.5 million bucks (American) in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
There was an interesting subtext to their discussion. Jay was asking Hachem about what it's like to be a professional gambler. Hachem kept suggesting that he really isn't a professional gambler. He's a mortgage broker and playing poker, he says, is just a sideline.
He had a good reason for insisting on the distinction. Under Australian tax law, income from your primary business is taxable, whereas income from a hobby is not. If it's ruled that gambling is Hachem's primary business, the tax collector there could claim up to $4.85 million of his winnings.
If I were him, I'd run back to Melbourne and arrange a lot of mortgages. And fast.