How to track gambling sessions for taxes: free 2026 log

What the IRS requires in a gambling diary

IRS Publication 529 requires a gambling diary to record the date and type of wager, the name and location of the establishment, the names of people present, and the amount won or lost. ^[2] The publication lists the four items this way:

“The date and type of your specific wager or wagering activity.”

“The name and address or location of the gambling establishment.”

“The names of other persons present with you at the gambling establishment.”

“The amount(s) you won or lost.”

Topic 419 puts the condition on the deduction itself: “To deduct your losses, you must keep an accurate diary or similar record of your gambling winnings and losses and be able to provide receipts, tickets, statements, or other records that show the amount of both your winnings and losses.” ^[1] The diary is the record; the tickets and statements are what back it up. Publication 529 adds that the records should show winnings separately from losses, because winnings are reported in full and losses are deducted separately. ^[2]

What counts as one gambling session

For tax purposes a gambling session (play on one type of game at one establishment within one calendar day) is the unit the log is written in (IRS Notice 2015-21). ^[3] The Notice defines it in one sentence: “A session of play begins when a patron places the first wager on a particular type of game and ends when the same patron completes his or her last wager on the same type of game before the end of the same calendar day.” ^[3] Three things therefore start a new line in the log:

• A different type of game. Slots and blackjack at the same casino on the same evening are two sessions.
• A different establishment. Leaving one casino and playing at another the same day starts a separate session at the second one, even on the same calendar day. ^[3]
• A new calendar day. Play from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. is one session through 11:59 p.m. and a second session from midnight to 2 a.m., in the time zone where the wager was placed. ^[3]

Stopping and coming back does not start a new session. In the Notice's Example 5, a player is up $300 after an afternoon of slots, leaves for dinner, returns to the same casino and loses $75 before 11 p.m.; that is one session with a $225 gain, not a $300 win and a $75 loss. ^[3] Inside a session, wins and losses net to one number. Across sessions they never net: the Notice says it “does not permit gains or losses from separate sessions to be netted against each other to determine gain or loss for a taxable year.” ^[3]

Two cautions. The Notice was a proposed safe harbor for electronically tracked slot play, issued in March 2015 with comments due June 1, 2015, and it was never finalized. ^[3] The authority for session reporting is the Tax Court, in Shollenberger v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-306, and LaPlante v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2009-226, both cited in the Notice, and the IRS Chief Counsel memorandum of 2008 that says a casual gambler “recognizes a wagering gain or loss at the time she redeems her tokens.” ^{[3] [5]} The definition above is the closest thing to an IRS rule, and it is the one this log is built around. See what the session method is for the history.

How to log online sportsbooks, poker apps and DFS

There is no published IRS session rule for sports betting, online casino play, poker or daily fantasy; the 2015 definition covers slot machines. ^[3] The log still works, with three conventions:

• Location is the state you were in when you placed the bet, not where the operator is. That is the state that may tax the result as source income; your home state taxes it either way.
• Pick one unit and keep it. Sportsbooks settle each wager separately and issue W-2Gs per wager, so many preparers report sports bets wager by wager; others log one line per sportsbook per day, which is the slot definition applied to an app. Whichever your preparer uses, the app export has to support it, and a wager large enough for a W-2G is easiest to show on its own line.
• Export the wagering history from every app at least monthly and name it in the evidence column. Operators change what their history pages show, and a deleted account has no history at all.

Get the free session log template

A spreadsheet with the columns below (start and end time, W-2G and withholding each get their own column, plus a notes column) and two example rows. Open it in Sheets, Excel or Numbers, or email it to yourself so it is on your phone at the table.

This is what six filled-in lines look like. The names and amounts are invented; the session boundaries are the point.

Rows one and two are the same casino on the same evening but different games, so they are two sessions. Row four is a slot session that included a $2,400 jackpot: the W-2G goes in the log, but the session result is the $2,400 net of the $500 put in play and the $2,900 cashed out, not the jackpot figure on the form. Row three is a $10 parlay that paid $3,120, over 300 times the wager, so the sportsbook issued a W-2G. ^[6] Rows five and six are losing sessions, written with the same care as the winning ones; they are the deduction.

What each column is for

The columns follow the IRS description of the diary: the date and type of the wager, the name and location of the establishment, the people present, and the amounts won or lost, with supporting records. ^{[1] [2]} The W-2G threshold in the ninth column comes from the 2026 form instructions. ^[6]

How the 90% rule changes the math on a logged year

For tax years beginning after December 31, 2025, IRC 165(d) allows a deduction for only 90% of gambling losses, still limited to gambling winnings. ^[4] The statute now reads that the deduction “shall be equal to 90 percent of the amount of such losses during such taxable year” and “shall be allowed only to the extent of the gains from such transactions during such taxable year”; the change was made by section 70114 of Public Law 119-21, signed July 4, 2025. ^[4] For a 2025 return the deduction is still 100% of losses, capped at winnings. ^[1] Nothing about the log changes; the return does. Three example years, each totaled two ways:

$10,000 of session wins against $10,000 of session losses leaves $1,000 taxable under the 2026 rule. The 90% cut only bites when losses are below about 111% of winnings; once 90% of the losses still exceeds the winnings, the cap at winnings is the binding limit and the return looks the same as in 2025. Scaled up, $50,000 won and $50,000 lost leaves $5,000 taxable in 2026, about $1,600 of tax at a 32% marginal rate. The calculator runs your own log totals both ways, and the phantom income guide explains why the gap is taxed. Bills to restore the full deduction have been introduced; as of the date on this page nothing is enacted, so plan the 2026 return on 90%. Current status is on the 90% cap page.

The session method matters more, not less, under the cap. The 10% haircut applies to the losses you report, and sessions report the net of each sitting rather than every losing spin, so a session log produces a smaller loss figure and less phantom income than a spin-by-spin or bet-by-bet total. ^[5]

What to keep with the log, by game

Publication 529 names the supporting records it expects for each kind of play. ^[2] In its words:

• Slot machines: “a record of the machine number and all winnings by date and time the machine was played.”
• Table games: “the number of the table at which you were playing” and casino credit card data showing whether credit was issued in the pit or at the cashier's cage.
• Keno: copies of the validated keno tickets, casino credit records and check-cashing records.
• Bingo: the number of games played, the cost of tickets and the amounts collected on winning tickets.
• Racing: the races, the amounts wagered, the amounts collected on winning tickets and lost on losing tickets.
• Lotteries: a record of ticket purchases, dates, winnings and losses.

Add the modern equivalents: TITO slips, players club activity records, app wagering history exports, deposit and withdrawal records, and the annual win/loss statement from every operator. Name the item in the evidence column when you write the line.

How the log lands on the return

Winnings from the log's winning sessions are reported in full as income, on Schedule 1 (Form 1040) line 8b. Losses from the losing sessions are deducted only by taxpayers who itemize, on Schedule A as an other itemized deduction, and Topic 419 says the amount “can't be more than the amount of gambling income you reported.” ^[1] For 2026 the deduction is 90% of those losses before the cap. ^[4] A player who takes the standard deduction reports the winnings and deducts nothing. ^[5] The W-2G figures on the IRS transcript are gross payouts, not session results, so a log that shows how each W-2G sits inside its session is what reconciles the two; see how the documents reconcile and how losses are limited.

Why a win/loss statement is not a diary

Topic 419 asks for a diary or similar record plus supporting records; the casino's statement is one of the supporting records. ^[1] A win/loss statement is a players-club estimate of carded play that nets a whole year into one number, and it shows nothing for play without the card, cash table play, or an account you closed. It cannot show session-by-session results, and it does not name the people present. Keep requesting it every January from every operator on the log, and file it behind the log, not instead of it. See why the statement alone is not enough and what to do without a players card.

Five mistakes that lose the deduction

1. Netting the year. One line that says “down $4,000 for 2026” is not a diary. Sessions are reported separately and never netted against each other. ^{[3] [5]}
2. Reconstructing it in April. The record the IRS describes is kept as you go. Write the line when the session ends, not at the end of the month.
3. Logging only W-2G days. That gives the IRS winnings with no substantiated losses. Losing sessions are the deduction; record them with the same care.
4. Leaving out the people present. It is one of the four items Publication 529 lists. ^[2] Write “none” when you were alone or online.
5. No evidence column. A diary with nothing behind it is a claim. Name the ticket, export, table number or statement on every line and keep it with the return.

How long to keep the log

The IRS says to keep records that support an item on a return for 3 years in the ordinary case, 6 years if you do not report income that you should report and it is more than 25% of the gross income shown on the return, and indefinitely if you do not file a return or file a fraudulent one. ^[7] Keep the log, the evidence and each year's win/loss statements together with that year's return for at least that long; a gambling log costs nothing to keep and cannot be rebuilt later.

Keeping the log

1. Open a line when play starts. Date, operator, location, type of play, others present, start time, amount in play.
2. Close it at the last wager of the day. End time, amount out, session result, W-2G and withholding if any. A new game, a new establishment or midnight starts a new line; leaving and coming back to the same establishment the same day does not.
3. Name the evidence. TITO slip, app export, players club record, table number, statement. Keep it with the log.
4. Request statements every January. From every operator on the log, including the losing ones.
5. Total the log before filing. Winning sessions in full as income; losing sessions on Schedule A, 90% of them for 2026, capped at winnings.

Related questions

Sources

1. IRS Tax Topic 419, Gambling income and losses, page last reviewed June 11, 2026
2. IRS Publication 529, Miscellaneous Deductions, Gambling losses up to the amount of gambling winnings, Rev. December 2020
3. IRS Notice 2015-21, proposed safe harbor for determining wagering gains and losses from electronically tracked slot machine play, March 2015
4. 26 U.S.C. § 165(d), Wagering losses, as amended by Pub. L. 119-21 § 70114 (Legal Information Institute), amendment effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025
5. IRS Office of Chief Counsel, AM 2008-011, Reporting of wagering gains and losses, December 12, 2008
6. IRS Instructions for Forms W-2G and 5754, Rev. January 2026
7. IRS, How long should I keep records?, page last reviewed or updated June 30, 2026

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