ronaldo

After seeing another thread this prompted me to think about winning money playing poker online.

Would that money be taxable?

If it IS taxable, would that make LOSSES deductible?

IF it was your career and you made $200,000 one year, surely you'd have claim it, but if the next year you lost $50,000 would the IRS or CCRA let you right it off as a business loss?

If YES, than why couldn't someone who's just goofing around say they're trying to BECOME a professional poker player and write off $2,000 in losses?

Thoughts?