I am a novice to the sportsbetting industry, so pardon me if I am asking a very elementary question. I recently won $3000 on a free online football contest. I am assuming this is taxable income, but do most people actually declare this as income??? I previously received a payout from this site and the turnaround time was pretty fast. Even though this is an offshore site, the check came via a U.S. bank. I don't understand how this works. If I understand correctly, a person can write off their losses up to the amount of any winnings they may receive. Are offshore payouts closely followed by the IRS? Just curious...