Actually, I think you're all variations of right and wrong.
First, you DO have to pay taxes on poker (gambling) winnings in the U.S. No, the poker sites aren't reporting your winnings, but YOU are supposed to. If you ever got audited and the IRS asked you where all those deposits to your bank account were coming from, they would nab you.
As for how old you need to be to play online poker, that's up to both the gambling site AND your local jurisdiction. In the states, online poker is a big gray area, but don't think that just because these companies are offshore means no laws apply to you. Just because some web site selling kiddie p0rn is located offshore doesn't mean it's legal for you to download it, for example. And you can't go hiring assassins legally, just because their company happens to be located outside the U.S.
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