As Flip The Switch has shared with you in the past, my business has a number of facets to it, which means sometimes players get confused as to how I get my gambling budget. Here’s a good example of a question I get periodically:
I know that playing with someone else’s money is illegal, so my question is this… what is the money used for that you get from your Rudies enrollment fees?
Mindy W.
Thanks for the question Mindy! First off, it’s important for everyone to realize that the Rudies membership funds goes to my business, BC Ventures, and not me personally. Rudies get various perks as part of their membership, from discounts on merchandise orders to anniversary chips to access to Rudies Weekend.
All of those things, along with everything else that goes to operating a business, have expenses, so Rudies Memberships go towards supporting the BC Ventures business. It covers the costs to deliver the services, the employees that ensure all of these perks are available, our office space, and so on.
So to the other side of the question – you’re correct that I’m not gambling with anyone else’s money. I gamble with my own money. For what it’s worth, a business can’t gamble (nor claim jackpots) so that’s entirely on me.
Of course, I do draw an income from my business, as anyone else who gets paid for what they do, but my gambling, including the wins and losses, are entirely on me. So even when I’m doing a Rudies live, I’m playing with my own money.
It’s an important distinction – I can’t gamble with the business’ money, so that means I can’t just take Rudies money and go to the casino. I budget for my casino trips based on the money I have available in my own entertainment budget, and what I’m willing to put on the line.
When you subscribe to a Rudies membership, you’re supporting the overall business and the various perks we provide you as part of that support, and I’m so appreciative of that support, especially since this is going live right after our 8th anniversary of launching the Rudies (with some members participating since the very beginning!).
I am always humbled by the support I get from our community, especially the Rudies, and appreciate what we all have built together to be a positive light daily around our shared love of the casino. And if you want to take advantage of all of the amazing perks that comes with a membership (free events, discounts on the shop, private lives +++) visit Rudies4Life.com and you can be a member for as little as $5 a month!
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That is great info. I always wondered how the business was run. When you win…you win but I know that we can’t really make a living by slots. LOL How do you do taxes? Winnings reported? Losses? I have no clue on any of this side of things.
Thanks for the question David! Brian has the same process as anyone else, except because there’s a lot more paperwork he has an accountant help him out. He has to claim the wins, but because he’s able to itemize on his taxes he’s also able to claim the losses against the wins as well. Since he keeps a very detailed record of his gambling (including video footage), he’s in pretty good shape to do it :)
IMHO, A rudies membership makes one eligible to buy your ticket to Rudies weekend which is THE BEST time you can have in Vegas as far as I’m concerned. Brian and his crew are great hosts and also will teach you some good strategy to try on video poker, ( right Josh? LOL).
I have met some really good people, broke at least even on my gambling and had such fun at the parties. So much to do. Proud rudie member for almost 5 yrs.
Welcome back to the Rudies Sunny! We’re looking forward to another fun year and we’re excited to see you in May!