$400 a hour? Wow, makes me question what I'm doing wrong since I have a jd and have been practicing for 26 years and don't even bill that an hour even though I'm in a specialized field and according to the State Bar of Michigan annual survey, that hourly income puts him as an outlier in the 99.8th percentile for billing for all lawyers in Michigan and it's only flipping pinballs! It also places him, just for kicks, in the 95th percentile for practicing physicians who are in specialty fields with 10 or more years of experience, and if you include hospital and general practitioners, it is in the 97th percentile for income.

400 HUO games seems statistically improbable given the relative percentage of true home-use-only machines to the number of machines which are not truly home-use-only.

it's an undocumented playfield-improvement modification! It increases the aerodynamic downforce of the pinball as it zooms by, which provides you with the following benefits:

1. increased pinball speed;
2. longer playtimes;
3. regrowth of male-pattern baldness hairloss;
and most importantly
4. improved sexual gratification with your spouse or significant other (or both!)

by the way, EC, very sorry for the loss of your dog. Any dog-owner has been (or will be going) through that at some point. Sometimes I think that loss is more painful then the loss of a relative/loved one.

perhaps we are on to something here btw75 -- maybe I've missed a market for Pinball expert testimony or a lobbyist/SIG for Pinball manufacturers in Congress!

Quick hypothetical-only calculations:

$500,000 of ordinary income, presuming no tax-sheltered investments equates to about $230,000 in income-tax due include SE tax & FICA, presuming 46% total tax bracket at that income.

If $800,000 as gross income flow through to schedule C, assume 50% of that as deductible expenses (way overestimated but this is all hypothetical anyhow), so $400,000 bottom line income on Schedule C taxed as ordinary income would equate to another $184,000 in income tax liability.

total tax liability per year: $414,000.00, or quarterly estimate payments of $103,500. Actually I think at that level, monthly estimate payments would be required, so $34,500 per month due the IRS in estimated tax payments. THAT'S a lot of quarters in pinball machine just for taxes.... 138,000 of them to be exact!

Pursuant to requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Service, any tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended to be used, and cannot be used, for purposes of avoiding penalties imposed under the United States Internal Revenue Code or promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any tax-related matter. Consultation with a tax professional is recommended for proper advice.

Actually, IIRC, blackjack is the 'best' odds in gambling. If you play a "perfect" bjack game, the odds run 51:49 in the house's favor. "Perfect" being defined as both 'perfect' play with hands and 'perfect' betting strategy.

I am always quite amused by people who claim to consistently have "big winnings" from casinos. That usually means one of two things:
a) the statements are disingenuous;
or
b) their "big winnings" are accompanied by even bigger losses.

Think about it - trillions of dollars invested into a city built in the middle of the desert was not built upon casinos paying out big winnings to people.

Have one, but it is missing the undocumented playfield aerodynamic improvement shown circled in red in the picture a few posts back.

(No wonder I'm still bald!)

OOO..... I want it. Is it a Home Use Only plot of land?

I really don't think you want to open up that Pandora's Box about your sale of the "HUO" PoTC (replaced with the second "HUO" PotC) to me debacle.