A professional gambler’s novel way to boost deductions doesn’t pass muster. He bet on the horses and claimed as a business expense on his tax return his portion of the track’s up-front cut from pari-mutuel betting pools…the amount that the track retains and that is not paid to bettors. The Tax Court nixed his write-off in a 2014 case, and an appeals court has now affirmed that ruling (Lakhani, 9th Cir.).