Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Groetzinger

Decided February 24, 1987. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 85-1226 · 480 U.S. 23 (1987) · Cited 704 times

Holding

A full-time gambler who makes wagers solely for his own account is engaged in a "trade or business" within the meaning of Code 162(a) and 62(1).

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Higgins v. Commissioner · 312 U.S. 212 (1941)
• Deputy, Administratrix v. Du Pont · 308 U.S. 488 (1940)
• Snow v. Commissioner · 416 U.S. 500 (1974)
• Whipple v. Commissioner · 373 U.S. 193 (1963)
• Marchetti v. United States · 390 U.S. 39 (1968)
• Helvering v. Horst · 311 U.S. 112 (1940)
• United States v. Gilmore · 372 U.S. 39 (1963)
• Flood v. Kuhn · 407 U.S. 258 (1972)
• United States v. Skelly Oil Co. · 394 U.S. 678 (1969)
• Charles Ilfeld Co. v. Hernandez · 292 U.S. 62 (1934)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1987). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).