President Donald Trump recently signed a sweeping new tax legislation known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, which has stirred considerable concern among poker enthusiasts and professional gamblers during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas.
In conversations with players at the tournament, it became clear that many are unhappy with a specific provision in the 940-page bill, which could drastically impact the way they report their taxes.
Ty Stewart, CEO of the World Series of Poker, highlighted the anxiety among players. “As I walk around the poker tables, I definitely hear it from the players – they’re concerned,” Stewart said.
The core issue lies in a significant change to previous tax regulations that have benefitted gamblers for decades. Previously, individuals who broke even or reported losses were not subjected to tax burdens on their gambling activities. However, starting next year, the law limits deductible losses to only 90 percent.
This means that a player could earn $100,000 in tournament winnings while losing the same amount, and still owe taxes on $10,000, despite not making any real profit. For high-stakes players, the ramifications can be severe, as professional gamblers often experience wins and losses running into millions of dollars annually.
Russell Fox, a poker player and tax expert from Nevada, expressed disbelief upon reading the new tax language. “It’s bad for just about everybody in the industry,” he claimed.
Well-known poker player Daniel Negreanu echoed Fox’s sentiment, stating, “This is just a completely illogical bill. You’re taxing people who lose money. We don’t mind paying taxes, but like, on actual money. Nobody thinks it’s fair to pay taxes when you lose money.”
The anger over the legislative changes has not gone unnoticed. Representative Dina Titus, a Democrat from Nevada, noted that her office has experienced an influx of constituents voicing their frustrations specifically regarding the gambling provisions.
Titus remarked, “We’ve gotten more response to this than we did for anything about Medicaid or food stamps. It hurts players of all kinds, professional or recreational.”
The new law isn’t limited to poker; it also applies to sports betting and various forms of gambling, but the professional players appear to be the most affected.
Fox raised an essential point about the potential impact on players’ financial viability. “If you are playing very high buy-in tournaments and your margin is effectively low because you’re playing against the world’s best players, what’s the point in playing those tournaments when the government’s going to dock you 10 percent?” he asked.
As dissent swells within the poker community, the top competitors are voicing their disapproval loudly. Scott Seiver, who was crowned the World Series of Poker player of the year last year, predicted that the new regulation would be “devastating to most, if not all, of American poker.”
Seiver described the beauty of poker as encapsulating core American values of equality and meritocracy – sentiments he now finds are at odds with the recent legislative changes.
In response to the widespread dissatisfaction, some of the poker community’s most prominent figures are taking action to address the issue at the federal level.
Phil Hellmuth, a legendary poker pro, shared that he has been in contact with Sen. Ted Cruz, who reached out to him regarding the new provision. Hellmuth has begun referring to this tax change as “poker’s death tax” and is advocating for a legislative reversal.
Cruz is currently co-sponsoring a bill aiming to reinstate the previous policy, which allowed players to be taxed only on actual winnings. He expressed optimism about the potential for change. “I don’t know of anyone in the Senate who opposes fixing it on the merits,” Cruz told NPR.
Having passed the bill with little awareness of its implications, many lawmakers now seem willing to reconsider. Negreanu hinted that discussions could extend as high as the President himself, noting, “We have contacts to, you know, powerful people in Washington. Sometimes these bills pass and people don’t even know what’s in them. And in this case, I don’t think they really thought this one through.”
The origins of this ill-received provision can be traced back to the Senate Finance Committee, which amended the bill in a manner unseen by many in the gambling industry.
Amanda Critchfield, a spokesperson for the committee, explained that adjustments were necessary to comply with budgetary rules. However, the change did not appear in the original House version of the bill, which surprised gaming associations.
The American Gaming Association had voiced its priorities earlier in the legislative process, stressing the importance of retaining the full deductibility of gambling losses, but it seemed their concerns were overlooked.
Critchfield noted, “[Committee Chairman] Sen. [Mike] Crapo is open to receiving feedback from affected stakeholders and learning more about industry reporting and compliance.”
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the policy shift could increase federal revenue by nearly $1.1 billion over the coming decade, but this is a small figure in the larger context of the overall federal budget.
Rep. Mark Amodei, a Republican from Nevada, said, “It’s not like it’s zillions of dollars which is going to save the nation. To you and me, $1.1 billion is a lot of money. But in the overall scheme of what we’re doing here, it’s like – this isn’t going to make anybody a hero.”
The broader tax bill, however, is expected to increase the federal deficit by a staggering $3.4 trillion over the next ten years, creating a complex backdrop for sensitive discussions about tax equity within the gambling sector.
In legislative circles, efforts are already underway to address the new provision. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto attempted an unsuccessful maneuver to reverse the tax change in the Senate, voicing concerns that the provision could lead to long-term damage in the gaming industry.
Cortez Masto warned that if the law takes effect, it could push events and wagering into illegal markets, as well as drive significant events offshore, ultimately harming tourism in Las Vegas and beyond.
In addition to ongoing Senate efforts, Amodei and Titus are also pushing for a House bill that seeks to restore the previous 100 percent deduction capacity for gambling losses.
Amodei remarked that the new provision may foster dishonesty regarding win-loss reporting among gamblers, suggesting that individuals may seek ways to evade taxes on income they technically didn’t earn.
Despite the perception that these changes predominantly impact large gambling states like Nevada and New Jersey, Amodei emphasized that many other states now offer gaming, asserting the widespread relevance of this tax discussion across the nation.
As tensions rise, the poker community remains hopeful that lawmakers will heed their concerns and reconsider this controversial taxation policy.
image source from：npr
