Professional Poker Players, Bettors Increasingly Worried About 2026 Tax
Posted on: December 3, 2025, 12:00h.
Last updated on: December 3, 2025, 12:07h.
- Deductions for gambling losses against wins are to be reduced next year
- Nevada lawmakers are seeking to restore the wagering tax deduction to 100%
Professional poker players, sports bettors, and other gamblers who rely on casinos for their income are becoming increasingly worried that a fix to a tax change in the Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” isn’t coming.
The tax and spending policy package signed into law on July 4 by President Donald Trump reduced the amount of gambling losses an individual filer can deduct against their winnings from 100% to 90%. The amendment means a person who wins $100K during the tax year but also loses $100K gambling would need to pay federal taxes on $10K.
US Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) has filed the FAIR Bet Act, or “Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation Act,” to restore the tax deduction to 100%. The measure has 21 bipartisan sponsors, but the House Ways and Means Committee has refused to consider the bill.
With less than a month before the wagering tax adjustment is to go into effect, professional gamblers are voicing their worries.
Pro Gamblers Face Unjust Tax
The IRS generally allows businesses to deduct their expenses against their revenue to determine their taxable income. Professional gamblers who itemize argue the One Big Beautiful Bill unfairly penalizes them, taxing phantom income they didn’t end up with at the end of the year.
David Kaye, an online poker player with 21.8K Twitch followers, says he’s finding new work unless the tax code is returned.
“If the 2026 Gambling Tax change is not repealed, I will not be playing online poker next year,” Kaye wrote on X. Kaye broke down how the One Big Beautiful Bill wagering tax would impact him in a hypothetical scenario.
Blaise Bourgeois, a poker player who finished ninth at the Aria Poker Classic $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em event in June, says the “Big Sh**ty Ass Bill is dangerous for volume-based poker players/gamblers who carve out thin edges.”
Rufus Peabody, a professional bettor and co-founder of Unabated Sports, says the tax change seeks to penalize losing gamblers, too.
“Someone can lose money gambling, and still owe taxes on it,” Peabody posted on X.
Senate Companion Bill
Nevada’s congressional delegation is leading the fight to restore the wagering deduction. Along with Titus’ FAIR Bet Act, US Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), along with Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN), are behind the FULL HOUSE Act, or the “Facilitating Useful Loss Limitations to Help Our Unique Service Economy.”
Taxing people on money they don’t have will stifle the tourism industry in states like Nevada, push poker tournaments offshore, and drive betting into underground, unregulated markets. There is bipartisan support to fix this mistake, and it is time for my colleagues in both parties and chambers of Congress to get it done,” Cortez Masto said.
“Our bipartisan bill fixes a harmful provision … that taxes casino players who lose money. It’s not just bad math, it’s bad policy,” added Rosen. “If we don’t fix this misguided provision, people would be discouraged from visiting casinos and Nevada’s tourism economy would take a hit.”
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