“One Big B.S. Bill” Signed Into Law, Could Hit Gamblers Bigly

By Scott Roeben, on July 05 2025
6 min read 8 comments
Las Vegas

Opinions vary widely about the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” that was recently approved by various branches of government and signed by the President on July 4, 2025.

Included in the nearly 1,000 pages of legislation was a teensy section that could cost some gamblers big bucks and negatively impact the casino industry.

By “some gamblers,” of course, we mean us, which is why we’re annoyed by this confounding dipshittery. Let’s get into it.

To be clear, we are not demonizing the I.R.S. Please submit all grievances in writing to A.I.

Nobody really seems to know where Section 70114 originated, but it’s titled, “Extension and Modification of Limitation on Wagering Losses.”

The consensus seems to be such inclusions in this legislation are to try and make up for the massive costs associated with giving billionaires the tax breaks they so richly deserve.

Here’s the language causing a significant kerfuffle in the gambling community. This is all of it, a whopping 133 words.

ChatGPT says there are 133 words, not including the title. We sure as hell aren’t taking the time to count them.

Here’s the bottom line: Effective January 1, 2026, for tax purposes, only 90% of gambling losses can be claimed to offset winnings.

Currently, gamblers who itemize can deduct 100% of their gambling losses against their winnings.

The most commonly used example is if a gambler wins $100,000 over the course of a year and loses it all, breaking even, they would only be able to deduct $90,000 of those losses. They’d be taxed on $10,000 they don’t actually have.

Hence the kerfuffle.

The biggest fallout is likely to be to professional gamblers, but there are a lot of recreational gamblers who will also feel this swift kick to the adjusted gross income.

We gamble frequently and thus have a lot of handpays. The total of our jackpots really never mattered all that much because the wins were offset by our winnings when tax time rolled around.

The I.R.S. sort of has a blind spot when it comes to gambling, mostly because they get paperwork (form W-2G) from casinos when a player wins a jackpot of $1,200 or more, but doesn’t get similar paperwork when that player loses their ass.

Which can lead to the false belief gambling wins exist but losses don’t.

When you Google the phrase “mixed emotions,” this is the image you see.

Not too long ago, we were audited by the I.R.S. While that sounds exciting, trust us, it was not.

It’s unclear what sparked the audit, but the I.R.S. requested documentation justifying our deductions for medical expenses, charitable contributions and the dreaded gambling losses.

We spent weeks compiling all the documents. Again, sounds far more exciting than it was. Contemporaneous gambling logs. ATM receipts. Casino win/loss statements. Bank statements. The whole nine.

This is not us, but we asked A.I. to make it us-like. It’s definitely giving Jason Sudeikis, which is definitely more of a compliment to us than Jason Sudeikis. Reminder: We’re all doomed.

We sent our documents to the I.R.S. office handling our case. In Utah. Gambling is illegal in Utah. This did not bode particularly well, but our documents were thorough, our confidence was high.

As a result of all our hard work and flawless bookkeeping, the I.R.S. determined we owed $15,000 in taxes on our gambling winnings. Winnings we no longer had because we lost tens of thousands of dollars gambling that year.

Ironically, the amount of losses the I.R.S. discounted was about (wait for it) 10% of our losses. Foreshadowing!

At that point we realized we needed help, so we hired Tracy Janssen, our personal hero for life. Her Las Vegas company, Symphony Business Services, deals with a lot of tax issues related to gambling. No, this is not a paid ad. We know how you are.

Anyway, Janssen’s services aren’t cheap (we paid a $3,000 “retainer”), but given the potential of owing the government $15,000 plus fees and interest, it was a pretty safe bet.

Janssen sent a fax to the I.R.S., explaining we were going to fight the decision. We had in our toolkit a little something called Coleman v. Commissioner, a court decision where a judge realized it is “virtually impossible” for a player to have annual net gambling winnings (“profit”) when they gamble a lot (casino games have a built-in advantage for the house), so a player shouldn’t have to pay taxes on income that doesn’t exist.

Coleman v. Commissioner is apparently such a powerful weapon (or daunting nuisance), the I.R.S. wrote back quickly to say that rather than the $15,000 we supposedly owed for our gambling winnings, we owed zero dollars. When you owe zero dollars, you also owe no late fees or interest.

We are not making this up.

Yes, we paid a Tax Coach $3,000 for a fax, but that fax saved us $12,000. We also got valuable coaching about how to be more meticulous with our record-keeping should such tribulations arise in the future.

Why do we share all this?

Because if Section 70114 of the “Big B.S. Bill” stands, gamblers, who are already under attack by the I.R.S., will be even more scrod. Ten percent more scrod, to be exact.

Of course, casinos aren’t thrilled about this legislation as it could change player behavior. And by “change,” of course, we mean it could dissuade gamblers from gambling so much. Nobody wants that!

If we get hit with 10% more tax liability, we’ll probably play lower denominations to avoid hitting the reportable threshold. That means less coin-in and less revenue for the casinos where we play.

Democratic Nevada Rep. Dina Titus says she’ll introduce a bill to get the 90% thing reversed.

Derek Stevens, owner of Circa, thanked Titus after her announcement (see below), which is a smidge ironic given the fact he invited Donald Trump to his casino in Jan. 2025. Rich guys love Trump’s policies when it helps them, hate when his policies hurt their bottom line.

Yes, we can be friends with Derek Stevens while taking issue with his political leanings. That’s one of the things that makes America great. Or used to, anyway.

Stevens took the opportunity to raise other matters unrelated to the new legislation, including the federal excise tax on sports bets (Circa’s whole business model is centered around sports and Circa Sports operates sportsbooks in a number of casinos in five states) and the much-needed raising of the I.R.S. tax reporting threshold for slot jackpots.

The jackpot reporting threshold is a whole quagmire of its own. Raise the threshold and entire casino departments are moot (lots of slot attendants and pencil pushers will be out of work). Raise the threshold and billions of dollars of tax revenue will go away. As if the Big B.S. Bill’s addition of trillions of dollars to the national debt weren’t abhorrent enough. All this is made even more awkward due to the fact all gambling winnings are reportable and taxable. In theory. The reality is gamblers never report wins below that $1,200 threshold. Raising the threshold will save casinos and players lots of time and headaches, but millions of jackpots will no longer be reported or subject to taxes.

Just like the “no taxes on tips” thing, it sounds great, but any time you lose tax revenue, somebody else has to pay for it. Or you just run up a bigger tab. Japan and China are the largest holders of U.S. debt, so they’re thrilled with all this dumbassery.

Anyway, back to the taxing 10% of imaginary dollars thing.

Also up in arms about the new law is the American Gaming Association, a national trade group representing the U.S. casino industry.

Just kidding! They screwed the pooch by posting support of the law likely to hurt many of the casinos the organization represents.

There was so much backlash, they turned off comments, akin to putting one’s fingers in one’s ears and repeating, “La-la-la-la.”

The American Gaming Association represents wealthy people. The Big B.S. Bill, now law, is really good for rich people.

Anyway, we typically don’t do politics on this blog because politics are the only thing more boring than sports.

We make the occasional exception when politicians do stupid things that affect our friends and fellow gamblers and, ultimately, the casinos we know and love.

For most people, gambling is a form of recreation. Most don’t itemize their deductions, so not being able to write off 100% of losses isn’t a huge deal. It is a big deal for gambling enthusiasts and professional gamblers.

The government isn’t around when we place those bets or spin those reels, the I.R.S. has no skin in the game, they shouldn’t get a cut on those rare occasions when we overcome the odds and win a few bucks.

The I.R.S. (especially its offices located in Utah) doesn’t understand gamblers or gambling, thus this pastime (and full-time job for a good number of poker players) is stigmatized and penalized.

Here’s hoping cooler heads prevail, the new law will be reversed and the weight of paying for tax cuts for the rich won’t fall on gamblers. Let’s keep that burden on the poor, the elderly, minorities and other vulnerable populations, the way God intended.

It’s a joke. Humor is one of the things that makes America great. Or used to, anyway.

Update (7/7/25): They figured out who the nitwit is who added this nonsense to the legislation.

A guy had an interesting take on Twitter: “If 90% [of your] losses exceed your winnings, it don’t matter. Which is the case of most slot players.” We were going to fix his grammar, then realized our comment says, “typically was can write off.” Things move quickly on Twitter.