Bettors are worried Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ could cause professional gambling in the U.S. to fold
A relatively underestimated district stimulates the alarm about President Donald Trump’s players – the players.
Nestled in the legislation of almost 900 pages is a change in the way in which the losses of play are imposed which, according to some professional and amateur bettors, could crush the industry.
The provision, only a few paragraphs, would limit what players can deduct from their annual taxes to 90% of their losses from 2026. Currently, bettors can deduct all of their losses, to their gains.
What a certain number of game aficionados have underlined on social networks is that by limiting the tax deduction to 90% of losses, players could in fact owe taxes in the years when they have enabled losses on their bets.
“This new amendment to The One Big Beautiful Bill Act would end professional games in the United States and would also harm occasional players,” said Phil Galfond, a professional poker player, including a video summarizing his argument. “You could pay more taxes than you have made. Contact your representative quickly. ”
Trump should sign the bill on Friday. The provision first generated online buzz after the Senate adopted the legislation on Tuesday.
An example given on X established that in this new configuration, if a player earned $ 200,000 in a year but lost $ 210,000, he would in fact be able to deduce that $ 189,000 in losses. This means that they would have $ 11,000 in taxable income, even if they cost $ 10,000 in losses during the year.
“A pro that earns $ 200,000 / year could have $ 3 million in gains and $ 2.8 million in losses,” Galfond said in a subsequent tweet. “It means earning $ 200,000 and being taxed as if they earned $ 480,000. This applies to recreational and professional players. ”
Game income has reached record heights in recent years, the legalized game has proliferated in the United States thirty-eight states, as well as Washington, DC and Puerto Rico, now have a form of legalized sports betting, which exploded following a 2018 Supreme Court decision which broke the monopoly of Nevada. In 2024, business games reached a record summit of nearly $ 72 billion, according to the American Gaming Association, which represents the American game industry.
Representative Dina Titus, a democrat who represents Las Vegas, tweeted on Wednesday that she was already looking to change the change.
“Burial in the BS republican budget bill is a provision that harms poker players and those who play by limiting loss deductions,” wrote Titus. “I work on a legislative correction that treats play losses in the tax code fairly.”
A source from the game industry that was maintained with NBC News said that the impact of the tax variation should be determined, although this person has declared that the change would above all have an impact on professional players rather than recreational players.
In a letter of May 6 to the chairs and members of the Senate finance committee and to the Chamber’s track and means committee, William C. Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Games Industry, included the maintenance of the current deduction for betting losses as one of the three tax priorities specific to industry for the reconciliation pack The Republicans have advanced.
Other priorities named in the letter, which was obtained by NBC News, included the increase in the report of the tax on the locations of $ 1,200 to $ 5,000 and the repeal of the sports betting tax on legal sports betting. AGA has also appointed a number of broader tax priorities, notably requiring any tax on advice and maintaining the tax rate of current companies and salt deductions.
In the letter, Miller described the current deduction of game losses as “critical”, adding that it should be extended to allow taxpayers who do not detail their yields to report their victories and net loss within the framework of their adjusted gross income.
“Maintaining this deduction at its existing levels was absolutely a priority for the legal regulated game industry,” said the source of the game industry. “It is therefore fair to say that with this specific provision, we are disappointed and we will monitor its impact and we will seek to work with the leaders of the Congress to solve this problem before the global legislation takes effect at the end of this year.”
A spokesperson for the Republicans of the Senate Finance Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comments or the White House. Fanduel and Draftings, two of the largest players in the sports betting market, refused to comment.
“The tax code is already punitive with poker players (you are taxed over years of victory, but I cannot raft the years of loss unless you deposit as a pro; it is easy to have a year of decrease even as a good actor) and you have been adopted by the Senate of Obbba, the Tweeted Nate Silver, the prominent political data analyst.
The game, in particular legalized sports betting, has proliferated in recent years, the researchers have found a negative impact on the finances of bettors, including a reduction in economies and lower investments in generally safer assets as actions. Meanwhile, internet research for game dependence and calls to the state assistance lines has increased, especially in younger men.
