Bill on edge
Democratic Congresswoman for Nevada Dina Titus has pledged to fight for gamblers against the controversial new tax laws included in President Donald Trump’s proposed “Big Beautiful Bill.”
gamblers will only be able to deduct 90% of their losses from their tax obligations
The bill, which covers a wide range of taxing and spending plans, includes a controversial change to the law in which gamblers will only be able to deduct 90% of their losses from their tax obligations, which major industry figures have stated will harm recreational gamblers and destroy the livelihoods of professionals.
The bill will face a final vote shortly in the House of Representatives, with Trump’s team reportedly working through the night to convince Republican rebels.
Poker players threatened
The Big Beautiful Bill has been controversial from its inception, and covers issues as diverse as increasing funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to slashing government spending on Medicaid.
For gamblers, however, the 90% threshold for declaring gambling losses has been a major sticking point, with some predictions that it could end the livelihoods of professional poker players in the United States.
With only 90% permissible deductions, players could win $950,000 and lose $1,000,000 over a calendar year for a $50,000 loss – but still end up owing taxes on $50,000, leading to a double whammy which would quickly make playing poker for a living next to impossible.
That has led several high-profile players, such as Phil Galfond, to encourage people to contact their representatives to urge them to prevent the new tax rules from coming into force.
Titus lends support
In what will be welcome news to both recreational and professional players, Rep. Titus stated in a post on her X account that she was “working on a legislative fix” to remedy the issue.
Additionally, on Wednesday, Titus raised further concerns about the potential effects of the bill on the gambling industry.
it pushes people into the black market if they don’t do regulated gaming”
Speaking during an appearance on “The Hill,” Titus said: “It pushes people into the black market if they don’t do regulated gaming because they have a tax disadvantage, and the black market doesn’t pay taxes, isn’t regulated, doesn’t help with problem gaming, so it’s bad for the industry as well as for the player.”
“There’s still a bias against gaming,” Titus added. “And we found it and thought, well, this is not good for people who enjoy coming to Las Vegas to gamble. We’re not talking about only professional poker players. We’re talking about, you know, the average people who want to play a game of poker or pull a slot machine handle.”
The result of the vote is expected within the coming hours.
