Senate's "big beautiful bill" may tax gamblers on phantom profits
The Senate’s latest version of the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) is raising concern in gambling circles, especially among the pros.
Billed as a broad tax and spending package, the bill aims to lock in the 2017 tax cuts, pump up defence spending, and slash support for various social programmes. But buried in the details is one particular change that’s causing a stir: how gambling winnings and losses are taxed.
What’s changing for gamblers?
Right now, gamblers can deduct their losses up to the amount they win. So if you win one hundred thousand dollars and lose the same amount, you break even and pay no tax. Simple enough.
But the Senate’s latest version of the big beautiful bill throws a wrench into that logic. It proposes capping deductible gambling losses at ninety percent of your annual winnings. That means if you win one hundred thousand dollars and lose one hundred thousand, the IRS would only recognise ninety thousand in losses. The leftover ten thousand, which you never actually pocketed, gets treated as taxable income.
This isn’t just a headache for casual players. Professional gamblers, who rely on deducting not just losses but business expenses too, things like travel, data, and tournament fees, could get stung. Under the Senate plan, the total of those deductions would also be capped at ninety percent of winnings.
Say you’re a poker pro with one million dollars in winnings, nine hundred thousand in losses, and fifty thousand in expenses. Under current rules, you’d pay tax on your fifty thousand net profit. Under the new plan, you’d owe tax on one hundred thousand, double your real earnings.
A blow to professionals and a win for the house?
Needless to say, the reaction from the professional gambling community hasn’t been warm. Phil Galfond, professional poker player and founder of life coaching program, Beyond the Game, is among those sounding the alarm. In a recent video, he broke down how the cap could make professional gambling in the US virtually unsustainable, arguing it would hit pros and high-volume casuals alike.
There’s also a knock-on effect. If the tax code squeezes out professional and semi-professional gamblers, the ones who actually manage to win over the long term, it leaves the field wide open for casual players. And casual players, as the industry well knows, tend to lose. More losers means more profit for 바카라s and sportsbooks.
Where the bill stands now
The Senate , with Vice-President JD Vance casting the deciding vote. But it’s far from a done deal. The House of Representatives have already passed a different version, one that doesn’t include the ninety percent cap. Their draft keeps the current system intact, letting professionals deduct all eligible losses and expenses, as long as they don’t exceed their winnings.
The two versions will now need to be reconciled, and it’s anyone’s guess whether this particular tax provision will survive that process. Legal experts say there’s a decent chance it’ll be dropped or watered down, but that hasn’t stopped the gambling world from worrying.
What it means for gamblers
If this cap makes it into law, it could spell trouble for everyone from weekend bettors to full-time professionals. Even a break-even year could come with a hefty tax bill, and anyone already walking a financial tightrope might find it’s no longer worth the risk.
If this goes through, keeping detailed records will be more important than ever. Every session, every receipt, every loss, it all needs to be logged. Without that, claiming even the reduced deductions could be a nightmare.
In short, the Senates version of the big beautiful bill risks taxing gamblers on income they never actually made. Its a move that could drive skilled players out of the game and hand the advantage squarely to the house.
