Taxation is a real concern for professional poker players. They fear the consequences of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a major budget law signed by Donald Trump in July 2025.
Passed by the U.S. Senate in a close vote (51 to 50), this law includes changes to gambling tax rules. One of the key points is about how losses can be deducted, especially for professional poker players.
The law could deeply impact their earnings. It allows the government to tax gross winnings while capping loss deductions at 90% instead of 100%. This would mean higher taxes even for players with little or no net profit.
A Senator to the Rescue
Many professional poker players are against the bill. But they’re not alone. Texas Senator Ted Cruz (Republican) and a poker fan himself, has joined the opposition. He supports a new bill to restore full deductibility of gambling losses. For him, it’s a matter of fairness. Professional players rely fully on their winnings to pay their bills.
Quoted by The Dallas Morning News
“ It makes no sense, People should pay taxes on money they actually made. That’s the way our entire system operates”.
To make things clear, he gave a simple example. Let’s say a poker player wins $130,000 in one year, but loses $100,000.
Under the old system, they would only pay taxes on the $30,000 profit.
Under the new system, only $90,000 of the losses would be deductible.
So, they would pay taxes on $40,000 instead of $30,000.
The Phils Speak Out
Famous poker pro Phil Hellmuth also spoke out. The 17-time WSOP bracelet winner called it a “Poker Players Death Tax.” He told his followers that Ted Cruz is fighting to stop a law that could destroy professional poker in the U.S. and harm the entire poker industry.
Another top player, Phil Galfond, also reacted publicly on his X account:
He warned about the danger of the law: “It’s very bad.” According to him, it will no longer be possible to be a professional gambler in the U.S. if this becomes law.
The American Gaming Association
Bill Miller, CEO of the American Gaming Association, also commented in the Dallas Morning News article. He doesn’t reject the whole bill but strongly opposes the gambling loss deduction changes.
He added:
“The result creates an unfair precedent by taxing phantom income and uniquely penalizing a legal, heavily regulated activity.”
The 90% rule will take effect from January 1, 2026, according to available information on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This means it will apply to gambling income reported for the 2026 tax year and not before.
