14 Jul 2025 Professional gamblers and many individuals in the poker community were shocked and angry when Senate Republicans halted a plan on Thursday to reverse a controversial new tax rule that many believe could jeopardize the professional gambling industry. Nevada is home to Las Vegas and thousands of professional poker players. Democrat Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada has introduced a bill to undo the changes to gambling tax credits hidden in the 900-page: My Republican colleagues have told me they support repealing their tax hike on gambling losses, but this week they blocked my bill to get it done. It's time to stop playing games with the livelihoods of workers and businesses across America. https://t.co/y5h5v9IqGO — Senator Cortez Masto (@SenCortezMasto) July 12, 2025 "One Big Beautiful Bill Act", which was just passed. Sen. Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana, expressed his opposition, thereby halting the attempt. What’s the Big Deal? Starting in 2026, gamblers can no longer deduct 100% of their losses from their wins. Instead, the exclusion will be limited to 90%. It may seem like a small change but will have huge real-world financial effects. Before, a poker pro who won $100,000 and lost $100,000 had no net profit and did not have to pay taxes. Under the new rule, that person could only claim $90,000. It means they would have to pay taxes on a $10,000 "phantom" profit, even though they broke even. Before the bill passed, high-stakes pro Phil Galfond tweeted that Big Beautiful Bill would end professional gambling: This new amendment to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would end professional gambling in the US and hurt casual gamblers, too. You could pay more in tax than you won. Contact your representative quickly. pic.twitter.com/U5yToBZDcQ — Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) July 1, 2025 Republicans Claim They Didn’t Know Multiple Democrat senators, including Cortez Masto, say that many members did not even know that the bill included the change to the gambling tax when it was passed. Just days before the vote, Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo quietly added the clause, catching gambling industry members off guard. The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden, said, "Now I see Republican senators walking around saying they didn't know anything about this." It's this awful. What happens when you cram hundreds of rules into a rushed bill without enough review? The change is expected to bring in only $1.1 billion in tax income over eight years. The Congressional Budget Office states that the bill will cause the debt to grow by $3.3 trillion, while the expected tax income is only $1.1 billion over eight years, which is a small amount of money. Poker Community Reaction Poker players wasted little time on forums and social media ripping apart the decision and the politicians behind it. Furriedcavor: Comment by u/chrisneighbor from discussion in poker Loud-Explanation4306: Comment by u/chrisneighbor from discussion in poker Others expressed disbelief at the irony of gamblers voting for politicians who now appear to be legislating against them on moral grounds. vdthemyk: Comment by u/chrisneighbor from discussion in poker What Happens Next? Even though they lost on Thursday, Cortez Masto isn't giving up. She presented a revised version of the bill on Wednesday. It will go through the committee and has already received backing from both parties. Nevada Rep. Dina Titus has also filed a bill in the House to bring back the full gambling deduction. Senator Young stopped the vote on Thursday because he supports the tax change and would only agree to undo it if Democrats decided to include other unrelated provisions in exchange. It turned what many see as a practical fix into a political bargaining chip. At the moment, the poker community is in a tough spot. They are fighting a tax change that many people think was snuck in without proper debate, and the politicians they backed are shutting down their business.
