Poker Players Hoping IRS Will Eventually Fold on New Gambling Tax Law

^{Pro poker players like Daniel Negreanu are being hurt financially from the new tax law from the IRS. (AP Photo / Alamy)}

After two months of constant tournaments, cash games, and millions of dollars won (and lost) at the WSOP, poker players are now facing the reality of the new IRS Tax Law. 

On July 17, the IRS held a public phone hearing on a tax change that's been costing gamblers money since it took effect this year. The speaker list included professional poker players, a tax attorney, a representative from the American Gaming Association, and even Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada. 

The law at the center of it all is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA/HR.1), passed by Congress in July 2025, cuts the percentage that both casual and professional gamblers can deduct in losses to 90%. The change took effect in January, and many players are feeling the squeeze.

Here's how this could negatively affect players: if poker pro Daniel Negreanu were to win $1,000 but also lose $1,000, he could claim 100% of the losses, and it would be considered a wash for tax purposes. Under the new 90% cap, Negreanu could claim only $900 in losses and would need to pay taxes on the $100. He would be down a net loss of technically $100, and paying taxes on the $100 to boot. He’d be taxed on income that doesn’t exist.

Dina Titus, Democratic Congresswoman representing the First District of Nevada, introduced the FAIR BET Act (Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation) to counter this new law. She introduced it in July of 2025, but it’s been stalled in Congress, leaving the new law intact for now.

Katie Stone (left) and Todd Witteles (right) are two poker players who spoke up against the new tax change during the IRS hearing. (Photos: courtesy of Rachel Kay Winter, courtesy of Erik Fast)

Casinos.com spoke with two of the speakers, Houston poker professional Katie Stone and Poker Fraud Alert creator Todd Witteles, about what they said on the call, and what they don't think got through.

IRS Not Bluffing in Public Hearing

Stone started playing poker after Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP Main Event in 2003. She organized chess camps for children and learned to play from some of the instructors.

“I didn’t come away feeling like the panel was engaged,” Stone told Casinos.com. “They listened, but it read more as a formality than a real back-and-forth, which I had hoped for.”

Some poker players threatened to leave the country after the law was passed. 

“Moving overseas doesn’t solve the tax problem,” Stone said. “U.S. citizens still owe taxes on their income regardless of where they play. What it does do is push people toward less regulated, less transparent alternatives. Without fair regulation and fair tax treatment, you don’t stop the activity, you just push it somewhere with worse outcomes for the player."

Witteles told Casinos.com he was disappointed that the IRS did not "have a single question for anyone" during the hearing, despite input from so many people with different backgrounds. 

“Despite 10 speakers of varying backgrounds and numerous points, the IRS did not have a single question for anyone,” Witteles said. “We are more than halfway through 2026, and almost nobody has left the country due to this law.” 

Witteles signed up to speak, in part, to present ways the IRS could make it easier and clearer for gamblers to file taxes accurately. Like Stone, he agrees that poker players and gaming professionals won’t take their play abroad due to the new law.

He is not feeling optimistic about Titus’ FAIR BET Act. However, he doesn’t see this law shrinking the poker community, either.

“My guess is it will not go anywhere, but I hope I'm wrong,” Witteles said. “As much as I hate this extremely unfair and arbitrary new law, I do not see it substantially reducing the number of pro gamblers, even if it's never repealed.”

Poker Community Leveling Off?

Though the new tax law is a surefire area of concern, Stone, Witteles, and many others in the poker community are concerned about the shrinking player population, given the number of older players.

Jonathan Tomayo, the WSOP’s 2024 Main Event winner, brought this up recently on Table 1's podcast.

 “Poker’s at a weird crossroads, where what are we going to turn into?” he said on Table 1’s podcast. “Our player pools [are] kind of aging.”

Witteles also shares the same concern about aging poker players and what the new tax law will do to the poker community.

“The poker community is shrinking each year,” Witteles said. “Each year there are fewer humans playing poker than there was the year before. We also have an aging problem. I don't feel the new tax law is shrinking poker. But the economy definitely is having an impact, and the aging thing is a major long-term problem.”

“Numbers are definitely down across the board for U.S. Live Poker,” said Tony Dunst, WPT host, commentator and poker professional with over $4.4 million in live earnings. “We saw that across every property over the summer and in the spring events around the country.” 

Dunst says he sees the new tax law being repealed at some point in the future, but adds, "it could take years.”