American poker players have been dealt a major blow after the Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation (FAIR BET) Act — a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — was rejected by the House Rules Committee.
The news was announced by congresswoman Dina Titus, who has been fighting to change upcoming tax provisions that will severely harm the earning abilities of professional poker players in the US.
Under current law, professional poker players can deduct gambling losses dollar-for-dollar against their gambling income. Under the new rules, only 90% of those losses would be deductible, meaning that poker players could end up owing tax without generating any income. The amendment proposed by Titus would have returned this to 100%.
Titus wrote on Tuesday, "Unfortunately, the GOP-controlled Rules Committee did not accept the FAIR BET Act as an amendment to the NDAA. This was an easy fix that should have been adopted. Nonetheless, I will continue to build support to restore the 100% gambling loss deduction."
Titus has vowed to fight on, but it's unclear what her next steps will be.
Negreanu warns poker tax law 'as big as it gets'
The gambling tax provisions were originally passed in Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), back in July and come into effect in 2026. Adding an amendment to the NDAA was the latest attempt to roll these specific tax provisions back, after Titus had been original rebuffed by the Committee on Ways and Means in July.
Big-name players such as Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Phil Galfond have sent warnings about what this legislation might mean for poker players specifically, and gamblers in general.
For example, if a player won $3 million but lost $2.8 million, under the new law, they would only be able to deduct $2.52 million (90%), resulting in $480,000 in taxable income — despite a net gain of only $200,000. It would also mean that poker players would be taxed on breakeven years, effectively paying tax on income that they haven't earned.
Negreanu warned, "[This is] really big stuff, as big as it gets... This law would be, as I understand it… not good at all."
Galfond said it was "Very scary for poker," while Hellmuth dubbed it the "Poker Player's Death Tax."
Doug Polk appeared on NewsNation to discuss the issue.
Scott Seiver: Nice system we've got here
Many poker players and industry figures have reacted to the latest news on X, with WPT host and ambassador Tony Dunst admitting it's, "Not looking good for American poker players. Much thanks to the party of small government!"
Here are some reactions to the latest news.
