Right now, the American gambling community is in a state of bewilderment about the prospective effects of a new version of the country’s gambling laws.
Put simply, if everything continues down the path the government intends, the number of professional poker players in the United States will reduce massively. Possibly to the point of making the game unprofitable for all but a few.
The issue is really all about one point — from next year, gamblers will only be able to write off 90% of their losses.
Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) really does have the sky falling down for those who have worked for years to grind their way up the stakes.
What is happening to gambling in this country is wrong.
I went on @NewsNation to talk about this pic.twitter.com/7YymVjsPU5
— Doug Polk (Code Doug) (@DougPolkVids) August 4, 2025
Doug Polk Has His Say
The clip begins with Marc Short, Chairman of the Advancing American Freedom organisation, making an analogy with those who invest in stocks and shares. The situation there is that only $3,000 can be written off.
Short even makes a flippant remark about how he’s not allowed to deduct from his own vices, so why should gamblers be allowed to.
Then Doug Polk is invited into the show, and he immediately attacks Short’s viewpoint by explaining that it only makes sense if you can carry losses forward.
In gambling this is not possible. You cannot carry forward losing years.
And then Polk makes the clearest case as to why this new legislation is nothing short of horrendous — you’re taxing people on money they didn’t make, he said.
“If you want taxes on money we made, that’s fine. But if you want taxes on money we didn’t, I have a serious problem with that, and it’s wrong to do that to our community.”
Poker Players Going Underground?
Poker Players Going Underground?The short conversation ends with the host questioning Polk on whether for profit gamblers will be driven underground in the future.
Polk needs to explain that the additional tax on a profitable poker player’s bottom line would render their career over. To which the host responds that the industry is over, if this is true.
The Upswing Poker founder clarifies that although he only speaks for the for profit community, these news laws will have unintended effects. He explains that when people realise they are being taxed, they will naturally gamble less, reducing the tax paid to the government coffers.
The situation is comparable to what is happening in the Netherlands right now. Dutch online news platform nu.nl reported:
“The increased gambling tax is backfiring on government revenue. According to research by the Dutch Gambling Authority (Ksa), tax revenues have declined over the past six months, despite the government’s aim to boost treasury funds with the tax hike.
“The gambling tax was raised on January 1 from 30.5% to 34.2%. The Ksa was critical of the measure and now reports that tax revenues this year are likely to be €40 million lower than expected.
“This is based on a 5% drop in tax revenues over the past six months. The government aimed to raise an additional €100 million, but the regulator says this target is unlikely to be met.”
The Dutch market is microscopic compared to the United States. If U.S. lawmakers have got this wrong, they could end up being responsible for huge losses throughout the industry, including job losses, too.
Polk agrees, saying that this will be felt not just in Las Vegas, but all around the country. He adds that revenue will plummet and jobs will definitely be cut.
Check out the video below where Doug Polk discusses the implications of the OBBBA with Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto who is fighting to change the legislation before it becomes active.
