The One Big Beautiful Bill has caught the eyes of gamblers across the country — and not in a good way.
Section 70114 limits gambling deductions in taxes to 90 percent of losses, down from the current mark of 100 percent.
If a bettor places $200,000 in wagers and breaks even ($100,000 in both losses and profit), they could only deduct $90,000 of their losses on their taxes, leaving them liable for $10,000 of phantom income.
Nevada Senator Dina Titus is presenting the FAIR BET Act, an amendment to the bill that would address the issue and reinstate the ability to deduct 100 percent of losses from their betting record.
“It is a very simple amendment that changes it from 90% to 100%,” Titus told The Post in a phone interview on the proposed changes.
The root of this notable change from has been the subject of much debate.
One pro-bettor speculated The Post that the American Gaming Association (AGA) lobbied for this change to be included in the 940-page bill, but Titus threw cold water on that idea.
“It was an amendment that came from U.S. Senator Mike Crapo’s office and the Finance Committee and they estimate it will generate a billion over the next 10 years, but I think that’s high,” Titus said. “People will stop reporting income. People will go offshore or use prediction markets and other unregulated markets.”
“When they continued the [President Donald] Trump tax cuts, they needed to offset that with revenue. Looking for different pots of revenue, so there was this tax. They see it raising a billion over 10 years.”
Titus adds that the AGA is now supporting her bill, and she is looking for bipartisan support for what she calls an “easy-fix” amendment.
“I don’t believe that the AGA would lobby for this to kill off sharp [professional] bettors, and now they are going to support my bill,” Titus added.
“If they did lobby for it, they kept it extremely quiet. I don’t think it was anti-gaming people; it was people looking for money. Gaming is an easy target like cigarettes and alcohol.”
Sportsbooks have not yet considered this a significant issue in the betting world, as the cost is not imposed on them but rather it is levied on the bettor when they file their taxes.
But bettors, specifically the ones wagered significant amounts of money in Las Vegas, were furious at this provision being thrown into the One Big Beautiful Billnow that they’re facing the prospect of being taxed on 10 percent of phantom revenue.
Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the football season he’s showcased massive profits at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.