Thousands of poker players (9,208 to be exact) came to Las Vegas over the Fourth of July weekend to enter the main event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) all looking for the $10 million first prize. But that tells just part of the story–here, we look at how much each of the final table participants actually got to keep. There was a three week break before the final nine players competed to crown a champion earlier this week. Who would win–and how much would he lose in taxes?
One important note: I do need to point out that many of the players in the tournament were “backed.” Poker tournaments have a high variance (luck factor). Thus, many tournament players sell portions of their action to investors to lower their risk (and/or “swap” action with other entrants). It is quite likely that most (if not all) of the winners were backed (or had swaps) and will, in the end, only enjoy a portion of their winnings. I ignore backing and swaps in this analysis (because the full details are rarely publicized). Now, on to the winners.
Congratulations to Lucas Jumalon, this year’s winner. The 22-year old native of Spokane, Washington is a professional gambler; his King-six beat the runner-up’s Ace-seven when he flopped a six and turned a second six. Mr. Jumalon resides in the Evergreen state. As of today, Washington state does not have an income tax (they may have an income tax beginning in 2028) so Mr. Jumalon owes just federal income tax and self-employment tax. He faces an estimated tax bite of $3,990,826 (39.91%) on his winnings.
(The Washington state income tax was approved by the Washington legislature earlier this year. An initiative challenging that measure is on the November ballot. Additionally, the measure faces legal challenges if it’s not overturned by the result of the initiative. But I digress….)
In second place is Lauri Saaskilahti. The native of Finland (now residing in Barcelona, Spain) is a sales manager. This is, by far, his largest cash in a tournament (his previous largest prize was €70,900 for an event on the European Poker Tour). Spain, like the United States, has progressive income tax rates with a maximum rate of 47%. The US-Spain Tax Treaty exempts Mr. Saaskilahti’s income from US tax; however, he’ll owe an approximate $2,773,000 (€2,412,510) to Spain’s Agencia Tributaria.
Greg Mueller of White Rock, British Columbia, Canada finished third winning $3,750,000. Mr. Mueller, a former professional hockey player is a professional poker player who has had a lot of success in the past (he has won three “bracelets” for winning WSOP events). The tax situation for Canadians is, unfortunately, unsettled. The Quebec Tax Agency, Revenu Quebec, believes that professional poker players owe Canadian income tax; Canada Revenue Agency (which administers Canadian income tax in all other provinces) is far less aggressive toward professional poker players. Press reports say Mr. Mueller is “semi-retired.” If that’s the case and he isn’t a professional poker player, the only tax he owes is the mandatory 30% withholding ($1,122,000) to the IRS.
Professional poker player Michael Gagliano won $2,750,000 by finishing fourth. Mr. Gagliano, who has been playing poker professionally for over 15 years, is a resident of New Jersey. Like Mr. Jumalon, he must pay federal income tax and self-employment tax; he also must pay New Jersey income tax. Overall, he’s looking at paying about $1,058,348 to the IRS and $272,335 to New Jersey–a tax bite of 48.39%. And that’s not the worst tax bite for the final nine.
Han Feng of Houston finished fifth in the most brutal of ways. He was dealt the best possible pre-flop hand, pocket aces, and was all-in against pocket nines. Before the cards were dealt he had about an 80% chance of winning the hand. After the flop of ten-eight-three (all diamonds, and Mr. Feng held the ace of diamonds), he had a 93% chance of winning the hand. The turn jack did decrease his chance of winning to 85% (what we in poker would still call a great situation). Unfortunately for Mr. Feng, the river queen of spades gave his opponent the win. Still, the $2,250,000 he won will provide some solace. A professional poker player, he avoids state income tax by residing in Texas. I estimate he’ll lose $889,753 (39.54%) to tax.
Rami Hammoud, an analytics manager from Montreal, finished sixth for $1,750,000. An amateur poker player, he does not owe Canadian income tax on his winnings. However, he’ll face the mandatory 30% withholding ($522,000) to the IRS.
Jamie Shaevel, a professional poker player from Santa Monica, California, finished seventh for $1,500,000. Mr. Shaevel, who plays cash games in the Los Angeles area casinos, has made deep runs in the Main Event in the past (he finished 100th in 2011). California is not a low-tax state, and Mr. Shaevel faces the highest tax burden of any final table participant. He’ll lose an estimated $598,373 to the IRS and $157,127 to California, an overall tax rate of 50.37%. Ouch.
Mario Boos, a French professional poker player, finished eighth when his pocket eights fell to the King-nine of Lauri Saaskilahti. While Mr. Boos escapes paying anything to the IRS (the US-France Tax Treaty exempts gambling winnings), France is anything but a low-tax environment. The maximum marginal tax rate is 45%, and there’s an additional 3% surtax on income in excess of €250,000. The $1,250,000 Mr. Boos won is, by far, his largest ‘score.’ Mr. Boos, though, will end up paying an estimated $543,701 to the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP)–leaving him with just $706,299 after taxes.
Evagoras Evagorou is the first player from Cyprus to make the final nine of the main event. An amateur gambler, his run in the main event turned him into a celebrity on the small Mediterranean island. Cyprus’s tax system is similar to the United States, with residents being taxed on their worldwide income up to a maximum marginal rate of 35%. The US and Cyprus do not have a tax treaty, so 30% will be withheld off the top to the IRS. He should be able to claim a foreign tax credit for the withholding on his $1 million winnings ($990,000 effective), so his 35% tax bite to the Tax Department of Cyprus will be just 5% ($49,500).
Here’s a table summarizing the tax bite:
| Amount won at Final Table | $30,250,000 |
| Tax to IRS | $8,478,300 |
| Tax to Agencia Tributeria (Spain) | $2,773,000 |
| Tax to DGFiP (France) | $543,701 |
| Tax to New Jersey Division of Taxation | $272,335 |
| Tax to Franchise Tax Board (California) | $157,127 |
| Tax to Tax Department of Cyprus | $49,500 |
| Total Tax | $12,273,963 |
That means 40.58% of the winnings at the final table goes toward taxes.
Here’s a second table with the winners sorted by their estimated take-home winnings:
| Winner | Before-Tax Prize | After-Tax Prize |
| 1. Lucas Jumalon | $10,000,000 | $6,009,174 |
| 2. Lauri Saaskilahti | $6,000,000 | $3,227,000 |
| 3. Greg Mueller | $3,750,000 | $2,628,000 |
| 4. Michael Gagliano | $2,750,000 | $1,419,317 |
| 5. Han Feng | $2,250,000 | $1,360,247 |
| 6. Rami Hammoud | $1,750,000 | $1,228,000 |
| 7. Jamie Shaevel | $1,500,000 | $744,500 |
| 8. Mario Boos | $1,250,000 | $706,299 |
| 9. Evagoras Evagorou | $1,000,000 | $653,500 |
| Totals | $30,250,000 | $17,976,037 |
Taxes matter. Last year, we had final table participants from countries with tax treaties with the US (exempting their winnings from US tax) whose residence countries did not tax gambling. A zero percent tax rate sure beats Spain’s 47% and France’s 48%. On the state level, residing in Texas or Washington state (where there is no income tax) saves quite a bit of money over living on the coast in California or New Jersey. As my mother said, “Location, location, location.”
This was another year where the Internal Revenue Service missed out on earning more at the final table than first place with just $8,478,300. Still, you can’t say that the IRS didn’t do poorly because the house always wins.
