Category Archives: Gambling

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of 2025 Gambling Tax Law Changes

Posted on December 23, 2025 by Russ

With Christmas just two days away and Congress now on recess, we can look back at 2025 and accurately view the changes in tax law towards gambling.  There was some good, some bad, and one very ugly change. The Good: The … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling, Illinois, Pennsylvania | Leave a comment

IRS Interprets One Big Beautiful Bill to Increase W-2G Threshold to $2,000

Posted on December 16, 2025 by Russ

As I reported back in July, §70433(d) of the Tax Code was changed by the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB): (d) APPLICATION TO BACKUP WITHHOLDING.—Section 3406(b)(6) is amended— (1) by striking ‘‘$600’’ in subparagraph (A) and inserting ‘‘the dollar amount … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling | Tagged | Leave a comment

Kalshi Preliminary Injunction in Nevada Dissolved; Kalshi Likely Soon Gone from State

Posted on November 25, 2025 by Russ

This morning, a judge here in Nevada dissolved Kalshi’s preliminary injunction against the Nevada Gaming Control Board.  That injunction (now gone) prohibited Nevada from stopping Kalshi’s sports betting–excuse me–sports contracts from being offered in the state.  While I expect Kalshi to … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling, Nevada | Tagged | Comments Off on Kalshi Preliminary Injunction in Nevada Dissolved; Kalshi Likely Soon Gone from State

Are Prediction Markets Sports Betting Products Doomed in the Long-Term?

Posted on November 20, 2025 by Russ

Prediction markets are another new phenomenon. Kalshi, PolyMarket, and others offer predictions on things like, “Will the Epstein Files be released by the end of 2025?”  They also offer sports predictions which I believe are clearly sports betting by any … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling | Tagged | Comments Off on Are Prediction Markets Sports Betting Products Doomed in the Long-Term?

The Real Winners of the 2025 World Series of Poker: Zero Is the Best Number

Posted on July 17, 2025 by Russ

This year’s main event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) attracted 9,735 entrants each of whom paid $10,000 attempting to become the World Champion. This wasn’t a record (last year’s field had 10,112), but it was still the third … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling | Tagged | Comments Off on The Real Winners of the 2025 World Series of Poker: Zero Is the Best Number

Did the W-2G Threshold for Slots Get Increased in the One Big Beautiful Bill?

Posted on July 15, 2025 by Russ

I’ve seen reports online that the threshold for issuance of W-2Gs was increased in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) to $2,000 from $600.  Is that true? First, the threshold for issuance of many 1099s was increased by the OBBB to $2,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling, Legislation | Comments Off on Did the W-2G Threshold for Slots Get Increased in the One Big Beautiful Bill?

Senate Version of Big, Beautiful Bill Is Bigly Ugly Towards Gambling

Posted on July 1, 2025 by Russ

The extension to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is now in the Senate as the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”  The Senate version will likely receive a final vote today (and pass); however, it is quite different in certain areas … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling, Nevada | Comments Off on Senate Version of Big, Beautiful Bill Is Bigly Ugly Towards Gambling

WSOP and Taxes: 2025 Update

Posted on May 27, 2025 by Russ

The 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) begins later today here in Las Vegas at the Paris and Horseshoe hotels (the hotels are linked). There are also several other tournament series that have either begun or will soon begin at … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off on WSOP and Taxes: 2025 Update

Online Gambling and Cryptocurrency Mailing Addresses for 2025

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Russ

If you have one or more foreign financial accounts and you have $10,000 aggregate in those account(s) at any time during 2024, you must file the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (the “FBAR”). This is Form 114 from … Continue reading →

Posted in Cryptocurrencies, FINCEN, Gambling, International | Tagged | Comments Off on Online Gambling and Cryptocurrency Mailing Addresses for 2025

If You’re Asking for Bail, Don’t Hide Your Cryptocurrency Accounts

Posted on February 11, 2025 by Russ

The saga of poker playing Supreme Court litigator (and, for the attorneys who read this, SCOTUSblog founder) Tom Goldstein continues.  Mr. Goldstein was arrested late yesterday, and will be spending his time (at least for a while) at ClubFed while … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling, Tax Fraud | Tagged | Comments Off on If You’re Asking for Bail, Don’t Hide Your Cryptocurrency Accounts