Professional poker player Erik Seidel is stepping back from the table this year. The legendary gambler is entering semi-retirement, but his decision has nothing to do with a slowing career.
Seidel played his first major tournament in 1988 when he finished as the runner-up in the World Series of Poker main event. He officially became a full-time professional poker player in 1995. Over the course of his decades-long career, he has racked up winnings of more than $48 million playing in live poker tournaments.
The 66-year-old typically plays roughly 130 to 150 events a year. His total tournament winnings topped $2.8 million last year alone.
However, Seidel plans to play only a quarter of his usual tournaments this year. He will also avoid virtually all high-roller events that cost $25,000 or more to enter. The reason for this sudden change is a new shift in the federal tax code.
President Donald Trump championed the sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act last July. The massive legislative package included a provision that changes the way gamblers can deduct their annual losses. Taxpayers must still treat their gambling winnings as income, but they can no longer use all of their losses to fully offset those winnings.
Starting in the 2026 tax year, players can only deduct up to 90 percent of their losses. That change has left professional players wary of spending too much money to compete. Many fear they will find their profit completely eroded by the 10 percent disparity in the tax rules.
Russ Fox operates as an enrolled agent and principal at Clayton Financial and Tax. He noted that several of his professional clients had to stop playing entirely because "the margins are just too small." Fox warned that the new loss limitation is "going to have a major impact" on the industry.
In Seidel’s case, the financial risk is simply too great to ignore. He explained his decision to scale back his professional play during a recent interview.
"The margins are really, really thin. If you’re a professional poker player, you’re not even guaranteed to have a profit at the end of the year," Seidel told CNBC Make It. "This just creates a situation where it’s really untenable. Even the elite players, they can’t overcome it."