Ryan Reiss Wins $8.35m, Pays $3.5m In Taxes

This week in Las Vegas, the 2013 WSOP $10k World Championship concluded after US pro Ryan Riess took down the tournament for a cool $8,361,570. Nevertheless, the 23-year old Michigan man will now have to also fork out the biggest tax bill of his life estimated to be around $3.5m, or 42% of his winnings, according to taxabletalk.com.
Unfortunately, the US tax authorities penalize gambling winnings at truly exorbitant rates, whereas many other countries around the world, such as the UK or Germany, allow players to keep every penny of their hard earned winnings. However, the US is not alone in their draconian approach and in 2008 when Peter Eastgate won $9.1 million, he shrewdly moved from his native Denmark to London to avoid paying a monstrous 72.77% of winnings gambling tax bill, and in so doing saved himself nearly $7 million.
In actual fact, so different are various tax jurisdictions around the world that at this year’s WSOP Main Event, 4th place finisher Sylvain Loosli, a UK resident, will earn at least half a million dollars more than 3rd place finisher Amir Lehavot, despite the Israeli winning around a million dollars more than the Frenchman.
Breaking the details down further, the November Nine may have won $25,932,167 collectively between them, but after taxes that figure drops dramatically to $16,290,156. Following his impressive victory at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Ryan Riess, commented:
“I’m extremely excited. I’m excited for what the future holds..I just think I’m the best player in the world.”
However, when the time comes to cough up a massive $3.5m for achieving Main Event gold, he may find the experience a little more dampening on his spirit.
Estimated Taxes for WSOP 2013 Main Event:
Prize            After-Tax

Ryan Riess          $8,359,531    ($4,880,713)
Jay Farber            $5,174,357    ($3,147,830)
Sylvain Loosli        $2,792,533    ($2,792,533)
Amir Lehavot         $3,727,823    ($2,178,623)
J.C. Tran              $2,106,893    ($1,104,916)
Michael Brummelhuis   $1,225,356   ($870,003)
McLaughlin          $1,601,024    ($808,089)
David Benefield       $944,650    ($507,449)
Mark Newhouse       $733,224   ($410,345)