Jonathan Duhamel

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Jonathan Duhamel - Private Yacht Party - Part II. Jonathan Duhamel - Private Yacht Party - Part II.

• Nothing in life is certain except death and taxes and it’s the latter that has Jonathan Duhamel rattled. The 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champion is embroiled in a tax dispute with Canadian authorities. Duhamel was a relative unknown until his monster-sized WSOP Main Event victory.
• Jonathan Duhamel managed to squeeze his way into the select few who can proudly call themselves the owner of this sweet achievement. Canadian from Quebec, he was also the very first player to take this title back to Canada. Born on August 24 1987, he had, like many from his generation, taken up poker a few years before he turned 18 and turned.
• Jun 03, 2020 Two women separately accusing Jonathan Duhamel of rape The detailed accounts that followed make for harrowing reading, both women separately alleging that Duhamel violently raped them. The first accuser, given the name ‘Amy’ by the reporter, stated: “I remember saying no and he forced me to have sex with.
• Jonathan Duhamel is one of the rare examples of modern era WSOP Main Event champions who managed to stay successful and relevant after their massive win. The first Canadian world champion in the history of WSOP followed up his near $9,000,000 pay-day with great results in high roller tournaments like the one in Deauville in 2011 which he won earning $272,209.

Nothing in life is certain except death and taxes and it’s the latter that has Jonathan Duhamel rattled. The 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champion is embroiled in a tax dispute with Canadian authorities.

Duhamel was a relative unknown until his monster-sized WSOP Main Event victory. Only four live tournament cashes appeared on his Hendon Mob page from 2006-2009. The Canadian decided to play at the 2010 WSOP and it turned out to be life-changing.

He cashed in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event for $5,724. A 15th place finish in a $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event, worth $37,276, followed. Then came the big one. Duhamel topped a field of 7,319-entrants in the $10,000 buy-in WSOP Main Event. His reward? A cool $8,944,310.

This massive prize gave Duhamel a bankroll sufficient enough to compete on the world stage. A seven-figure pot plus a sponsorship package from PokerStars saw Duhamel become a regular feature in the biggest live tournaments around the globe.

Duhamel has 15 scores weighing in at six-figures or more. He won his second WSOP bracelet in 2015. First-place in the $111,111 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller saw Duhamel rake in $3,989,985. Bracelet number three came three months later in Berlin. Duhamel won the €25,600 High Roller at the WSOP Europe festival for €554,395 ($628,915).

The Canadian quickly gained a reputation for being an extremely talented poker player. He’s not cashed in a live event since November 2018 but still has $18,012,109 in winnings.

CRA Claims Duhamel Had a Professional Poker Player Business

The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) and Duhamel disagree on whether taxes are owed on Duhamel’s huge winnings. The CRA is claiming CAD$1,219,114 ($913,765) in federal taxes from 20010-12. Revenu Quebec may put its in own similar-sized claim if the CRA is successful. This puts him on a $1.8 million hook.

Canadians do not pay tax on winnings stemming from games of chance. Poker is considered a game of chance in Canada. All Canadian tax residents carrying out business is required to pay taxes, regardless of their business. The CRA argue Duhamel’s business is that of a professional poker player.

CRA considers Duhamel a professional poker player between 2010-12. It says his long-term success depended on his talent and skill, not luck. A long list of arguments is there for all to see at the Tax Court of Canada. They include:

• Behaving like a serious businessman when playing poker
• Devoting 40-50 hours per week to playing poker
• Poker is Duhamel’s only source of income, aside to his investments
• Uses his above-average math skills to improve his chances of winnings
• Obtains a sponsorship contract worth $1 million from PokerStars

Two items stand out from the crowd. PokerStars paying Duhamel $1 million is the first. The court documents show PokerStars paid Duhamel $480,000 in cash and paid for $520,000 worth of tournament entries.

The fact Duhamel only banked $4.8 million from his WSOP Main Event victory is the other. He swapped percentages with other players to limit his potential losses. Winning the Main Event resulted in Duhamel paying $4.1 million. He also paid 30% tax, less these swaps, to the Inland Revenue Service (IRS), or $1,453,293. Many Canadians refuse to play at the WSOP because of a lack of a tax treaty with the U.S.

2010 WSOP Champion Claims All Winnings Are Due to Luck

Duhamel lives in Quebec and 100% believes he doesn’t owe any taxes to the CRA. His $8.9 million WSOP prize from 2010 was “only the result of chance”, his lawyer said.

Furthermore, he claims to never have received any poker-specific training. He also states he’s never used a system to overcome chance or control his chances of winning.

The WSOP Main Event victory gave Duhamel a certain notoriety. PokerStars advertised Duhamel as a professional poker player as a marketing ploy.

None of the parties involved are prepared to talk about the case because it’s currently in the courts. It will be interesting to see the outcome, not least how Duhamel can afford to pay the $1.8 million bill.

His sponsorship with PokerStars ended in 2015 and multi-billionaire Guy Laliberte no longer stakes him. Add to that Duhamel hasn’t played a live event for two years and hasn’t been seen playing online poker, and we could find the former World Champion in a whole heap of trouble.

Alleged poker-pro Jonathan Duhamel is in big trouble with the Canadian fisc. He might owe as much as $1.2 million in back taxes for his 2010 win at the WSOP Main Event. And on his poker profits for the rest of that year and the two following.

The case hinges on whether or not Jonathan Duhamel is a professional poker player.

The argument stems from a tax court ruling in 2006 in which Chief Justice Donald Bowman ruled that two gamblers who won millions betting on sports were not liable for tax on their winnings. However, in the same ruling, Bowman added that if they were running a business, the income would be taxable.

Precedent set. Cue arguments.

The upshot is that gambling income goes untaxed in Canada. Instead, the taxman gets his cut at the casino’s end.

Jonathan Duhamel Robbed

This is similar to places like the U.K. But unlike the U.K., if a player is making money consistently in Canada, they are considered to be running a business and are on the hook for tax in the way any sole trader would be.

Here’s a clip of Duhamel skillfully winning a hand back in 2010:

🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Oh Canada! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

Relive the biggest hands from over a decade of @WSOP Main Event action every week on The Championship Run!
➡️ https://t.co/ZimMTZTwoe 📺 pic.twitter.com/ZT3UiExQyt

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) April 26, 2020

The Duhamel bluff

So Duhamel is in the strange situation of having to argue against the skill element in the game that he’s won at least $18 million dollars at.

His arguments are, broadly, that:

• his WSOP windfall of $8.9 million was the product of wild luck,
• he hasn’t ever been given poker training,
• there is no system in his arsenal that allowed him to overcome chance in tournament poker, and
• he refers to himself as a “professional poker player” purely for marketing reasons.

Jonathan Duhamel 2019

This comes as a slap in the face to the poker advocates who have been arguing with legislators on every continent except Antarctica that poker is a skill game. And that as such, it shouldn’t be banned under anti-gambling laws.

At least one person on Twitter viewed Duhamel’s arguments as a stretch, writing that they “haven’t seen a bluff this bad since 2010.”

It could be a while before the haters stop crowing over this one.

I haven't seen a bluff this bad since 2010 @JonathanDuhamelpic.twitter.com/1fa5Lvylau

Jonathan Duhamel

— CollinCapone (@CollinCapone) October 28, 2020

The court’s case

The case being made by the Canadian Revenue Agency is that:

Jonathan Duhamel Cra

• Duhamel “behaves like a serious businessman” at the table;
• has had one job since 2008 — that of playing poker;
• puts in 40 to 50 hours per week at the felt,
• multi-tables to increase his profits,
• has an agent and sponsors;
• implements mathematical strategies at the table, and business strategies —like swapping action as a hedge against variance — when he is away from the tables; and
• he calls himself a professional poker player.

In some ways, the argument is the old one of how many grains of sand make a pile. The line between problem gambler and poker pro falls on a sliding scale and someone has to draw the line somewhere.

Jonathan Duhamel Poker

The tax court has made it clear that their interest is not in “Sunday gamers” who earn a few bucks here and there. And consistent losers shouldn’t be on the hook even if they hit the occasional windfall.

But while Duhamel might feel like a cut and dried pro, it’s not clear where this case would leave a semi-pro. If the ruling goes against Duhamel, the fight may have to happen again and again at lower and lower stakes before anything definitive is worked out.

Featured image source: Flickr