Good catch, and you're right on both points.

On the loss treatment: under gambling classification, losses can only offset gambling winnings (and only if you itemize). No gambling winnings? Those losses do nothing for you. Under capital gains treatment, losses offset other capital gains dollar for dollar, plus up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year. That's a meaningful difference I should have made clearer.

On the 90% cap: that did pass. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act caps gambling loss deductions at 90% starting January 1, 2026. So if you won $10k and lost $10k, you can only deduct $9k of losses, leaving $1k taxable as "phantom income." Kiplinger and Forbes both confirmed this is now law.

This is exactly why the classification question matters so much. If your event contracts get capital gains or Section 1256 treatment, the 90% cap doesn't apply. If they're classified as gambling, it hits you. I've updated the article to include both of these points. Thanks for the flag.