You can deduct losses when reporting gambling income on your tax return, but only if you itemize all of your deductions. You can’t do it if you take the standard deduction.   When filing your federal return, you can use Form 1040, Schedule 1 (discussed above) to calculate and deduct gambling losses. You can’t just subtract losses from winnings, either, and report the difference as winnings only. You have to calculate losses separately. You also can’t deduct more than you have won (even if you lost more than you won). Additionally, you can only deduct money that you spent gambling. You can’t count associated expenses such as travel to a poker tournament.    Generally speaking, only professional gamblers are likely to benefit from deducting losses when they report gambling income.