Fournier-Giguère – Federal Court of Appeal confirms that individuals deriving a sustained and significant income from full-time poker gambling were engaged in a business

The three taxpayers, who were friends, were reassessed to include income from their poker gambling (of the type Texas Hold’em without limit) for three to five taxation years (depending on the taxpayer, with none of the years a loss year), falling in the period 2008 to 2012, of $5,241,025 for Mr. D’Auteuil, $3,219,074 for Mr. Bérubé, and $1,450,000 for Mr. Fournier-Giguère.

LeBlanc JA summarized the findings of the Tax Court as follows:

a) The appellants' poker activities were, for them, much more than mere entertainment or a recreational activity;

b) The appellants played poker to earn a living, making them professional poker players;

c) Their poker activities represented their sole source of income (or the main source of income, in the case of Mr. D’Auteuil);

d) The appellants devoted almost all of their time to it, apart from sleeping, eating, and partying;

e) Based on the earnings generated from poker, they had the ability to achieve profits on a consistent and regular annual basis, even though the outcomes of the games could not be predictably controlled;

f) At this level of earnings over such a long period, they could reasonably expect to make a living by playing poker;

g) Despite their unconventional lifestyle, they exhibited the behavior of "serious businessmen": they played to win; they had strategies that they adapted according to table levels and the strength of their opponents; they used software that allowed them to gather information on their opponents' playing trends, track their earnings on gaming sites, and analyze their personal statistics;

h) They adopted objective standards for risk management, risk minimization, and income maximization; and

i) They used their expertise and skills to make a living from poker, a game of chance in which skill plays a significant role.

LeBlanc JA did not find any reversible error in these findings or the Tax Court’s conclusion that their earnings were income from a business.

Neal Armstrong. Summaries of Fournier-Giguère v. Canada, 2025 CAF 112 under s. 40(2)(f) and s. 3(a) – business.