Professional gamblers in Nevada may now be able to collect unemployment
The coronavirus pandemic has caused unprecedented layoffs in the U.S., leading to a record number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits. In the state of Nevada, one unlikely group that also may be able to collect unemployment? Professional gamblers.
Like many states, Nevada closed nonessential businesses statewide to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. People who gamble for a living normally would not be able to collect unemployment, but the statewide shutdown of casinos due to the coronavirus may change that.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered the shutdown of all casinos until April 30, and possibly longer, so gamblers will not be able to visit to their “worksites” for at least three more weeks.
Rosa Mendez, a spokeswoman for the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, told the Las Vegas Review Journal that gamblers are self-employed and may qualify as independent contractors “during this unprecedented time and under the CARES Act.”
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed by President Trump on March 27. One aspect of the bill extended unemployment benefits to self-employed individuals.
Gambling may not be viewed as a typical job, but a lot of Americans in the state of Nevada make a living gambling, and pay taxes on that income. Due to the lack of poker games and sporting events, unemployment could be a relief that gamblers need.
“I’m going to give it a shot,” Chris Konvalinka, a professional poker player in Nevada, told the Las Vegas Review Journal. “It seems like a free roll to me. Worst case, they say no.”
One issue gamblers who file for unemployment may have is a provision of the CARES Act stipulating that workers impacted are those “who cannot telework because their job duties cannot be performed remotely.” Because poker players could potentially play online poker, that may be considered remote work by the federal government.
How successful will these claims be?
Economist Jason Reed, assistant chair and teaching professor of finance at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, thinks gamblers have a real chance.
“If they can show their primary method of earning cannot be made up through teleworking, playing online, I think they will be pretty successful,” Reed told MarketWatch. “This is what the Cares act is designed to do, to catch all these people who would not have been caught with traditional unemployment insurance.”
Reed added that there is no drawback to filing an unemployment claim.
“Of course they should try, there’s no harm in that.”
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