Three Canadian players lose out to Quebec tax authorities !

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Three Canadian players lose out to Quebec tax authorities !

2025-08-05 - Jean-Sébastien ROUY

Martin Fournier-Giguère, Philippe D'Auteuil, and Antoine Bérubé will indeed have to pay taxes on their winnings after pocketing nearly $10 million.

In Canada, the Court of Appeal has just ruled on the case of several highly successful Canadian players: Martin Fournier-Giguère, Philippe D'Auteuil, and Antoine Bérubé. Together, they reportedly earned nearly 10 million dollars from online poker between 2008 and 2012.

The Canadian judiciary has determined that they must pay taxes on their winnings, considering that they were skilled enough to master chance and thus generate substantial and consistent income. As for Antoine Bérubé and Philippe D'Auteuil (featured in the cover photo), they will have to pay $850,000 and $2,000,000 respectively to the Canadian tax authorities.

In their defense, the three players claimed that they played primarily for competition and often engaged in poker under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Their lawyers emphasized these arguments to present their poker activity as incompatible with a serious or entrepreneurial endeavor. It was the first time such an argument might have made a real difference!

Game, set, and match for the tax authorities

Unfortunately for them, that was not the case. The judges concluded that between 2008 and 2012, the three players played between 255 and 330 days per year, on multiple tables simultaneously, and with the help of software such as Holdem Manager, which allowed them to analyze and study their opponents’ statistics.

Martin Fournier-Giguère, Philippe D'Auteuil, and Antoine Bérubé will therefore not escape paying taxes on their winnings and will probably have to lighten their bankroll a bit to settle the matter!

(Photo credit : PartyPoker Live)