Donald Trump was recently elected as the President of the United States of America. He has taken time to assemble his cabinet and has surprised many by appointing an auctioneer and a veteran poker player to a key position. Trump has chosen Billy Long to head the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Long has a notable presence in the poker community.
Billy Long’s Poker Connection
Long, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2023, has a significant background in poker. Despite having only around $6,000 in recorded live tournament cashes, as per The Hendon Mob, he has been a regular participant in local cash games for many years. The next IRS head even competed in the World Poker Tour after leaving Congress in 2022, underscoring his love for the game.
Long will succeed Danny Werfel and is expected to steer the IRS in a new direction. This follows President Biden’s push to enhance the agency’s auditing capabilities, a move that drew criticism from conservatives. Long went viral in 2019 when a photo surfaced online showing a wad of cash sticking out of his pocket. The image generated buzz on social media, with one Reddit user joking that he may have crushed the local low-stakes cash game.
A former auctioneer, Billy Long has never hidden his passion for poker. In 2015, he hosted a $1,000-per-person poker night fundraiser, which drew criticism from Democrats. One writer ironically commented, “Long seems to spend as much time in Las Vegas as he does in Springfield (MO) or Washington D.C.”
“I am pleased to announce that former Congressman Billy Long, of the Great State of Missouri, will be appointed to serve as the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS),” Donald Trump shared via his Truth Social app.
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Source: MSN/PokerNews/Forbes.com
