US Politics
Billionaire Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker won $1.4M playing blackjack at a Vegas casino last year: ‘I was incredibly lucky’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker won $1.4 million playing blackjack at a Las Vegas casino last year, according to his 2024 federal tax return, released by his campaign Wednesday.
The governor, who is running for a third term in 2026 and is among the high-profile Democrats on the 2028 presidential short list, drew attention to his high gambling earnings after he and his wife, MK Pritzker, reported joint earnings of $10.7 million – more than triple their earnings from 2023.
“I was incredibly lucky,” Pritzker, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, told reporters Thursday.
The 60-year-old said his winning sum was the result of “fun” on a vacation he, his wife and their friends took to the nation’s casino capital last year. He added that he enjoys playing cards.
“Anybody who’s played cards in a casino knows that you often play for too long, and lose whatever it is that you won,” Pritzker said. “I was fortunate enough to have to leave before that happened.”
A spokesperson for Pritzker’s campaign told news outlets that the governor “had winnings and losses from a casino in Las Vegas” but did not specify which casino. The spokesperson said Pritzker would donate the winnings to charity.
Pritzker founded the Chicago Poker Challenge, a charitable poker match played in Chicago that raises money for the Holocaust museum.
“I encourage people to come to the state of Illinois and gamble in our casinos. We have some really lovely places to go,” Pritzker said Thursday.
The Illinois governor has expanded the state’s gambling opportunities, legalizing sports betting in 2019 and authorizing six new casinos.
Several major casinos on the Las Vegas strip allow players to bet up to $50,000. Some private events or tables will permit bets of $100,000 or more.
Pritzker has a net worth of approximately $3.9 billion, according to Forbes, but holds much of his wealth in trusts. He does not take a salary as governor and has not since he was elected in 2019.
The Pritzkers have released a summary of their state and federal tax returns for several years – this past year’s was particularly notable because it was the highest reported taxable income since 2021. In 2023, the Pritzkers reported $3.2 million; in 2022, it was $2.3 million.
A spokesperson for the governor’s campaign told The Chicago Tribune that the Pritzkers had more taxable income because “certain trusts make distributions each year and the taxable income associated with those distributions changes from year to year based on the performance of trust assets.”