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CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker turned heads this week when his campaign disclosed he won $1.4 million gambling last year. Though the billionaire Democrat doesn’t frequent Las Vegas casinos as much as he once did, the windfall is a reminder of his high-stakes past.
Pritzker has been a blackjack player for more than two decades, long before he entered public office. “He’s a whale in Vegas,” said a businessperson who’s known Pritzker for years and was granted anonymity to speak freely.
“I was incredibly lucky,” Pritzker told reporters Thursday when asked about the big win. “You have to be, to end up ahead, frankly, going to a casino anywhere.”
Luck might be underselling it.
In Chicago’s business community, Pritzker has long been known for his affinity for cards. A poker book has been seen on the shelf of his Chicago office, and he’s been spotted sidling up to a table while traveling.
That interest in poker goes beyond the personal. Pritzker teamed up with Jim Gray, who founded OptionsXpress, to start the Chicago Poker Challenge, a high-profile charity tournament that raised millions for the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, which Pritzker also helped establish.
Though Pritzker no longer plays in the event, its reputation is legendary. It was once held at the exclusive Casino Club that sits in the shadow of the John Hancock Building, not far from Pritzker’s residence.
The guest list has included an impressive roster of Chicago’s elite, including Citadel’s Ken Griffin, billionaire entrepreneur and ComPsych founder Rich Chaifetz, and optionsXpress Holdings founder Jim Gay. Even poker pro Phil Hellmuth Jr. has been a regular attendee.
“He is a very thoughtful player,” Ariel Capital Management founder and Democratic donor John Rogers Jr. said of Pritzker. “He has a very good understanding of the game’s nuances. He is really comfortable around a poker table. He’s always one of the better players at these tournaments.”
According to the joint federal return filed with first lady MK Pritzker, the couple reported nearly $10.7 million in adjusted gross income for 2024 — more than triple the $2.8 million they reported the previous year. The haul included $4.2 million in capital gains, nearly $3.9 million in dividends, more than $800,000 in interest income — and the $1.425 million windfall from gambling.
Pritzker, who said he is donating his winnings to charity, said the casino payout came during a vacation in Las Vegas with his wife. He didn’t say the game or the venue he played, nor could he recall what hand he played to get the big win.
While the governor’s casino winnings have generated headlines, they’re just a sliver of a much larger financial picture. Pritzker is an heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune and has an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion, according to Forbes. Pritzker does not take a salary as governor and has placed his assets in a blind trust to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
A person close to Pritzker says the governor hasn’t frequented Vegas much since he was elected governor. And given 2024 is the first noted filing of any gambling winnings — the law says you don’t have to report losses — that seems true.
Pritzker no longer holds any direct casino investments. Before his first election in 2018, he had a small stake in Elgin’s Grand Victoria Casino through a company he had invested in.
Meanwhile, gambling options in Illinois have expanded under his administration. In 2019, he approved legislation legalizing sports betting, allowed for construction of six new casinos and increased the number of slot machines available in bars and restaurants — all aimed at generating revenue to support a $45 billion infrastructure improvement initiative.
Now seeking a third term as governor, Pritzker’s political ambitions may extend even further, with speculation about a potential 2028 presidential run.
Asked whether his love of gambling could be a liability in running for office, Pritzker said, “I think people know when I got elected, and have known for some time, that I've been very fortunate in my life.”
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