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18-10-2025
CHICAGO/ LAS VEGAS: A US governor took home $1.4m (£1m) in a gambling windfall last year, a copy of his recent tax filing shows.
JB Pritzker is reported to have won the sum while playing blackjack at a casino in Las Vegas while on holiday with his wife and friends.
The two-term Democrat already has a net worth of $3.9bn (£2.9bn), according to Forbes, and is an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune.
A campaign spokesperson told media, that Pritzker planned to donate the money to charity but did not respond when asked why he had not already done so.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, the Illinois governor described the win and himself as “incredibly lucky”.
“You have to be to end up ahead, frankly, going to a casino anywhere,” Pritzker added.
He previously founded a charitable Chicago Poker Challenge which he says has “raised millions of dollars” for the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
Pritzker and his wife, Mary Kathryn, reported a total income of $10.6m (£7.8m) in 2024, mostly from dividends and capital gains. It’s understood they paid $1.6m in taxes on taxable income of $5.87m.
He described his Sin City winnings as a “net number” across his trip. He declined to say what his winning hand was, according to media.
“Anybody who’s played cards in a casino knows, you often play for too long and lose whatever it is you won,” Pritzker said. “I was fortunate enough to have to leave before that happened.”
The governor has emerged as one of US President Donald Trump’s strongest critics of late, clashing with the president over the federal deployment of national troops to Chicago, actions which he called “authoritarian”.
Trump called for the jailing of the Illinois official, accusing him and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson of not doing enough to ensure the safety of federal immigration officers who are conducting raids in Chicago.
Pritzker intends to seek a third term in the governor’s mansion in 2026, it is understood, and has deflected questions about any ambition beyond his current position.
Last week, President Donald Trump has called for the jailing of Illinois officials, accusing them of not doing enough to ensure the safety of federal immigration officers who are conducting raids in Chicago.
The president wrote in a social media post that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, both Democrats, “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!”
Trump has previously called the city a “war zone” amid protests against immigration enforcement. Pritzker has called the president’s actions “authoritarian”.
The Republican president spoke as hundreds of National Guard troops arrived in the city as part of his immigration crackdown.
The standoff raises the temperature in an already heated rhetorical battle between Trump and local officials in Democratic-led cities and states.
The Chicago mayor quickly fired back at Trump, saying “this is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.”
Pritzker vowed: “I will not back down.
“Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
The arrival of National Guard troops in Chicago follows similar deployments to Los Angeles and Washington DC to stem what the president has described as “out of control” crime. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
