‘I Was Incredibly Lucky!’ JB Pritzker Sheepishly Explains His $1.4 Million Blackjack Win in Vegas

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said Thursday that he was simply “lucky” after tax filings revealed he won more than $1 million gambling in 2024.

Ahead of his run for a third term as governor, Pritzker released partial tax records. According to those records, he and his wife reported $4.2 million in capital gains and approximately $3.9 million in ordinary dividends. In total, Illinois’ first family had a gross income of more than $10 million.

Perhaps most eye-catching in the filings were reporting winnings of $1.425 million from gambling. Those winnings, a spokesperson for the governor told the Chicago Sun-Times, came from Las Vegas.

A campaign spokesperson said Pritzker “had winnings and losses from a casino” in Las Vegas, but didn’t name his game(s) of chance, nor exactly where he beat the house.

During a Thursday press conference, Pritzker was asked about the circumstances that led to such massive winnings.

“I’ve explained this — or at least, we did — in a statement that I went on vacation with my wife, with some friends,” Pritzker said. “I was incredibly lucky. You have to be to end up ahead, frankly, going to a casino anywhere. It was in Las Vegas. And I like to play cards, so [much so] that I founded a charitable poker match here in Chicago called the Chicago Poker Challenge that raises millions, has raised millions of dollars for the Holocaust museum here.”