Political Pay Off? Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker explains how he won $1.4 million gambling in Las Vegas

[desertrunner]

Is this how they do political pay off's now or launder- just go to Vegas, sit down at black jack and walk away with 1.4 million? Druff needs to investigate and report back on radio.



https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y0gr4y4r2o
https://news3lv.com/news/local/illin...cs-jb-pritzker
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/16/polit...-vegas-million
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...ack-rcna237961

CHICAGO -- Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker won $1.4 million playing blackjack in Las Vegas last year, according to a release from his campaign, training a spotlight on the billionaire Democrat's tremendous personal wealth with a potential 2028 presidential campaign looming.

At a press conference Thursday, Pritzker was asked about the disclosure and said that he won the prize while on a vacation with friends. His campaign noted that he donated the winnings to charity.

"I went on vacation with my wife, with some friends, I was incredibly lucky. You have to be to end up ahead, frankly, going to a casino anywhere," Pritzker joked. "It was in Las Vegas, and I like to play cards."

Pritzker noted that he had founded a charitable poker tournament in Chicago "that has raised millions of dollars for the Holocaust Museum here, and particularly to stand up for civil rights."

"So anyway, that's, that's all I can say about it," Pritzker remarked. "Had fun doing it. I, you know, encourage people to come to the state of Illinois and gamble in our casinos here, we have some really lovely places to go."

[Dan Druff]

It's a little bit weird, and I know that the right is having a field day with the conspiracy theories, but it's not likely a payoff.

Pritzker is worth $4 billion. He wants to be President. He's not taking a $1.4m bribe AND declaring it on his tax return, given his existing wealth and huge potential downside of being caught/suspected.

My guess?

Being so rich, he played a little bit of blackjack at very high stakes (obviously a billionaire ain't gonna wager $100/hand), got lucky, won $1.4m, and had to declare it. He probably only had one session the entire year.

[1dollarboxcar]

claimed he had to leave due to an appointment or he said he would of probably gambled it all back and then some....

[desertrunner]

Sounds shady and questionable to me.

[Dan Druff]

Sounds shady and questionable to me.

It does, but there's only one other possible explanation, and that wouldn't involve a bribe either.

It could be that he lost a lot in the casino, but had that one winning $1.4m session. Rather than declare his losses against it to write off the taxes he'd otherwise have to pay, he decided it was worth it to make it look like he had "one lucky session" and that's it, and didn't declare the losses. It's legal to do this, by the way. He has $4b, so the $800k or whatever in extra taxes he paid is a drop in the bucket.

There's absolutely no way he's taking a "small" bribe like that in such a fashion. A guy worth $4b just isn't doing that, even one from notoriously corrupt Illinois.

I mean, I suppose anything's possible, but it just wouldn't add up.

[Sanlmar]

It's a little bit weird, and I know that the right is having a field day with the conspiracy theories, but it's not likely a payoff.

Pritzker is worth $4 billion. He wants to be President. He's not taking a $1.4m bribe AND declaring it on his tax return, given his existing wealth and huge potential downside of being caught/suspected.

My guess?

Being so rich, he played a little bit of blackjack at very high stakes (obviously a billionaire ain't gonna wager $100/hand), got lucky, won $1.4m, and had to declare it. He probably only had one session the entire year.

Michael Jordan approves this message.

[desertrunner]

I mean, I suppose anything's possible, but it just wouldn't add up.

Druff still needs to investigate this and report back on vampire radio.

[Dan Druff]

I mean, I suppose anything's possible, but it just wouldn't add up.

Druff still needs to investigate this and report back on vampire radio.

Unless more comes out, this is going to be a dead end.

I'm no Pritzker fan, and would be happy to report that he was taking bribes. I just don't think he was, and his immense wealth makes bribery unlikely in general.

The only thing working in favor of it being a bribe is the fact that he's from Illinois, where corruption is baked into politics. But this occurred in Nevada, and $1.4m is meaningless to him, so...

[VaughnP]

I don't think he'd take such a small bribe, but there's a reason basically all government contract related conferences and conventions are somewhere in the vicinity of or directly at a casino. Easiest way to pass money. I haven't been around that long, and I know firsthand of at least one investigation of someone who was definitely taking kickbacks this way. It's comical how some of these things work. And in case this gets scanned by something in the future - This shit is an open secret that honest people have demanded relevant OIGs investigate for years. Please do your fucking job.

[limitles]

He's a billionaire. Wild bets aren't so wild if you are a billionaire.

[desertrunner]

I'm no Pritzker fan, and would be happy to report that he was taking bribes. I just don't think he was, and his immense wealth makes bribery unlikely in general.

The only thing working in favor of it being a bribe is the fact that he's from Illinois, where corruption is baked into politics. But this occurred in Nevada, and $1.4m is meaningless to him, so...

I dont think it was a bribe, rather a pay off. Just like people buying Hunter Biden's artwork, how else can you buy a connection and pay for direct access to the then POTUS. Someone wanted or needed to pay him and this was the only quick and clean way to do it. If youre a billionaire, why even the need to gamble that big and hard then?

As usual, the masses will go against me, but this is too shady and not legit, in my opinion. He didnt just got that fucking lucky that night...BS...Someone had to pay him and this was the only legal way...and now he plays it off as no big deal.

[gut]

I'm no Pritzker fan, and would be happy to report that he was taking bribes. I just don't think he was, and his immense wealth makes bribery unlikely in general.

The only thing working in favor of it being a bribe is the fact that he's from Illinois, where corruption is baked into politics. But this occurred in Nevada, and $1.4m is meaningless to him, so...

I dont think it was a bribe, rather a pay off. Just like people buying Hunter Biden's artwork, how else can you buy a connection and pay for direct access to the then POTUS. Someone wanted or needed to pay him and this was the only quick and clean way to do it. If youre a billionaire, why even the need to gamble that big and hard then?

As usual, the masses will go against me, but this is too shady and not legit, in my opinion. He didnt just got that fucking lucky that night...BS...Someone had to pay him and this was the only legal way...and now he plays it off as no big deal.

Thing is, us "masses" know other human beings, and understand how humans work.

[Orko]

"that has raised millions of dollars for the Holocaust Museum

He understands how important it is to brainwash everyone that the billionaire class are actually the victims. Poor JB, why's everyone always picking on him.

How about a charity that actually needs the money.

The real scandal is how many NGO's his family operates. Like Soros he doesn't give his money to charity, he gives your money to charity and to all his friends thru NGO's.

Go thru that thread, can you imagine what we don't know.

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/truthtroll_X/status/1889538570295320722

Then this.
Penny Pritzker as a special representative for Ukraine's economic recovery.
Hahahaha good one.

[desertrunner]

Thing is, us "masses" know other human beings, and understand how humans work.

Wrong, its because you moron liberals blindly band together.

[go_buccos]

Thing is, us "masses" know other human beings, and understand how humans work.

Wrong, its because you moron liberals blindly band together.

So let me get this straight, DR…. It’s your claim that a licensed, regulated Las Vegas casino somehow rigged a blackjack shoe so that the very high-profile sitting governor of a big blue state would win 7 figures of said casino’s cash? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

I always knew you were autistic, racist, etc., but I also always thought you had a modicum of intelligence. This just proves that on top of all that that you’re a full-blown retard.

[Dan Druff]

desertrunner and some on the right are trying to say that they let Pritzker cash out $1.4m above what he bought in, regardless of his actual blackjack results (or if he played at all).

Indeed, if a casino or casino-adjacent company/individual were to bribe him, that would be a good way to do it.

This falls apart mainly due to the fact that Pritzker has $4b in net worth, and also has major Presidential aspirations. There's no way he'd risk fucking that up for a tiny percentage increase in his net worth.

[lol wow]

jesus christ newsflash rich dude plays 25k a hand blackjack wins a little bit over 5 hours impresses his probably fat wife

[themanwho]

jesus christ newsflash rich dude plays 25k a hand blackjack wins a little bit over 5 hours impresses his probably fat wife

Some of her more professional pics don't look too bad, but yeah, probably.

[Dan Druff]

To be fair, he's a very fat guy, so it's fitting that his wife is also fat.

[lol wow]

grok can you ai a sex tape with these two