New Florida CFO is a seasoned poker player with nearly half a million in winnings
Gov. Ron DeSantis tapped staunch ally Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, on July 16 to be his new CFO after the post was left vacant for months. Former CFO Jimmy Patronis left on April 1 for his new job as Northwest Florida's member of Congress.
Ingoglia is a businessman who owns homebuilding company Hartland Homes and has a net worth at $28.3 million, according to his most recent financial disclosure.
Some of that came from poker winnings: The new CFO is an internationally ranked poker player who has earned $469,668 in winnings since September 2005, according to cardplayer.com, although he hasn't played in over a year.
"Everyone asks me what's the difference between poker and politics," he said on the Battleground Florida podcast in 2019, "and I tell them that there's a lot less lying going on in poker."
Does Blaise Ingoglia play poker?
Since 2005, Ingoglia has played in 27 poker events in the World Series of Poker, the Poker World Tour, and other games. His last recorded game was in June 2024. He favors Omaha, he said, but his best game is "probably no-limit Hold-Em."
"Obviously I like to have my priorities straight," he told Battleground Florida host Christopher Heath. "My businesses, my family. And I take my job as state representative very seriously. So, I would only play poker when I have ability to."
Ingoglia said he had gotten interested in the game after watching it on TV and happened to be vacationing in Las Vegas when the World Poker Tour was there. He bought in "not even knowing how to fully play the game." After that he was hooked, calling poker "one of the few things that actually relaxes me."
"There are similarities between poker and politics and policy," Ingoglia said. "You always have to be thinking two, three, four steps ahead of your opponent, whether it's at the poker table or whether it's a political adversary or whether it's just trying to maneuver to get great legislation across the finish line."
The new chief financial officer said that was one of the reasons he enjoyed poker and policy: "I'm pretty good at both.'
What is the most Blaise Ingoglia has ever won at poker?
In September 2006, Ingoglia stood up from the 2006 Borgata Open in the World Poker Tour with $261,901 on a $9,700 buy-in. Winner Mark Newhouse took the pot of $1,519,020.
In March 2024, Ingoglia made it to the final table in a World Series of Poker Circuit event, finishing 8th out of 669 players and taking $22,565.
The least amount Ingoglia has won, according to cardplayer.com data, was $941 in the 2020 Pinktober Poker Open.
Has Blaise Ingoglia introduced gambling bills?
In 2024, Ingoglia sponsored a bill (SB 1054) that would have allowed existing gaming permit holders to move their operations to a different location within 30 miles, without dealing with local regulations that might have blocked it, as long as the new locations was not within 15 minutes of any Seminole Tribe-operated casinos. The bill died in committee.
As a state representative in 2019, he sponsored a successful bill to exempt security information about the Florida Lottery and personal information about retailers and vendors from public records searches and requests.
Mostly during his time in political office his bills have addressed criminal justice, firearms regulations, consumer protection, sewage conversions. His successes in the last Florida legislative session include:
(co-introduced): Allows presidential libraires to be built in Florida without local government regulations or oversight.
(co-introduced): Makes it a third-degree felony to abandon a dog restrained outside during a natural disaster.
(co-introduced): Establishes a model process for local governments to divert mentally ill inmates from jail to treatment.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: New Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia is internationally-ranked poker player
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
16 minutes ago
- New York Post
Epstein furor undermines public trust, Republican election hopes, two US lawmakers say
The uproar over disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein could undermine public trust in the Trump administration, as well as Republican hopes of retaining control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections, two US lawmakers said on Sunday. Republican Representative Thomas Massie and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, who want the House of Representatives to vote on their bipartisan resolution requiring full release of the government's Epstein files, said the lack of transparency is reinforcing public perceptions that the rich and powerful live beyond the reach of the judicial system. 'This is going to hurt Republicans in the midterms. The voters will be apathetic if we don't hold the rich and powerful accountable,' Massie, a hardline conservative from Kentucky, told NBC's 'Meet the Press' program. Advertisement 4 President Donald Trump at Trump Turnberry golf club in Turnberry, Scotland on July 27, 2025. Getty Images Republicans hope to add to their current 219-212 House majority – with four seats currently vacant – and 53-47 Senate majority in November 2026, although the US political cycle traditionally punishes the party of the sitting president during midterm elections. The Washington Post reported late on Sunday that Trump was increasingly frustrated with his administration's handling of the furor around Epstein. Advertisement Even so, the president was hesitant to make personnel changes to avoid creating a 'bigger spectacle' as his top officials underestimated the outrage from Trump's own base over the issue, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources. Khanna said Attorney General Pam Bondi triggered 'a crisis of trust' by saying there was no list of Epstein clients after previously implying that one existed. The change in position unleashed a tsunami of calls for her resignation from Trump's MAGA base. 'This is about trust in government,' the California Democrat told 'Meet the Press.' 'This is about being a reform agent of transparency.' Advertisement 4 The uproar over disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein could undermine public trust in the Trump administration. AP President Donald Trump, who on Sunday announced an EU trade deal in Scotland, has been frustrated by continued questions about his administration's handling of investigative files related to Epstein's criminal charges and 2019 death by suicide in prison. Massie and Khanna believe they can win enough support from fellow lawmakers to force a vote on their resolution when Congress returns from its summer recess in September. But they face opposition from Republican leaders including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who sent lawmakers home a day early to stymie Democratic efforts to force a vote before the break. Advertisement 4 A photo of the cell where Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide. CBS 60 MINUTES Johnson, who also appeared on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' said he favors a non-binding alternative resolution that calls for release of 'credible' evidence, but which he said would better protect victims including minors. 'The Massie and Khanna discharge petition is reckless in the way that it is drafted and presented,' Johnson said. 'It does not adequately include those protections.' Massie dismissed Johnson's claim as 'a straw man' excuse. 'Ro and I carefully crafted this legislation so that the victims' names will be redacted,' he said. 'They're hiding behind that.' Trump has tried and failed so far to distract attention from the Epstein controversy six months into his second term. 4 Trump shakes hands with US House Speaker Mike Johnson as he hosts a dinner with Republican members of the U.S. Congress in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 22, 2025. REUTERS On Saturday, Trump repeated his claims without evidence that 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and other Democrats should be prosecuted over payment for endorsements from celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce and the Reverend Al Sharpton. Last week he accused former President Barack Obama of 'treason' over how the Obama administration treated intelligence about Russian interference in US elections nine years ago, drawing a rebuke from an Obama spokesperson. Advertisement Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally, said on Sunday that Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's director of national intelligence, had found new information that investigators initially discovered no evidence of Russian election interference but changed their position after Obama told them to keep looking. 'I'm not alleging he committed treason, but I am saying it bothers me,' Graham told 'Meet the Press.' Democratic Representative Jason Crow dismissed Gabbard's claims, telling the 'Fox News Sunday' program that the national intelligence director had turned herself into 'a weapon of mass distraction.' The Department of Justice has said it is forming a strike force to assess Gabbard's claims.
2 hours ago
Vice President JD Vance is on the road again to sell the Republicans' big new tax law
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Vice President JD Vance is hitting his home state on Monday to continue promoting the GOP's sweeping tax-and-border bill. He will be in Canton, Ohio, to talk about the bill's 'benefits for hardworking American families and businesses,' according to his office. Aides offered little detail in advance about the visit, but NBC News reported that his remarks will take place at a steel plant in Canton, located about 60 miles south of Cleveland. The visit marks Vance's second trip this month to sell the package, filled with a hodgepodge of conservative priorities that Republicans have dubbed the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' as the vice president becomes its chief promoter on the road. In West Pittston, Pennsylvania, Vance told attendees at an industrial machine shop that they should be able to keep more of their pay in their pockets, highlighting the law's new tax deductions on overtime. Vance also discussed a new children's savings program called Trump Accounts and how the new law promotes energy extraction, while decrying Democrats for opposing the bill that keeps the current tax rates, which would have otherwise expired later this year. The legislation cleared the GOP-controlled Congress by the narrowest of margins, with Vance breaking a tie vote in the Senate for the package that also sets aside hundreds of billions of dollars for Trump's immigration agenda while slashing Medicaid and food stamps. The vice president is also stepping up his public relations blitz on the bill as the White House tries to deflect attention away from the growing controversy over Jeffrey Epstein. The disgraced financier killed himself, authorities say, in a New York jail cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. Trump and his top allies stoked conspiracy theories about Epstein's death before Trump returned to the White House and are now reckoning with the consequences of a Justice Department announcement earlier this month that Epstein did indeed die by suicide and that no further documents about the case would be released. Questions about the case continued to dog Trump in Scotland, where he on Sunday announced a framework trade deal with the European Union. Asked about the timing of the trade announcement and the Epstein case and whether it was correlated, Trump responded: 'You got to be kidding with that." 'No, had nothing to do with it,' Trump told the reporter. 'Only you would think that." The White House sees the new law as a clear political boon, sending Vance to promote it in swing congressional districts that will determine whether Republicans retain their House majority next year. The northeastern Pennsylvania stop is in the district represented by Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a first-term lawmaker who knocked off a six-time Democratic incumbent last fall. On Monday, Vance will be in the district of Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes, who is a top target for the National Republican Congressional Committee this cycle. Polls before the bill's passage showed that it largely remained unpopular, although the public approves of some individual provisions such as increasing the child tax credit and allowing workers to deduct more of their tips on taxes.
Boston Globe
4 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Vice President JD Vance is on the road again to sell the Republicans' big new tax law
In West Pittston, Pennsylvania, Vance told attendees at an industrial machine shop that they should be able to keep more of their pay in their pockets, highlighting the law's new tax deductions on overtime. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Vance also discussed a new children's savings program called Trump Accounts and how the new law promotes energy extraction, while decrying Democrats for opposing the bill that keeps the current tax rates, which would have otherwise expired later this year. Advertisement The legislation cleared the GOP-controlled Congress by the narrowest of margins, with Vance breaking a tie vote in the Senate for the package that also sets aside hundreds of billions of dollars for Trump's immigration agenda while slashing Medicaid and food stamps. The vice president is also stepping up his public relations blitz on the bill as the White House tries to deflect attention away from the growing controversy over Jeffrey Epstein. Advertisement The disgraced financier killed himself, authorities say, in a New York jail cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. Trump and his top allies stoked conspiracy theories about Epstein's death before Trump returned to the White House and are now reckoning with the consequences of a Justice Department announcement earlier this month that Epstein did indeed die by suicide and that no further documents about the case would be released. Questions about the case continued to dog Trump in Scotland, where he on Sunday announced a framework trade deal with the European Union. Asked about the timing of the trade announcement and the Epstein case and whether it was correlated, Trump responded: 'You got to be kidding with that.' 'No, had nothing to do with it,' Trump told the reporter. 'Only you would think that.' The White House sees the new law as a clear political boon, sending Vance to promote it in swing congressional districts that will determine whether Republicans retain their House majority next year. The northeastern Pennsylvania stop is in the district represented by Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a first-term lawmaker who knocked off a six-time Democratic incumbent last fall. On Monday, Vance will be in the district of Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes, who is a top target for the National Republican Congressional Committee this cycle. Polls before the bill's passage showed that it largely remained unpopular, although the public approves of some individual provisions such as increasing the child tax credit and allowing workers to deduct more of their tips on taxes.
