Latest news with #BattlegroundFlorida
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Florida CFO is a seasoned poker player with nearly half a million in winnings
Florida's new Chief Financial Officer is used to handling money. Sometimes he's playing cards over it. 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 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 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
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Battleground Florida: Officials discuss tariffs, LGBTQ policies
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — President Donald Trump recently announced tariffs and the potential for additional tariffs. University of Tampa Economics Professor Michael Coon explained the purpose of tariffs and the impact they will likely have on businesses and families in Tampa Bay. Trump administration moves to shut down Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Trump Administration has also enacted policies, through an executive order, banning transgender athletes from female sports. There are several other policies targeting the LGBTQ+ community. In Florida, there's a host of laws that impact the same community. Hillsborough County Democratic LGBTQ+ Caucus President Luis Salazar and Log Cabin Republicans of Tampa Bay President James Lear appear on Battleground Florida to discuss the measures and proposals. WFLA's political show, Battleground Florida, with Moderator Ty Russell airs Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
