The state of Florida has a new chief financial officer. Not only does he bring a business background to the position, the man also brings some poker chops to the position.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced this week that state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia will take over the CFO position.
The politician and owner of homebuilding company Hartland Homes has almost $470,000 in live tournament winnings in a poker record dating back to 2005. Ingoglia, 54, reportedly has a net worth of more than $28 million.
“Everyone asks me what’s the difference between poker and politics, and I tell them that there’s a lot less lying going on in poker,” Ingoglia said on the Battleground Florida podcast in 2019.
From Poker To Politics
At the tables, Ingoglia’s biggest score came in 2006 when he finished sixth in the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open for $261,901. Earlier that same year at the property’s Winter Poker Open, he finished seventh in a $750 event for $25,920.
There’s no record of any online poker results for Ignolia. However, since he was playing high-stakes tournaments in the midst of the poker boom, he’s likely to have experience on the virtual felt as well.
Ingoglia’s last tournament score came at this year’s World Series of Poker. Ignolia partnered with fellow Floridian Peter Cuderman to finish 32nd in the $1,000 no-limit hold’em tag team event. They each took home $2,688.
In politics, Ingoglia was chair of the Republican Party of Florida from 2015 – 2019. Then, he ran a political committee for DeSantis when the governor decided to run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.
Ignolia moved to the Sunshine State from Queens, New York in 1996 to build his company.
“Yes, he’s got a great financial record, which is important,” DeSantis said. “But I looked even broader than that because I wanted to say who’s running toward these fights and who’s running and hiding. And on every single time we’ve had a flash point in Florida, Blaise is running into battle to stand up for people like you.”
In Florida, the CFO role oversees state finances, insurance and financial regulation. The CFO also acts as the state fire marshal and is involved in disaster response and economic development.
No one had served in the CFO post since April when Jimmy Patronis left the position to replace former Rep. Matt Gaetz in the U.S. Congress.
Photo courtesy of Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood / BJ Nemeth
