Tony Bloom

Anthony Grant Bloom (born 20 March 1970 in Brighton, Sussex) is a successful poker player from London, England. He has also made a name for himself as a successful sports bettor and property investor. His nickname is an alias given to him by an old friend who claimed he had alligator blood.

He appeared in the Late Night Poker television series and also has a final table appearance on the World Poker Tour. Tony also made back-to-back final table appearances in the first two Poker Million events.

His first major win came in January 2004 when he won the Australasian Poker Championship in Melbourne, collecting a first prize of around $AUS 420,000($320,000, £180,000)).

Bloom won the £5,000 No Limit Hold'em VC Poker Cup Final in London on 5 August 2005 and won the £200,000 ($351,401) first prize.

He also had a fourth place finish in the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions. After being eliminated, Phil Hellmuth Jr told him of the "great respect" he had for Bloom's game.

Bloom was a member of the winning British team in the Poker Nations Cup.

He is considered one of the most popular players on the circuit, and considers Mike Sexton to be his favourite player.

As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $1,500,000.

Tony is also one of the most successful sports gamblers active in the world today, specialising in football betting.

Trivia

 * Bloom's uncle Ray is a director of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.. In May 2006 Bloom revealed he had a 15% stake in the club's shares.


 * Bloom won AU$600,000 for his second place finish in the High Rollers Challenge, event 8 of the Australian Poker Millions tournament held in Melbourne in Jan 2009.