Tony Bloom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tony Bloom
Nickname(s) The Lizard
Residence Brighton, UK
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s) None
Money finish(es) 11
Highest ITM
Main Event finish
512th, 2006
World Poker Tour
Title(s) None
Final table(s) 1
Money finish(es) 2
European Poker Tour
Title(s) None
Final table(s) None
Money finish(es) 1

Anthony Grant "Tony" Bloom (born 20 March 1970 in Brighton, Sussex) is a football club chairman and successful poker player.

Poker and betting

Bloom made a name for himself as a successful sports bettor and property investor. His nickname, The Lizard, is an alias given to him by an old friend, who claimed he had alligator blood.[citation needed]

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 A$420,000($320,000, £180,000)).[1]

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[citation needed].

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. Bloom won A$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.

Bloom fell short of the million pound grand prize in the Poker Million IX event held in London on 10 December 2010. He finished second behind Gus Hansen.[2]

Football chairman

Since 2009 Bloom has been the chairman of Football League Championship club Brighton & Hove Albion. He succeeded Dick Knight after securing a 95% shareholding in the club and investing £93 million into the development of the club's new ground, the American Express Community Stadium at Falmer.[3][4]

Upon taking-over the club Bloom declared his love of the game, "I've been a football fan and a gambler since the age of about seven or eight. My interest in both developed at the same time."[5] Bloom is a longtime fan of Brighton[6] and his family has had a long association with the club: his uncle Ray is a director and his grandfather, Harry, was vice-chairman during the 1970s.[7] Once chairman, he has appointed former Uruguay international Gus Poyet as manager and together they led Brighton to promotion from Football League One as champions in 2011. Poyet left the club in 2013 after losing the play-off semi-final to Crystal Palace F.C., and on 26 June 2013 Bloom appointment Óscar García Junyent as the new head coach of the club.

References

  1. Tony Bloom's Player Profile and HistoryPokerpages. Retrieved 1st May 2010
  2. Hendon Mob DatabaseThe Hendon Mob. Retrieved 26th May 2011
  3. Stadium Funding Secured, Seagulls World, 18 May 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009
  4. Prediction for 09-10 SeasonSquarefootball, 21st February 2009. Retrieved 21st February 2009
  5. TONY IS BLOOM-ING GOODNOTW, 16 May 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2009
  6. Szczepanik, Nick (22 May 2009). "'I'm no Abramovich' says new Brighton chairman". Times Online. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  7. Szczepanik, Nick (19 May 2009). "Brighton secure £93m investment". Times Online. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.