A member of the legendary MIT blackjack team, Andy Bloch first started playing poker in 1992. He mainly played in small buy-in tournaments and by the end of the year he won a $100 entry Texas Holdem tournament of the World Poker Finals. Word has it, that was the very first time he ever played NL Texas Holdem.
1997 was the turning point in his poker career. That year, he skipped a week of school and played in the WSOP Big Dance, where he became one of the players who helped Tom Sims’ low-tech hole card cam experiments.
In 1999 he made the decision of delaying his law career in order to play poker full time. His perseverance paid out as he made two final tables in the 2001 WSOP. Needless to say, the funds flowing in this way prompted him to further table his law related ambitions. The following year, he won a 7 Card Stud tournament at Foxwoods, made two WPT final tables (that was before he started boycotting them) and finished 3rd both times.
The second season of the Ultimate Poker Challenge would see Bloch walk away with the victory. He is a well known and respected blackjack player. He has starred in blackjack documentaries, released his own instructional blackjack videos and according to him, he’s once won more than $100k in a single session playing BJ.
In 2006, he finished runner up in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. That same year, he won the Pro-Am Poker Equalizer, disposing of Phil Laak in the heads-up stage of the tournament.
Altogether, he has 20 WSOP money finishes, although he failed to ever reach the money in a WSOP Main Event.
He also has 2 WPT final tables and 7 WPT money finishes.
In 2008, he finished second only to Chris Ferguson in the National Heads-up Poker Championships.
It is estimated that Andy Bloch has earned about $4 million in his career playing in poker tournaments.
He is currently a member of the huge team of professional players Full Tilt Poker maintains.