Andy Bloch

The full guide

Andy Bloch is a professional poker player who is a member of FullTiltPoker.com’s Team Full Tilt. As a member of the MIT blackjack team, Bloch earned two electrical engineering degrees from MIT as well as a JD from Harvard Law School.

Andy Bloch Online Poker Career

Block initially began playing poker in 1992, during which time he entered several small tournaments each month. During this same year, he also entered a no-limit Texas hold’em tournament. Despite the fact that he had never played the game before, he managed to win one of the World Poker Finals tournaments. Five years later, he chose to skip the last week of classes at Harvard so he could participate in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker. At the prompting of Tom Sims, he recorded all of his hole cards and published the information in a 2-part article with CardPlayer Magazine.

Despite passing the bar exam in 1999, Bloch put off a law career in favor for pursuing his poker career. In 2001, he made it to two final tables at the World Series of Poker and managed a first place finish in 2002 at Foxwoods. In addition, he it to two final tables during he first season of the World Poker Tour and managed to finish in third place on both occasions. He was also the winner of the second season of the Ultimate Poker Challenge.

Andy Bloch Blackjack

More recently, Block was featured in The Hot Shoe, which is a blackjack documentary directed by David Layton. He also starred Beating Blackjack, which is an instructional video that explains the art of card counting.

In 2006, Bloch came in second at the World Series of Poker’s $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. His heads up battle against David “Chip” Reese lasted 286 hands, which was the longest battle in the history of the series. During that same year, he won the Pro-Am Poker Equalizer tournament and took home a grand prize of $500,000.

Andy Bloch in the National Heads-up Poker

In 2008, Block finished as the runner-up in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship as well as in the World Series of Poker’s $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em World Championship. In total, Bloch’s live tournament earnings since starting his professional gaming career are estimated to be more than $4,000,000. He is very charitable with his earnings, however, having contributed his $100,000 in winnings from the Pro-Am Equalizer tournament to charity and donating all of his winnings on Full Tilt Poker to charity.

Read additional blackjack player biographies for players that have had an impact on the casino game. If you are looking to play online blackjack check out our recommended casinos.