Do you know who is Tony Bloom? Anthony Grant Bloom (born 20 March 1970 in Brighton, Sussex) is an English sportsbook professional, businessman, poker player, and owner/chairman of Premier League football club Brighton & Hove Albion as well as Charleroi in Belgium’s first division. A Royal Union Saint Gilloise squad.
Bloom is also claimed to have amassed wealth through the establishment of online gambling and gaming websites, as well as real estate and start-up companies.
Who is Tony Bloom in Gambling World?
Bloom, also known as The Lizard, has been a sports bettor and property investor.
Bloom has appeared on the Late Night Poker tv show as well as the final table of the World Poker Tour. He also made the final table in each of the first two Poker Million events.
In January 2004, he took first place in the Australasian Poker Championship in Melbourne, winning around AU$420,000 ($320,000, £180,000).
On August 5, 2005, Bloom won the £200,000 ($351,401) first prize in the £5,000 No Limit Hold’em VC Poker Cup Final in London.
He also finished 4th in the 2005 World Championship Poker Tournament. He was part of the state team that won the Poker Nations Cup.
His final tournament winnings total exceeded US$1,500,000 in 2008. Bloom was earned A$600,000 for placing second in the High Rollers Challenge, the eighth event of the Australian Poker Millions tournament, which took place in Melbourne in January 2009.
Bloom did not win the £1 billion jackpot at the Poker Million IX event, that took place on December 10, 2010 in London. He finished second, just ahead of Gus Hansen.
The Football Chairman
Bloom has been the chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion since 2009, when the club was promoted to the Premier League after 34 years out of the top level of English football.
After obtaining a 75% ownership in the club and investing £93 million in the development of the team’s new stadium, Falmer Stadium, he followed Dick Knight.
The stadium’s capacity was increased, and funds were provided to make it “Premier League ready” by installing floodlights, among other minor improvements.
Bloom was a lifelong Brighton supporter, and his family has a long history with the club; his uncle Ray is a member, and his grandpa, Harry, served as vice-chairman in the 1970s.
After becoming chairman, Bloom hired former Uruguay international Gus Poyet as manager, and the two guided the team to promotion from Football League One as champions in 2011, the year before they moved into their new home, the Falmer Stadium.
Poyet left the club in 2013 after losing to Crystal Palace in the playoff semi-finals. Bloom appointed Scar Garca as the club’s new head coach in June 2013; Garcia resigned after losing his second consecutive playoff semi-final to Derby County and left the club in May 2014.
Brighton moved one step further under Hughton’s management and Bloom’s ownership in the 2016–17 season, finishing second in the Championship and earning promotion to the Premier League for the first time in the club’s history.
Bloom helped Hughton in the following transfer window, breaking several transfer records to keep improving Brighton’s squad ahead of their first season in the Premier League.
Bloom completed the ownership of Belgian second division club Union SG in 2018.
Tony Bloom’s Personal Life
Bloom is Jewish and made significant contributions to the construction of a synagogue project in Hove.
He intervened when the Brighton and Hove Synagogue was experiencing financial difficulties, and funding for the project came from his Bloom Foundation, which he chaired.
In the end, you already know who is Tony Bloom. He is the richest gambler in the world and also the Premier League’s chairman.