Poker News Daily: How did you get started in poker?
Bloch: I always played games growing up. I started playing poker in Boy Scouts, then with my school friends, and then played a little bit in college. They were mostly nickel, dime, and quarter games. I didn’t really get into poker in casinos until right after I graduated college, when Foxwoods opened up in Connecticut. I started going there and got bored with my job. I then got fired from a job and so played there a lot more. I started with the MIT Blackjack Team through a friend I met in a poker game in the Boston area. When my project got canceled, I decided to play blackjack and poker full time.
PND: What can you tell us about your involvement with the MIT Blackjack Team?
Bloch: I was working a couple of years after I graduated and I met somebody at a poker game who wanted to start a poker team where we would train poker players in the spring and then they would play at Foxwoods at separate tables. It turns out that he was one of the founders of the MIT Blackjack Team. Instead of playing poker, we ended up playing a game that you played against the casino that was kind of like Caribbean Stud. We did that for about three to four months until the casino changed the rules. Most of us then went over to the MIT Blackjack Team. Since I was one of the organizers of the poker team, I was recruited.
PND: What are some of the style differences between those who play poker online and those who play live?
Bloch: People who play online pick up on tells a lot less, but they pay more attention to players’ betting patterns. They know that if a player is too tight, they can play aggressively against them and get them to lay down hands. If a player plays too loose, they’ll make more value bets against them. In live play, players don’t see as many hands, so it’s harder to tell someone’s betting patterns. They may try to pick up on tells more often and they’re more comfortable handling chips and cards.
Before there were online players, if someone didn’t know how to handle chips and cards, you knew that they were a bad player. Now, quite often, those are the best players because they are the ones who have put in thousands of hours online and are just brand new at live poker. I have a lot of respect for the online pros that play a little bit live and get results. Those are usually the toughest players out there.
PND: What do you like to do when you’re not playing poker?
Bloch: I’m trying to learn how to play golf. I like to play video games and I read a lot of books and websites, trying to stay up to date on current events.
PND: How difficult is it not having a private life?
Bloch: I don’t think I’m that much of a celebrity. I get recognized often when I’m out, especially if I go to a casino and play poker. I can’t be incognito at a poker table unless I pull a Phil Laak and wear a complete disguise. I don’t think that I’d want to get too much more famous.
The other day, we went to a BMW dealership to get our car fixed and test drive a car. When I got back home, I went online and played poker. One of the guys at my table said he just saw me at the BMW dealership since he was playing poker while waiting for his car to be fixed. It gets a little weird at times. Often, it’s fine though. I like my fans. I love it when a 65 year-old grandma comes up to you and wants to take my picture.
PND: Whose game do you respect the most?
Bloch: I like Chris Ferguson and Phil Ivey a lot. They have much different styles, but ultimately they’re very similar in a lot of ways. There are internet pros who I respect, but some of them have a lot of weaknesses. They’ve learned poker so fast that they think they can play all of the other games. They don’t take the time that they need to learn and also drop down in stakes when they learn something new.
PND: What has been your biggest extravagance since turning pro?
Bloch: The biggest thing I bought was a BMW M3. Right now, we’re looking for a new house, so that will probably be pretty extravagant. Unlike a lot of the pros, I don’t just spend money whenever I have it. I think that’s one of the reasons that I’m one of the few people who has 100% of himself when I play in tournaments. I end up making a lot more money for myself than almost anyone you see on TV. Not too many people, when they win a million dollars on TV, actually win a million dollars themselves. They usually only have a piece of themselves. Even some of the top pros trade 5% or 10% with friends or sell pieces of them. I don’t do any of that.
