Bloom hoping for double celebration at Poker Million - 09/12/2010

Brighton chairman looking to follow FA Cup win with poker victory live on Sky Sports

Brighton and Hove Albion chairman swaps the boardroom for the poker table on Friday night as he aims to win the FullTiltPoker.com Poker Million IX final live on Sky Sports 2 and HD2 from 7pm.

Bloom appeared in the first two finals in 2000 and 2003, finishing fourth and third respectively, and he will be aiming to cap off a great week for his football club by cashing the winner-takes-all million dollar winner’s cheque against the best final table in the tournament’s history.

Bloom swaps the boardroom for the poker table on Friday night

Bloom’s Brighton made it through to the third round of the FA Cup on Wednesday after beating FC United of Manchester 4-0 in a second round replay and they will entertain south coast neighbours Portsmouth in January. Gus Poyet’s team top the League One table after 18 games and when they kick off at fellow high-fliers Huddersfield on Saturday, their chairman could be $1million richer.

“I’m not sure $1million will affect our season really!” said Bloom. “I have been incredibly busy in the last few weeks so I haven’t really been practicing on my game, but I always enjoy playing in Poker Million so it’ll be great.”

Affectionately known as The Lizard, Bloom’s poker CV is short but impressive – the man behind Brighton’s move to Falmer plays a select number of tournaments and has big cashes in the Aussie Millions to go with his Poker Million final appearances. In order to claim the top prize though, Bloom will have to see off high profile Scandinavian joint favourites Patrik Antonius and Gus Hansen along with Hendon Mob legend Barny Boatman – who also played in the first final. Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Howard Lederer also sits in his second Poker Million final while WSOPE main event winner James Bord will hope to cap off a great year with victory. Internet qualifier Seth Webber and Sutton Coldfield online pro Gary Peniket, who claimed the last spot in the final at FullTiltPoker.com, complete the line-up.

“The line-up is brilliant and full of good players,” said Bloom. “Obviously these guys play a lot more poker than I do, although I know Howard is really busy too so maybe we’ll be the same, but I have a great record in Poker Million and I’m pretty confident.”

The action is live from 7pm on Sky Sports 2 and HD2 and also blogged live at MatchroomPoker.com.