This week, Andrew Bloch fought off 24 pro's and 12 celebrity players to win the Poker-Am Equalizer tournament, an Event which included the likes of Phil Ivey, Huck Seed and 4th place finisher in this year's WSOP Main Event, Allen Cunningham.
The premise was simple. Much in the same way as golf, the amateurs played off a handicap of 100,000 in chips (300,000 instead of 200,000) in an attempt to have them playing on an even keel to the pro's. But, although on paper the theory appeared sound, the pro's still dominated the competition, even with the deficit in chips.
After 6 heats had been played out throughout the week, the winning players combined to form one final of 6 players, of which included Bloch, Ivey, Seed, Cunningham, Phil Laak and Nick Gonzalez, the latter being the only man left flying the flag for the amateurs.
Although Bloch wasn't the pre-final favourite, he soon jumped into a commanding position when he disposed of Gonzalez, his Pocket Tens holding up against the amateur's Pocket Sevens.
And, with almost 700,000 (virtually half the chips in play) in front of him, the runner up in this year's WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E Event never looked back, later ridding of Phil Ivey (A-Q vs A-7) and then Allen Cunningham (7-7 vs 4-4).
Bloch finally sealed victory when he won a coinflip situation with A-J versus Phil Laak's Pocket Tens - the flop bringing a rather emphatic J-J-Q, no Ten on the Turn or River and it was all over.
Andrew Bloch, a rather unsung hero of sorts and viewed by many as one of the games most underrated players, will no doubt be thrilled with the result - that $500,000 he won for his efforts will come in handy too...
The show is due to air in America this November, and may be heading to our screens shortly after.