A journey from the classroom to the poker table

Retirement is a time for people to celebrate and chase lifelong dreams, and Merrick resident Peter Bloch is doing just that. He recently completed his third performance at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Bloch has always been a fan of the game, learning from both his parents as a kid and playing himself his entire life. Although he always loved the game, life seemed to get in the way of pursuing his dream of playing on the big stage.

“I’ve always had an interest in poker,” Bloch said. “I am a retired teacher, so I’ve always had to work extra jobs. I worked at summer camp, and I worked as a pension rep for the United Federation of Teachers after school. So I never really got a chance to play a lot.”

After retiring from teaching in 2021, Bloch decided it was time to chase his lifelong dream and play in the World Series of Poker in July 2022. He earned his seat at the biggest tournament in poker by competing in smaller tournaments throughout Long Island and winning enough to get himself a seat in Las Vegas.

“There were local games that I played in to get the seat,” said Bloch. “I played in a few small games with 10 or so people, and then after I won that, I got a seat at a bigger game that had around 30 people in it. The top three people of that game got to go to the World Series of Poker. So technically, I won a small game to win a big game to get to the World Series of Poker.”

Bloch’s first two years at the tournament didn’t go as he had hoped, but he still fell in love with the experience and decided to give it another shot this year. After being eliminated on the first day in 2022, Bloch came ready to play this time around, finishing in 119th place out of 10,043 participants.

“I played almost 60 hours of poker, and it was exhausting yet so thrilling at the same time,” said Bloch. “I got to sit next to some world professionals, and I held my own against them. I played a little smarter and tighter this time, and I actually had a coach to help me out along the way.”

Bloch was able to reconnect with an old friend at the tournament, Robert Varkonyi, the 2002 World Series of Poker winner, who gave Bloch some advice ahead of the tournament and was at his rail cheering him on throughout the tournament.

Throughout his experience at the World Series of Poker, Bloch has fallen in love with the game all over again and hopes to continue to represent the South Shore on the biggest stage for years to come.

“I was thrilled that I was representing the South Shore,” Bloch said. “You know, I’m not huge on social media, but from what I was understanding, there were many people following me online. It was a dream come true. It’s something that I had on my bucket list, but something I never thought would ever happen. There were so many nice people around, and it was just a completely memorable and enjoyable experience, one that I’ll never forget.”