 Antonio
Esfandiari "The
Magician" was
born in Iran to the name
of Amir Esfandiari and moved
to California during the
mid 80’s.
It wasn’t
until he turned 19 that
he changed his name legally
to Antonio when he chose
to make a career out of
being a magician. During
his college years his roommate
was another pro player,
Phil Laak and at the time
both men were inseparable,
playing in most games together.
Esfandiari is known for
his abilities to perform
impressive chip tricks while
playing at the tables.
During 2004 Esfandiari admits
to making close to $1.5
million while playing
at the Commerce Casino.
That same year he earned
his first bracelet in
the 2004 WSOP Pot Limit
Texas Holdem event. He
has made twice in the
PokerStars Superstars
Invitational Tournament
in addition to four seasons
of GSN’s High Stakes
Poker.
When asked what his favourite
hand is he admits to love
playing 79, which he refers
to as the “Persian Carpet Ride”. An odd hand for a pro player
to like but during his early years playing he won three huge pots back to back
with those two cards and will play them ever since.
Total live tournament winnings
exceed $3,000,000
- Jun-2008 $ 10,000 World Championship Heads Up No Limit Hold'em – WSOP
- 53rd $ 14,438
- May 2008 No Limit Hold'em
2008 Coast to Coast Poker
Championship, 19th C$ 1,810
- Apr-2008 € 10,000 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event EPT Grand Final,
Monte Carlo 8th € 168,000
- Mar-2008 $ 20,000 Week 7 - "Jam Up Week" Poker
After Dark III, 2nd
- Nov-2007 $ 550 No Limit Hold'em IP Poker Classic 2007 - 1st $ 26,488
- 21-Jun-2007 $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em – WSOP - 62nd $ 9,708
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