Antonio Esfandiari – Early Life

Antonio Esfandiari was born Amir Esfandiari on December 8th, 1978 in Tehran, Iran.

He would live and grow up in Iran until the age of 9, when in 1988, his family would move to San Jose, California in search of a better life for their children.

He would change his name from Amir to Antonio at the age of 19 to better fit in with the San Jose community and American life.

Growing up in Iran

His youth in Iran would be radically different from a life in America. In Iran, people are not allowed to even own a deck of cards, far less practice magic and play poker for a living!

He grew up in an Iran that was being reshaped by the Islamic Revolution of 1979.  Shortly after he was born, the Iranian Revolution would see the overthrow of the Shah and the formation of an Islamic Republic under the Ayatollah Khomeini.

In 1980, Iraq would invade Iran and the two countries would be at war until 1988.  A young Esfandiari recounts a childhood where bombs would be going off and where hiding in the basement below their apartment for protection from these explosions would be the norm.

His father was a successful businessman in Iran and owned several businesses.  After trying for about a year to get green cards and the necessary visas to move his family to the United States he was finally successful.  In 1988, they managed to leave behind a country that was only just emerging from almost a decade of war and destruction.

The war had caused the Iranian currency to lose all of its value and by the time they arrived in California, their money had all but evaporated as a result.

Antonio would recall that his father had given up everything to bring his family to America in order to give his children a chance for a better life away from war and conflict in Iran.

Straight “A” High School Student Turned Party Animal

Antonio is very intelligent and this was noticeable in his early years throughout high school in San Jose where he was a top student.  Once he was focused, he was successful.  This would prove to be the case later in his life when he focused his attention on magic and then poker.

Like any typical 16 year old teenager his interests shifted away from books and he became more interested in parties and girls.  Not surprisingly, his grades would suffer as a direct result.  His love for partying became so great that he would move out at 17 so that he could have his own place which was paid for by waiting tables.

Having his own apartment and being a party animal while still in high school made him very popular with all the other kids.  Every Friday night he would host a big party at his apartment, much to the detriment of his high school studies and academic progress.

Brief College Career & Introduction to Magic

He went to college after high school to pursue a degree in business. By this time, his interest in studying had dropped off even further and would come to a complete halt when he began performing magic tricks.

While working at the restaurant, he would 1st discover magic when a bartender pulled off a few magic tricks to the amazement of everyone present. He was so impressed that he went straight out to the nearest magic store to learn how the tricks were done and to buy some new tricks of his own.

He would become so engrossed by magic that he would spend all of his free time practicing his tricks and working hard to become better.  Magic Antonio would start to perform tricks for customers while he waited their tables.  His tricks would earn him big tips and applause from the customers.

This was now the late 90′s, in the glory days of the high-tech boom.  The Silicon Valley was hitting the big time and there was a lot of money to be made doing magic tricks for big spenders.  With big corporate budgets for entertainment, Magic Antonio would be able to make a lot of extra cash being hired to perform magic at corporate events during the boom.

From this point on, it looked like Antonio Esfandiari’s future was in the cards.