Antonio Esfandiari – Fame & Fortune

Antonio Esfandiari started making good money recreationally at the poker tables and was making enough playing cards that he decided to play poker fulltime and go pro.

He would quit working as a professional magician altogether since he could eventually make more playing poker.  Little did he realize how much more he would earn and that poker would make him rich beyond his wildest dreams.

His training ground was the Bay 101 casino in San Jose.  His buddy Phil Laak would convince him to rent an apartment in the area so that they could regularly play poker at the Bay.

The two would go from being roommates grinding it out for a living to becoming poker multi-millionaires and facing off against each other in the biggest poker games around.

World Poker Tour Final Table

He would make a name for himself in the poker world when he made the televised final table of the World Poker Tour 49’er Gold Rush Bonanza Main Event in San Francisco.

The young Magician would become famous by eliminating poker brat Phil Hellmuth and in the process becoming a victim of one of Hellmuth’s signature blow-ups.

After busting Hellmuth, he performed his signature “wave”.  Hellmuth, always a poor loser, would blow up and respond by saying “Show some class and shake my hand kid.”

He would go on to finish in 3rd place in the event behind Chris Bigler and Paul Darden.

Antonio Esfandiari Wins WPT Title & Becomes an Instant Millionaire

Less than a year and a half after his first WPT final table appearance, he would become the youngest winner of a World Poker Tour event and an instant millionaire!

He would win one of the premier events on the World Poker Tour – the L.A. Poker Classic No Limit Hold’em Championship Event in 2004 and take down the 1st prize payday of $1,400,000.

When interviewed by Mike Sexton after winning the title and becoming an instant poker millionaire, he responded “I’m the happiest I have ever been in my life.  This is awesome.”

The final hand of the tournament was an absolute dream setup for any poker player.  He was dealt pocket Aces and his opponent Vinny Vinh would push all in into the dream hand.  He insta-called and held his pocket Aces high in the air to show the crowd and a shell-shocked Vinh.

On location to celebrate this massive win was his long time poker playing buddy and rival Phil Laak as well as Gus Hansen.

Antonio Esfandiari Wins World Series of Poker Bracelet

Following on the heels of his major World Poker Tour win, the Magician would work his magic a few months later at the World Series of Poker and win a coveted WSOP bracelet.

He won the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Event and $185,000 in prize money for his efforts.  Just as importantly, he would join the elite ranks of poker players with a treasured WSOP bracelet.

Winning the event was no simple task as he was faced with a large field of 324 entries and a final table that included past WSOP Champions Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth.

Winning the WSOP bracelet proved to the poker world that the Magician was no one hit wonder and would be around for a long time to come.

Multi-Million Dollar Success Story

Antonio Esfandiari would become a regular face at final tables from Las Vegas to Monte Carlo.  Other big tournament finishes would include an extremely deep run in the WSOP $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Championship Event in 2009 that would see him make the final three tables at the most prestigious poker event in the world.  He would eventually finish in 24th place and cash $353,000.

He would make the final table of the European Poker Tour €10,000 Grand Final in Monte Carlo.  He also finished in 3rd place at the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

In 2010, he won his 2nd WPT title at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $870,000 proving that he is still a force to be reckoned with.

He plays the highest stakes cash games around appearing on the televised High Stakes Poker series as well as Poker After Dark cash game.  He plays against the best players in the world including Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, Tom Dwan, JC Tran and many more stars of the game.

Antonio Esfandiari – Poker Superstar

Antonio Esfandiari’s tournament success is remarkable and his tournament wins total more than $4.5 million.  His impressive tournament record and his regular TV appearances have transformed The Magician into one of the biggest poker superstars in the modern game.