Antonio Esfandiari “The Magician”

Antonio Esfandiari “The Magician”

Biography

Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, born Amir Esfandiary, is a professional poker player and former professional magician, known for his elaborate chip tricks.

Antonio Esfandiari is an American professional poker player of Iranian origin. He is best known for winning three WSOP bracelets and two WPT titles. He is also famous for winning the biggest cash prize in poker history of more than $18 million which he collected at The Big One for One Drop event at the 2012 WSOP.

Intro

Antonio Esfandiari made his biggest poker achievement in the summer of 2012 when he outplayed the field of 48 players consisting of recognized poker professionals and wealthy businessmen in the $1 million buy-in The Big One for One Drop event. The tournament benefited the One Drop Foundation established by the Canadian entrepreneur Guy Laliberte who himself finished the tournament in fifth place. Esfandiari collected the record-breaking $18,346,673 for his win which was the biggest cash prize in poker history.

Background

Amir Esfandiari was born in 1978 in the Iranian capital Teheran. His family moved to California when Amir was nine years old. When he was 19 years old Amir changed his name to Antonio. In the poker world Esfandiari is commonly referred to as “The Magician”, the nickname he received for his skills and knowledge of magic tricks. Actually, before he started playing poker Esfandiari was pursuing a career as a professional magician. He is famous for occasionally performing his magic tricks at the poker tables.

World Series of Poker

Esfandiari has three World Series of Poker bracelets in his collection. He won his first title in 2004 by taking down the $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em event for $184,860. Although he continued scoring money finishes in WSOP events throughout the years, it wasn’t until 2012 that Esfandiari once again made it all the way to the top. And what a summer it was for Esfandiari. He cashed in 6 WSOP events making two final tables and wining the biggest poker event in history, The Big One for One Drop.