Antonio Esfandiari
Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari (Persian: امیر اسفندیاری; born December 8, 1978, as Amir Esfandiary), is a professional poker player and former professional magician, known for his elaborate chip tricks. Esfandiari was the face of the now-defunct poker site, UltimatePoker.com.
| Antonio Esfandiari | |
|---|---|
Antonio Esfandiari in 2008 | |
| Nickname(s) | The Magician |
| Residence | San Francisco, California |
| Born | Amir Esfandiary December 8, 1978 Tehran, Iran |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | 3 |
| Final table(s) | 10 |
| Money finish(es) | 46 |
| Highest ITM Main Event finish | 24th, 2009 |
| World Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | 2 |
| Final table(s) | 8 |
| Money finish(es) | 16 |
| European Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | 1 |
| Money finish(es) | 1 |
In addition to appearing on several poker television shows, he has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) championships and three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets in his career, including the "Big One for One Drop" in 2012, a $1,000,000 buy-in tournament benefiting the One Drop Foundation. By winning the event, Esfandiari won the second largest single payout in tournament poker history at $18,346,673. Esfandiari was ranked number one for all-time tournament poker winnings, until Daniel Negreanu took this title by finishing 2nd in the "Big One For One Drop 2014".
In 2012, he authored The Magician's Secrets for Winning Tournaments on Insta Poker, a poker strategy game available for iOS.