Antonio Esfandiari
| Antonio Esfandiari | |
|---|---|
Esfandiari in 2008
|
|
| Nickname(s) | The Magician |
| Residence | San Francisco, California |
| Born |
December 8, 1978 Tehran, Iran |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | 3 |
| Final table(s) | 10 |
| Money finish(es) | 28 |
| Highest ITM Main Event finish |
24th, 2009 |
| World Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | 2 |
| Final table(s) | 6 |
| Money finish(es) | 12 |
| European Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | 1 |
| Money finish(es) | 1 |
Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, born Amir Esfandiary (Persian: امیر اسفندیاری; December 8, 1978), is a professional poker player and former professional magician, known for his elaborate chip tricks. Esfandiari was the face of the United States' first legal and regulated online poker site, Ultimate Poker, however since Monday, November 17, 2014 it has shut down due to low revenue.
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, along with the largest cash prize in the history of poker at $18,346,673, Esfandiari has been 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.
Esfandiari was born in Tehran, Iran. When he was nine years old, his family moved to San Jose, California. He graduated from Del Mar High School in 1997.
At the age of 19, he changed his name to Antonio, which was adopted from a desire to be a magician. Antonio the magician sounded more mystical than Amir the magician. He became a professional magician. While he was performing magic, he was invited to a game of Texas Hold 'em and started to play poker. He has a younger brother, Pasha, who also plays poker.
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