Antonio Esfandiari

infobox poker player
firstname=Antonio
lastname=Esfandiari
nickname=The Magician


caption=Esfandiari at 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
hometown=Tehran, Iran
hometown=San Francisco, California
wsop bracelet count=1
wsop money finishes=7
wsop main event best finish rank="None"
wsop main event best finish year=
wpt titles=1
wpt final tables=3(+2)
wpt money finishes=5
ept titles="None"
ept final tables=1
ept money finishes=1

Antonio Esfandiari (born Amir Esfandiari, December 8, 1978 in Tehran, Iran) is a professional poker player.

When he was 9 years old his family moved to San Jose, California.

At the age of 19, he changed his name to Antonio, and became a professional magician. While he was performing magic, he was invited to a game of Texas Hold 'em and started to play poker. In 2004, he won close to $1.4 million at the Commerce Casino. He won his first World Series of Poker bracelet a few months later in Pot-Limit Texas Hold 'em.

Esfandiari appeared in the second and third seasons of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament. After finishing dead last the previous year, Antonio was able to redeem himself with an impressive 2nd place finish the third season. He was also in the first four seasons of GSN series High Stakes Poker and each season of NBC Poker After Dark.

On April 17, 2008, Esfandiari made the final table at the 2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo finishing in 8th place, winning €168,000 ($266,004).

While touring the poker circuit, he often shares a room with Phil Laak. He is also known for his chip trick techniques.

As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $3,000,000. [ [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=17408 Hendon Mob tournament results] ]

Esfandiari is currently co-starring in the TV show, I Bet You, on MOJO HD with Phil Laak. He is also the face of World Poker Tour's Poker-Made Millionaire.

World Series of Poker Bracelet

References

*Shulman, Allyn Jaffrey (Mar. 26, 2004). [http://www.cardplayer.com/poker_magazine/archives/?a_id=13905 Antonio Esfandiari Performs Wizardry at Commerce Casino] . "Cardplayer".
*Anderson, Lessley (April. 04, 2004). [http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/2004-04-14/news/feature.html All-In] "SF Weekly".

External links

* [http://www.magicantonio.com Official site]
* [http://www.worldpokertour.com/players/?x=profile&id=1598 World Poker Tour profile]
* [http://www.poker-babes.com/bio/antonio-esfandiari/ Poker Babes profile]
* [http://poker.about.com/od/playerprofiles/p/antonioesfand.htm About.com profile]
* [http://www.bigpoker.ca/resources/rounders/interviews/Antonio_Esfandiari_interview.mp3 Rounders Poker Show interview]
* [http://www.ultimatebet.com/learn-poker/article.html?articleID=92 Ultimate Bet interview]
* [http://alwaysbluff.com/poker/blogs/author/antonio-esfandiari/ Antonio Esfandiari's Blog]