Antonio Esfandiari - ''The Magician'' Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari Antonio Esfandiari is a world-class poker player. His renown on the world circuit has grown since he won the LA Poker Classic in 2004, taking home $1.4 million in prize money. Esfandiari is well known as "The Magician" on the circuit, and he has collected well over $2 million in winnings from various tournaments since 2003. He also has a World Series of Poker bracelet to his name, having triumphed in a Pot Limit Hold 'Em tournament in the 2004 tournament. Whilst starting out on the poker circuit, Antonio used to regularly room with his poker-playing contemporary Phil Laak. Of staying with Laak, he has said: "We'd wake up whenever we woke up, go downstairs and gamble until whenever we decided not to, then we'd go back and chill at the house and do whatever, then go and gamble. It was the funnest few years I've ever had." Antonio, originally known as Amir Esfandiari, was born in Tehran, the capital of Iran, on December 8, 1978. In his home country, it was and still remains illegal to own or play with cards. Amir moved with his family to San Jose, California when he was 9 years old and changed his name to Anthony because his schoolmates teased him. If you're looking for the new-wave of online poker, Join PlayersOnly, the poker room where the true players are! Because of the Sleekness of their Interface and incredible bonus structure, PlayersOnly is America's Fastest Growing Poker Room! Receive an Instant 10% CASH BONUS and a 100% match poker bonus upto $650 and there are NO FEES for making a deposit! PlayersOnly hosts a $1,000,000.00 Freeroll Series and is Guaranteeing $3,000,000.00 in tournament prize money this month with one $150,000.00 guaranteed event at least once a month! Once he was 19 years old, Anthony changed his name again, this time to Antonio, and took a job as a professional magician. Whilst performing one session of magic, Antonio was invited to take part in a round of Texas Hold 'Em, and afterwards began to play poker more regularly, gradually progressing to the world circuit ranks he graces today. Antonio saved some of his earliest winnings to buy his way into the November 2002 Gold Rush Tournament at Lucky Chances Casino. It was here that he made his televised poker tournament debut. Even though it was only his first major play, his performance was certainly memorable. He intimidated and tormented Phil "the Poker Brat" Hellmuth throughout the final play. After he eventually eliminated Hellmuth, Esfandiari finished third in the tournament overall, securing a cool $44,000 in winnings. Only 18 months later, Esfandiari became the youngest player ever to take a WPT title when he claimed the top spot at the LA Poker Classic. Asked to give advice for new, aspiring poker players, Antonio said: "Focus. A lot of players know what they are supposed to do to become a better player; they just don't do it. Discipline yourself." --- by Bones McCoy at 1800-sports.com on August 07, 2007
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