Antonio Esfandiari

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. He then went briefly to jail after he got caught by the police selling marijuana.

In 2004, he won close to $1.4 million and his first World Poker Tour title at the L.A. Poker Classic. He won his first World Series of Poker bracelet a few months later in pot-limit Texas Hold 'em.

On April 17, 2008, Esfandiari made the final table at the 2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo finishing in eighth place, winning €168,000 ($266,004). On July 14, 2009, Esfandiari made his deepest finish to date in the World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing 24th on day 8 of the tournament, earning $352,832.

In 2010, he won his second World Poker Tour title by winning the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World for over $870,000. On July 3, 2012, he won the largest buy-in tournament in history, the Big One for One Drop, a $1,000,000 buy-in live event. After beating 47 other players, he earned $18,346,673, the biggest cash prize in poker history. The same year at the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe, Esfandiari won his third bracelet in the €1,100 No Limit Hold'em event, defeating Remi Bollengier heads-up to earn €126,207. In the 2013 World Series of Poker, he placed fourth in the One Drop High Roller tournament, the successor to the Big One that he had won a year earlier, and earned $1,433,438.

Esfandiari co-starred in the TV show I Bet You, on MOJO HD, with Phil Laak. He is the face of World Poker Tour's Poker-Made Millionaire. He was also seen in the season 7 opener of Entourage. In 2012 Esfandiari appeared as an undercover officer in the movie Freelancers starring Robert De Niro and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson.

In January 2014, Antonio Esfandiari began shooting a web reality series with Ultimate Poker: Strip Magic. The series features Esfandiari performing street magic on the Las Vegas strips along with exclusive interviews. In March 2014, the season one debuted on Youtube.com/UltimatePoker.

In September 2014, Esfandiari paired with fellow poker professional Phil Laak on 'Underground Poker' which aired on the Discovery Channel as part of a three-part mini-series entitled 'All In, All Night'.

Esfandiari is married to Amal Bounahra, daughter of poker pro Badih "Bob" Bounahra. Esfandiari and his wife had a son on January 7, 2015.

On January 10, 2016, Esfandiari was disqualified from the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $5,300 Main Event after apparently urinating in a bottle as a result of a prop bet with Bill Perkins.

As of 2017, his total live tournament winnings exceed $27,600,000. Esfandiari has been ranked as high as #14 on the Global Poker Index.

Haute Event: Antonio Esfandiari Turns 35 at Marquee - Haute Living

Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari celebrated his 35th birthday at Marquee Nightclub on Friday night.