Antonio ‘The Magician’ Esfandiari has been making moves at the table for over 20 years, and whether he’s winning the biggest prize ever awarded in poker or taking on some of the wildest prop bets imaginable, there’s one thing that’s remained a constant: The man makes for entertaining viewing.
After some time away to focus on family, Esfandiari has made a splashy return to televised poker over the past year, showing up everywhere from No Gamble, No Future to PokerStars’ Big Game on Tour. Thursday saw him make an appearance on the Hustler Casino Live cash-game stream, and the results were as enjoyable as ever — not to mention profitable for the former professional magician.
Playing $100/200 no-limit hold'em off a starting stack of 500 big blinds ($100K), Esfandiari all but rolled over the entire table, cashing out for $448,100 and more than quadrupling his money.
‘Don’t bluff Kiki…’
The line-up for the Thursday game featured a cast of HCL regulars including Sam ‘Senor Tilt’ Kiki, Steve, Brandon, Han, Zefish and ‘Doc Hollywood’.
Esfandiari was dialled in, and whether it was the wacky glasses or his finely tuned instincts he was able to find a number of big calls in a chatty, friendly game that saw plenty of big bets flying.
One example came about in a big heads-up pot against Kiki. The action folded around to Kiki on the button, who opened for a min-raise to $400 with 
. Han called in the small blind before Esfandiari re-popped it to $3,000 with 
. Kiki called and Han let it go. As the 
hit the flop Esfandiari repeatedly chanted the phrase, “Don’t bluff Kiki, don’t bluff Kiki…”
He took his own advice, checking his ace-high and floating when Kiki bet $4,000 with his open-ended straight draw. The 
on the turn put a second flush draw on the table and this time he led out for $10K with his top pair, eliciting a call from Kiki. “The plot thickens,” said Esfandiari.
The 
on the river was a card neither player wanted to see, bringing in a potential spade flush, and Esfandiari threw on the brakes with a check. With third pair and a busted straight draw, Kiki made sure his opponent didn’t get an easy ride, putting in a double-pot-sized overbet of $70K and sending Esfandiari into the tank — and an outburst of laughter.
“Man, this is so tilting,” said Esfandiari with a groan, “What a boss overbet.”
Eventually he made the crying call, putting $70K into the pot with “This is a gift, Kiki, you deserve it.” On seeing the ace, Kiki put his cards in the muck and Esfandiari dragged the $175K pot.
Another magic moment
Another solid call came in a heads-up pot with Steve. Esfandiari opened from the button to $1,400 with 
, before Steve 3-bet to $6K from the big blind holding 
. “Just in case it comes,” said The Magician, flicking in the call.
The 
flop was checked through, before another ace dropped on the turn. This time Steve led for another $6K, and Esfandiari called to see a king drop on the river, the final board showing two kings, two aces and a seven.
It didn’t take long for Steve to move in, putting his $37,200 in the middle. Dead to any ace against an opponent who 3-bet preflop, Esfandiari had another tough decision to make. “Is there any world where this man is bluffing?” he asked the room. The answer was yes, as he soon found out, kissing his chips before throwing them in, showing his full house and pulling in yet another juicy pot.
Were these mystical feats of magic, or simply years of experience coupled with a fearless approach to a good gamble? The answer is clear: We may not believe in magic, but we sure believe in 'The Magician'.
Catch some more big moves from Esfandiari in the stream highlights below, courtesy of Hustler Casino Live.
Images courtesy of Hustler Casino Live.
