4/11/2022

Antonio Esfandiari

Antonio Esfandiari 7,0/10 1021 votes

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Popular poker pro Antonio Esfandiari was burglarized of about $1 million in valuables and the likely perpetrator was apprehended on Sunday, according to a report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

  1. Sep 02, 2020 Svitlana Silva, 46, is accused of ripping off international player Antonio Esfandiari and his father on July 14, then using some of the loot to finance her own poker buy-ins, the Las Vegas.
  2. Svitlana Silva, 46, is accused of ripping off international player Antonio Esfandiari and his father on July 14, then using some of the illicitly acquired valuables to finance her own poker buy-ins, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, citing a police report.

Svitlana Silva, 46, was booked on suspicion of the burglary, which took place July 14 at Esfandiari's condo in Panorama Towers, once a popular residence for poker players. A LinkedIn profile matching Silva's name says she's a poker dealer at an Arizona casino.

Antonio 'The Magician' Esfandiari (Persian: امیر اسفندیاری ‎; born December 8, 1978 as Amir Esfandiary), is a professional poker player and former professional magician, known for his elaborate chip tricks. Esfandiari was the face of the now-defunct poker site, UltimatePoker.com. Sep 02, 2020 Svitlana Silva, 46, is accused of ripping off international player Antonio Esfandiari and his father on July 14, then using some of the loot to finance her own poker buy-ins, the Las Vegas Review.

She's charged with burglary and possession of stolen property value $100,000 or more.

She allegedly used the stolen money to participate in some high-stakes poker games.

Making Off With Hundreds of Thousands

According to the LVRJ's reports, Silva had access to the condo because of a prior relationship with Esfandiari's father. She apparently had some knowledge of their key codes, which she may have used to enter the safe.

On July 14, the Esfandiari's reported to police that someone had made off with about $1 million in valuables: $50,000 in cash, between $300,000 and $500,000 in casino chips, and various pieces of jewelry and watches including his One Drop bracelet. Some belonged to the long-time poker pro and some belonged to his father, according to Antonio.

'The universe has a funny way with karma and what goes around always finds a way to come around.'

As mentioned, the thief took Esfandiari's WSOP bracelet from the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop, the most famous victory of his career.

'The string of emotions that jolted through my veins were filled with anger and pain,' he told PokerNews in a statement. 'Realizing that my One Drop WSOP bracelet was no longer mine, a dagger to my heart.'

He continued: 'But worse than all that was knowing that somebody stole from my dad. He's the most special human on Earth and it killed me that someone would do something so selfish to him. That was the real pain. The universe has a funny way with karma and what goes around always finds a way to come around.'

Poker Activities Aroused Suspicion

Silva didn't exactly take the money and run.

According to Bellagio reps, she was putting 'big amounts of cash' in play in the casino's poker games on or about Aug. 11.

Then, Silva made some rounds in Las Vegas games, where she martingaled from $5,000 buy-ins to $20,000 to $30,000, losing each time. She reloaded for $100,000 with ARIA chips, lost that, then $200,000 in Bellagio chips before she finally won an cashed out.

Antonio Esfandiari Kevin Hart

Given that the chips in play closely matched those taken from Esfandiari's condo, police tracked Silva down after receiving a tip from Esfandiari.

When she was arrested, Silva had large amounts cash and several ARIA and Bellagio $25K chips on her person and in her vehicle.

When questioned, Silva claimed to have seen someone else at the condo taking the valuables.

Shades of Bellagio Biker Bandit

It's not the first time a perpetrator has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Las Vegas casino chips and tried to put them back in play.

A somewhat similar situation unfolded back in 2010-11, when Tony Carleorobbed about $1.5 million worth of chips from the Bellagio. He then went right back to the casino and gambled like a king, putting tens of thousands of dollars in play.

However, he had a problem when it came to the 'cranberry' $25K chips, a problem Silva seemed to be aware of when she lost them in a Las Vegas game: casinos track the high-dollar chips, making them tough to liquidate.

“Hey forgot to tell you my chips has special mark on computer so if its [sic] stolen they can’t cash out,” she was reported to have texted the person who won the chips.

Carleo tried to get creative and sell the chips on TwoPlusTwo, which led to his apprehension.

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Table Of Contents

One of the most entertaining players to watch from a poker spectator's perspective is undoubtedly the man they call 'The Magician.' In addition to being a world-class poker player and the all-time WSOP money leader with $22,283,326 tallied over 50 cashes, Antonio Esfandiari is adept at stimulating table chatter with his amicable personality.

Among his 45 summer WSOP cashes, six of them have come in the $10,000 Main Event, his best finish being 24th of 6,494 runners in 2009. The biggest boost to his live earnings, WSOP or otherwise, of course came by winning the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop in 2012 for a top prize of $18,346,673.

Now raising a family with his wife, Amal Bounahra, Esfandiari has opted to spend more time at home rather than traveling for poker tournaments, which has especially shown over the past couple years at the WSOP.

This year, the Main Event was the only WSOP tournament he played and he made it count, putting together a deep run in the biggest $10,000 buy-in field in poker. Incidentally, his last WSOP cash came in last year's Main Event, where he finished 132nd of 7,874 entries for $57,010. Despite that run, Esfandiari hasn't won a big one in a while, so naturally he felt it was his time.

Haven't used up a one time in quite some time now. I feel due!! https://t.co/hB2QHCy6kZ

— Antonio Esfandiari (@MagicAntonio)

Magic Antonio's 2019 Main Event Run

Esfandiari did the 'Shuffle Up and Deal' honors before things got underway on Day 5 Wednesday, during which time he engaged in some banter with fellow old-school poker pro Mike 'The Mouth' Matusow who was also still competing in the event.

'You want to do a last longer you fish?' Esfandiari teased. 'The greatest fish of all time, guys - Mike Matusow!'

Had they actually booked the side bet, Esfandiari would have cashed it in, though Matusow had a nice run himself before busting on Day 5 in 199th place for $50,855. Esfandiari would go on to make the next day with a healthy stack of 6,630,000 in the middle of the returning pack of 106.

His day got off to a shaky start when he attempted a rather large bluff against Christopher Ahrens blind versus blind. Unfortunately for Esfandiari, it was a bad spot as Ahrens held the best possible hand and he lost a chunk of his stack.

A little while later, he lost a big one to Dario Sammartino who got sticky and then got a lucky turn against the Magician. In that pivotal hand, Sammartino raised and called Esfandiari's three-bet and check-called a continuation bet from Esfandiari on the king-ten-five flop. All the chips went in on the jack turn and Esfandiari was on the bad end with ace-king against the turned Broadway straight of his Italian opponent, who held ace-queen.

Eventually, the rest of the Magician's chips disappeared when his pocket fives couldn't run down the pocket eights of Chris Hunichen, who flopped a set. Esfandiari did pick up a gutshot straight draw when a seven fell on the turn, but he couldn't make a six appear and his run was over.

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An Impressive Main Event Record

Six Main Event cashes in the last 11 years is still an impressive feat by any standard, and that number is actually seven if you count his ninth-place finish of 405 entries in the 2013 WSOP Asia Pacific (APAC) A$10,000 Main Event. Here's a look at his summer WSOP Main Event cashes.

YearPlaceEntriesPrize Money
200924th6,494$352,832
2012501st6,598$24,808
2015168th6,420$40,433
2016449th6,737$25,235
2018132nd7,874$57,010
201982nd8,569$82,365

Antonio Esfandiari Net Worth

Based on his record and his reputation, this will not be the last that the poker world sees of The Magician, though we might have to wait until next year's Main Event to catch him playing tournament poker on TV again.

Antonio Esfandiari Net Worth

The 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event continues as the field narrows down to a final table and eventually to a $10 million winner, so keep following the live updates right here.

Antonio Esfandiari Wsop

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