Posts Tagged ‘Antonio Esfandiari’

Popular Jason Somerville gone from Ultimate Poker

Saturday, September 27th, 2014

Over the past year, Ultimate Poker has been busy slashing their roster of pro players. Once boasting over a dozen signed pros, Team U now has only a handful of players representing them. And you can count one less because Jason Somerville is rumored to be out at Ultimate Poker (UP).

This is quite strange, given that Somerville is one of the more popular poker pros in the game today. Furthermore, he just launched a webseries called “RunItUp,” which was supposed to be exclusive to UP. However, one sign that Somerville is done at the site includes the fact that he’s been uploading RunItUp episodes to his own channel as well.

As F5Poker reports, the main reason why Somerville could be done is because UP doesn’t have the money to keep sponsoring him. They just pulled out of the New Jersey market after their partner, Trump Taj Mahal, announced a tentative closing date of November 13th. Upon announcing their exit from New Jersey, UP’s parent company, Ultimate Gaming, also said that Taj Mahal still owes them $1.5 million in revenue payments – money they might never see.

Things haven’t exactly been booming in Nevada either. According to PokerScout, UP averages 60 cash game players an hour in Nevada, which trails market-leader WSOP.com and their 100 players an hour. UP’s cash game traffic has remained relatively stagnant over the past year, thus indicating little growth in the Silver State.

Seeing as how the poker room doesn’t seem to be gaining much ground, it’s a wonder if their remaining pros will be around in another year. Antonio Esfandiari, Danielle Andersen and Dan O’Brien are still sponsored by the Nevada-based company. But these three can’t be cheap – especially Esfandiari – and UP continues to struggle in an American online poker market that hasn’t quite taken off yet.

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Antonio Esfandiari: Broke, Starving in Airport after buying out of No Sex Bet

Saturday, April 19th, 2014

These days, it seems like Antonio Esfandiari just can’t stay out of the poker news. Whether he’s doing his Strip Magic show for Ultimate Poker or entering into a no sex prop bet with Bill Perkins, Esfandiari is all across the headlines.

Speaking of the latter, “The Magician” recently gave some intimate details on the no sex prop bet. As he told PokerStategy, the Big One for One Drop winner has already bought out of the $500k wager. Esfandiari made the bet when he was drunk, but decided against it after doing some deep thinking. Here’s an excerpt on what he said:

I wasn’t even worried about it. Then the next couple days I spent doing a little bit of research and calling my other friends who I know had done it, and I realised that, as much as I thought I could do it, it was something that I didn’t want to do. As a man, what is my purpose of being here? To put one of those things, one of the most important things, on the shelf for a year was going to be really tough.

Esfandiari never said how much he paid to get out of the bet. But it must have been quite a bit since he recently found himself at the Las Vegas airport, broke and starving. Below you can see what the famed poker pro tweeted on the matter:

I kid u not I found myself at LV airport right now w ZERO cash and no CC – and starving – what did I do ?!? Walked around until I found a…Poker fan n asked him to borrow 30$ He could not believe it !! Now I get to eat and he will be paid back in spades TY

We imagine that this was all really just an oversight on Esfandiari’s part, or he just wanted something challenging to do like seeing if somebody would give him food money. After all, he’s less than two years removed from his $18.35 million payday for winning the One Drop tourney. And we can’t imagine the less-than-$500k payout that he gave Perkins would leave him begging at airports for food. But it’s still kind of a funny coincidence.

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Phil Hellmuth gives away 11 of his WSOP Bracelets

Thursday, April 10th, 2014

In a day and age where WSOP champs are pawning their gold bracelets off or donating them to charity (Peter Eastgate), Phil Hellmuth is an exception to the norm. The Poker Brat recently tweeted about giving away 11 out of his record 13 WSOP bracelets, as you can see below:

PIC: bye bye WSOP Bracelet #13. Gave #WSOPBracelet13 to my best friend @Chamath. Gave 10 to family, 1 to bestie

WSOP Bracelets: 1 & 12 me, 2 wifey, 3 4 mom dad, 5 sister Ann, 6 bro/law John, 7 8 sons Phillip Nick, 9 10 11 bro Dave sis’s Kerry Molly

I don’t really know a whole lot about Hellmuth’s “sister Ann” or “bro/law John,” so we’ll just skip over that. But one interesting mention in the tweets is Chamath Palihapitiya, a former Facebook VP and current Golden State Warriors co-owner.

I’m not sure that anybody really knew who Hellmuth’s best friend was. After all, he doesn’t exactly pal around with anybody like Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak do. However, maybe Palihapitiya being his bestie explains why Hellmuth, a Wisconsin native, loves Golden State so much.

While the Poker Brat’s bracelet giveaway may warm some people’s hearts, Brad Booth definitely isn’t one of them. Still bitter over being a UB superuser victim, and angry over Hellmuth’s part ownership of the company, Booth tweeted the following:

@phil_hellmuth if only the respectable @chamath found out about your inner BullShit at UltimateBet he would never except it – U R A POS PH

Since being taken for $2 million through Russ Hamilton’s UB superuser scam, Booth has continued his downward spiral, owing others tons of money in the process. And one guy that he’s continually blamed in all of this is Hellmuth because the poker legend owned part of UB’s parent company.

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Antonio Esfandiari wows Vegas crowd with his Magic Skills

Wednesday, March 5th, 2014

They don’t call him the “Magician” for nothing! Famed poker pro Antonio Esfandiari, who used to be a professional magician, recently did some street magic for a Las Vegas crowd. As you can see in the clip below, he does the classics to perfection by putting a cigarette through a quarter and guessing which card a woman has on her mind.

Another interesting part of the clip is where Esfandiari explains how he got into magic in the first place. “I remember the first time I saw magic I was completely hypnotized by it,” he said. “I was sitting at the counter of this restaurant Left in Albuquerque in the Bay Area, I was a kid, 17 years old. Then the bartender said, ‘What’s your favorite card. He pulled out a deck of cards and I named a card – all of the sudden he pulled out the deck and the only card face-up was the card that I picked.”

After this, Esfandiari set out to learn how to do these tricks himself and bewilder audiences just as had been done to him. He went to a magic shop and the owner helped him get started on the quest to becoming a magician.

Over the years, Esfandiari has created plenty of magic on the poker tables too. He’s the all-time leader in live tournament winnings with $26,219,676. Esfandiari managed to gain some mainstream fame when he took down the 2012 Big One for One Drop, which paid out a record $18,346,673 prize.

He’s continued his success in high rollers by placing fourth in the $111k One Drop ($1,433,438) and fourth in the 2014 PCA $100k Super High Roller ($575,920). It’ll definitely be interesting to see how he does in the 2014 Big One when it comes back at this year’s WSOP after a one-year absence.

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Joe Hachem thinks “Poker is Dying” – Is He Right?

Wednesday, February 5th, 2014

Earlier this week, 2005 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Hachem discussed the current state of poker during the Aussie Millions. And what he had to say about poker wasn’t exactly glowing.

After reflecting on past WSOP Main Event winners, which included ripping on Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang for ruining the champions’ legacy, he expressed his opinion that “poker is dying.” The reason why he believes this? Because Hachem thinks that the game is no longer fun for amateurs, with “young geniuses” bumhunting all of the fish and not offering up any interesting conversation.

The Aussie also mentioned how there are less Antonio Esfandiari’s out there, or rather guys whom the fish love to play with, even when they’re losing money. He added that watching poker on television is “like watching paint dry” because of the lack of personalities today. Furthermore, poker TV shows no longer focus on a pro’s style, personality or what they’re like away from the table. He closed by saying that some of the young ME champs like Ryan Riess and Greg Merson need to think about all of this since they’re ambassadors to the game.

So is Hachem right about everything that he said? You can’t argue with the point that poker is full of bumhunters these days, who play seek and destroy with the fish. The game also features less dynamic grinders who make poker more enjoyable to watch on TV.

But on the other hand, nothing Hachem said is an original idea. He’s just another person to jump on the fact that poker has transitioned into a more strategy-focused, mathematical game, where you either pour hours into becoming great, or you lose your bankroll and dignity.

As for if poker is dying, well, global online numbers suggest that plenty of people are still interested in playing. And this should continue as new markets open up across the world. But the live realm is still a big part of poker, and if famous pros don’t start developing some personality and social skills at the table, it will eventually hamper online poker too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DXSIv8b4KM#t=174

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Royal Poker Tournament claims Winner will earn $50m

Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

Think Antonio Esfandiari’s $18.3 million prize in the 2012 WSOP Big One for One Drop was huge? Then perhaps you haven’t heard about the proposed $1 million buy-in Royal Poker Challenge, which is set to pay $50 million to the winner.

Okay, so if you’re having a hard time believing this one, you aren’t alone. After all, the largest poker prize before Esfandiari’s huge score was the $12 million that Jamie Gold collected in the 2012 WSOP Main Event. But according to this press release, Royal Poker Challenge is very serious about the matter.

48 players have allegedly signed up for this tournament, which will be held in Sydney, Australia on March 30th. And members of the British, Danish and Monaco royal families are supposed to participate in the festivities too. Their role will be to serve as ambassadors for the game and, if they win money, donate the cash to charity.

Dave Chen, director of the Royal Challenge, spoke about this upcoming event by saying, “Poker is a true game that cuts across all class and income barriers. It tests skills, nerves and courage in a way that’s incomparable to other card games. There is no higher drama and examination of character and personality than a high stakes poker game. With the splashing 50 million dollar prize, in the remarkable city of Sydney, this should be an historical event indeed.”

This all sounds great and everything, but there’s just one problem: no names have been released on who’s playing. As if this tournament isn’t already shrouded in enough mystery, we don’t even get a glimpse at the participants. And if the press release is correct, we may never know the “high profile Hollywood celebrities” and “wealthy and successful individuals” who front the $1 million buy-in.

As the PR states, “All participants value privacy, so Mr. Chen is primarily focused on providing a secure and private environment for this unique tournament.” Well, so much for finding out who the winner is and if they indeed get $50 million.

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2014 WSOP ‘Big One’ could crown Poker’s Biggest Winner

Saturday, December 21st, 2013

Announcements regarding the 2014 WSOP schedule have been made, and a couple of very popular tournaments are returning. Both the $1,500 Millionaire Maker and $1 million Big One for One Drop will be back at the Rio for next year’s WSOP.

The Big One is definitely the headliner here because last time it set some very notable records. The first included the largest poker tournament buy-in in history since hopefuls had to fork over $1 million to play. Despite the lofty buy-in, 48 players turned out for this event and competed for a $42,666,672 prize pool.

Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari catapulted himself into poker lore by winning the Big One along with a $18,346,673 payout. This giant fortune remains the biggest prize in poker history and is expected to stand until, oh, at least the summer of 2014. That’s because the 2014 WSOP Big One will be capped at 56 players. This means that the top prize should be worth around $20 million, which would eclipse Esfandiari’s current record payout.

Expanding on the Millionaire Maker, this $1,500 buy-in event debuted at the 2013 WSOP. It featured a guaranteed $1 million first-place prize and the amount actually exceeded this when 6,343 players bought into the tournament. Benny Chen was the big winner here as he topped the large field and collected $1,199,104.

As for the rest of the 2014 WSOP, exact details on the tournaments still have yet to be released. However, word is that over 60 bracelet events will be offered. Tournaments will run for 49 consecutive days, and those who can’t afford buy-ins can participate in satellites that’ll be running at the Rio.

The World Series of Poker is set for another exciting chapter in its soon-to-be 45th year of existence. It’ll certainly be fun to see the new stars and big winners who emerge during the 2014 WSOP.

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Columnist claims ESPN “Ruined Poker”

Wednesday, September 25th, 2013

Over the years, ESPN has proven to be a leader in mainstream poker coverage. And many players thank the fact that the worldwide sports leader continues to dedicate hours of programming to a game which isn’t accepted by everybody. However, a widely read column by Argun M. Ulgen claims that ESPN has done nothing but ruin poker and efforts to legalize the online version.

Through a wordy piece that required me to look half the adjectives up on Thesaurus.com, Ulgen presents an overall picture that ESPN’s glamorization of all-in moves and lack of strategical analysis is killing the game. More specifically, he thinks that the network’s WSOP coverage shows poker as anything but a game of skill. In turn, this is exactly the type of thing that gives politicians fuel to keep federal online poker regulation down. Here’s one excerpt from Ulgen’s gripe:

Antonio Esfandiari – another brilliant broadcaster from ESPN’s live 2011 coverage – has a marginal role in this year’s telecast. He, along with close friend and poker pro Phil “The Unibomber” Lak, now has a small two minute segment on the show in which the two – with requisite colorful exuberance – hurriedly break down some of the key elements of a just televised poker hand. Esfandiari’s analysis is but a sliver of the remarkably accurate discussions he presented in ‘11; it’s but quick, specialized segment in the show.

After 10 years of coverage, ESPN still fails to routinely provide basic information of each hand, which usually starts well after key bets have been made. The infographics predominantly focus on cash prizes and the Tournament Leaderboard as opposed to even the most basic skill elements: position, blind levels, and stack sizes. All this in spite of a wealth of opportunities to accurately capture poker as an entertaining and complex game without pandering to gimmicky reality TV style broadcasting.

So is the lack of strategy talk on ESPN really killing poker and preventing politicians from recognizing it as a skill game? Or is this fun, light-hearted presentation more conducive to attracting millions of casual players to poker.

Well, based on the growth that the game’s experienced from 2003 until now, I tend to go with the latter thought. And while that growth has slowed and the US federal government still shuns poker, it has little if anything to do with ESPN.

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Konstantin Puchkov and the Unheralded WSOP Record

Thursday, July 12th, 2012

It’s now been a couple of weeks since Antonio Esfandiari won the Big One for One Drop, and people are still talking about this impressive win. It’s for good reason too because he set a record for the largest poker tournament cash in history with $18,346,673.

Unfortunately, it appears as if Esfandiari’s record has overshadowed the accomplishments of others during the 2012 WSOP, such as Konstantin Puchkov and his recent record. The Russian set the record for most WSOP cashes in a single year with 11. Considering that there were 61 tournaments in the 2012 WSOP and Puchkov probably only had time to play half of them, this is no doubt a very impressive mark!

Out of these 11 WSOP cashes, he made two final tables in the Event #37 8-Game (6th, $41,844) and the Event #46 Limit Hold’em (9th, $49,245) tournaments; the latter represented his biggest cash of the year. Keeping this in mind, it’s no wonder why the Moscow native hasn’t set the poker world on fire with his incredible accomplishment. However, the amount of money isn’t what’s important here, but rather how consistently well he did against the top poker pros in the world.

As for his career, Puchkov has managed to amass $1,666,596 in live tournament winnings. His best year from a money perspective is when he collected $792k on the felt during 2010. Much of his money came from finishing third in the 2010 EPT Barcelona Main Event ($410k) and winning a WSOP $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament ($257k).

Away from the tables, Konstantin Puchkov trains horses around the Moscow area. What’s funny is that Puchkov names his horses after poker terms, and even commented that he loves the game of H.O.R.S.E. because of his first career. With all the money he’s been winning in poker, the Russian will no doubt have a lot more hay to feed his horses with.

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Antonio Esfandiari wins $18.35m – Does Winnings List have any Meaning?

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

The biggest poker news of the week is no doubt Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari winning the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop tournament. He navigated through a 48-player field and on towards victory as much of the poker world watched with intent interest. And a huge reason for all the interest was the $18,346,673 first place prize on the line!

Once Esfandiari finished Sam Trickett off in heads-up play, he was the recipient of this insane fortune….or at least he and his backers were. Seeing as how The Magician sold a lot of his shares in order to meet the hefty buy-in and cut down on variance, he likely received less than 50% of the $18.35 million. However, the full amount goes down in the record books and vaults him towards the top of the all-time live poker tournament winnings list with $23,245,828.

This is certainly nice for the headlines and could definitively bring some more recreational players into the game. However, it completely obliterates any sort of relevancy that the all-time tournament winnings list used to have.

These days, the tourney winnings list doesn’t mean much to a lot of players because they can’t compete with top-level pros who have lots of backing. Furthermore, events like the Big One for One Drop are more like glorified sit and go’s than anything since only a small number of players are competing, yet ridiculous amounts of money are up for grabs.

So how should we view the poker tournament winnings list in today’s era? Well it’s a fun little thing to look at from time to time, but you certainly can’t measure one’s overall tourney success from this. That said, there are still some very fine players towards the top of the winnings list – it’s just that the average grinder will never have an opportunity to compete with them.

Big One for One Drop Results

1. Antonio Esfandiari — $18,346,673
2. Sam Trickett — $10,112,001
3. David Einhorn — $4,352,000
4. Phil Hellmuth — $2,645,333
5. Guy Laliberté — $1,834,666
6. Brian Rast — $1,621,333
7. Bobby Baldwin — $1,408,000
8. Richard Yong — $1,237,333
9. Mike Sexton — $1,109,333

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