Antonio Esfandiari

Antonio Esfandiari, also known as The Magician one of the best poker players of our years. He is also the inventor of the poker game Lodden Thinks.

Antonio Esfandiari Biography

Antonio Esfandiari was the highest earning tournament poker player ever, with total winnings in excess of $25m up until Daniel Negreanu took that title by winning "Big One For One Drop 2014". A large chunk of this was from his $18.3m win in The Big One for One Drop, besting Sam Trickett heads-up to take home the bracelet.

Esfandiari, is also known as 'The Magician', as he was once a professional magician before becoming one of the best and most recognisable faces in modern day poker.

He is always a funny character at the table, and never fails to provide some top quality poker at the same time. Not many people have a bad thing to say about Antonio for obvious reasons. Antonio started playing poker when he was invited to a poker game when he was 19, during the same time he was peforming magic. It seemed from here on he was destined to transfer his magic onto the tables.

He kicked off his incredibly successful career big time when he won almost $1.4m at the LA Poker Classic Event.

Antonio has a very close friendship with fellow poker pro player, Phil Laak. They have been known to create great TV together at the televised table with their wit and generally likable personalities.

Game invented by Antonio Esfandiari & Phil Laak:

Lodden Thinks

The game of Lodden Thinks spiralled from some joking between the two as to what fellow pro Johnny Lodden while the three were at a televised table during a WSOP event. Esfandiari decided that their usual chat was boring and they needed to spice it up a little, so the two came up with Lodden Thinks.

The rules are as follows:

- 3 people are involved in the game, with 2 'betting' against each other, and one being 'Lodden' (ps. this doesn't actually have to be Johnny Lodden surprisingly.)

- Anybody can come up with a question with a numerical answer, and pose it to the group, with 'Lodden' thinking of an answer.

- The two 'bettors' then start off a bidding war as to what they think 'Lodden' would think. This goes on until one of the bettors declares 'I'm under', which means they take any number under what their opponent has just said, which subsequently means the other person takes over that number.

- 'Lodden' then reveals their answer, and depending on where that number lies in under or over, the winner is declared. What is so interesting about the game, is that it does not matter what the actual answer is, it only matters what 'Lodden' thinks the answer is.

A typical game for the minds of poker players.

Take a look at a Lodden Thinks game between Brunson and Ivey.

Read More
7 years ago34,564BestPokerVids,

Published 7 years ago

Poker Night in America - S4 Ep 4 - "Damn, Daniel!"

Poker Night In America - Season 4 Episode 4As word gets around Las Vegas that our cash game is in full swing, some notable players...

7 years ago4,120BestPokerVids,

Published 7 years ago

Hellmuth Against Esfandiari - Flush vs Flush

A big hand from an episode of High Stakes Poker as both Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari are playing big flush draws.

7 years ago23,350BestPokerVids,

Published 7 years ago

Poker Night in America - S4 Ep 1 - "It Begins"

Poker Night In America - Season 4 Episode 1We collect the best poker streamers from Twitch.tv, as well as a few notable Vegas pros...

7 years ago25,456BestPokerVids,

Published 7 years ago

Poker Night in America - S4 Ep 2 - "Rampage"

Poker Night In America - Season 4 Episode 2The PNiA exclusive Twitch Celebrity Cash Game is in full swing, and the only thing more...

7 years ago30,094BestPokerVids,

Published 7 years ago

Poker Night in America - S4 Ep 3 - "The Kissing Bet"

Poker Night In America - Season 4 Episode 3The Twitch Celebrity Cash Game in Las Vegas barrels on into the night as our curated co...

7 years ago24,808BestPokerVids,

Published 7 years ago

Poker Night in America - S4 Ep 7 - "Psychic Flow"

Poker Night In America - Season 4 Episode 7The poker from Las Vegas continues apace, and Phil Laak channels the psychic energy of ...

7 years ago22,867BestPokerVids,

Published 7 years ago

Poker Night in America - S4 Ep 8 - "Aces That Fly"

Poker Night In America - Season 4 Episode 8After losing the biggest pot in Poker Night history, Antonio Esfandiari is slowing rega...

7 years ago71,768BestPokerVids,

Published 7 years ago

The Final Table - Season 1 Episode 8

Joe Stapleton survives his encounter with seasoned bugs, but how will Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Hellmuth hold up against a delic...

7 years ago3,071BestPokerVids,

Published 7 years ago

888Live London - Antonio Esfandiari Makes A Mistake

Antonio 'The Magician' Esfandiari makes a costly mistake against Tom Middleton on the final table of the High Roller Event at 888L...

9 years ago8,527RPFC,

Published 9 years ago

ASL Ice Bucket Challenge: Antonio Esfandiari

Antonio Esfandiari takes on Ice Bucket Challenge issued by Phil Hellmuth

Prop Bets - The Best of The Rest

​If they don’t involve Bill Perkins, Antonio Esfandiari or Dan Bilzerian, they don’t get much exposure these days, but crazy and wonderful prop bets are not the preserve of the ‘Billionaire club’.

Top Pros AMA and You Still Have Time to Join

If you’ve ever fancied chatting with one of the world’s top poker professionals, now’s your chance to do so – with Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari all lined up to take your calls.

The Most Insane Final Table We Can Imagine

When it comes to the Main Event it’s the characters rather than the actual cards which tend to live on in memory – so this fantasy final table reflects that, pitting heroes against anti-heroes, with much more on the line than the $10million and the bracelet.

Crazy Prop-Better Bill Perkins Does it Again

The prop bet will see Kaverman swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles and then running 26.2 miles –and he will have to do it in the average time that actual Ironman competitors do it in, which is just under 13 hours.

Which Country Really has the Best Poker Players?

Many poker enthusiasts find themselves wondering which country has the best poker players in the world and that's precisely the question we'll attempt to answer today.

Who Will Be the First Player to Cash For $100 Million?

Predicting who will get there first is no easy task considering nobody is even close right now, let’s start by assessing the top 5 from Hendon Mob’s all time money list.

Live Poker Events, 7 years ago

Super HighRoller Bowl Special

There’s $15million up for grabs and there are 49 of the poker world’s biggest and best high-stakes players vying for a share of the spoils – and day 1 of the Super HighRoller Bowl from Las Vegas didn’t disappoint!

Live Poker Events, 7 years ago

CBS Will Cover the Super High Roller Bowl

May 29th sees the start of the Super High Roller Bowl from the ARIA Resort and Casino – and with a full field of the world’s biggest and best ponying up $300,000 per head to play for the $5,000,000 top prize

Bill Perkins - The Hedge Fund Poker Player

​The world of poker is a colourful and vibrant arena, where interesting players and characters are never hard to find. One of these, however – Bill Perkins – stands out from the crowd.

Esfandiari And Laak Go Way Back

They’ve made many TV shows together and they’ve played against each other at countless poker tables, in a variety of environments, from the most dangerous underground poker venues to WSOP in Las Vegas and WPT across the USA.