He may have traded the grind for family life, but Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari hasn't lost a step. On Wednesday night's Hustler Casino Live stream, the retired poker legend put on a clinic, walking away with a towering $348,100 profit in one of the most electric high-stakes sessions of the year.
Though Esfandiari hasn't returned to the felt full-time, this showing proved he's far from rusty. The former poker superstar, known for his flair and sharp reads during the game's TV boom, stepped into the $100/$200 no-limit hold'em arena, and dominated a lineup that blended elite pros with splashy recreational players.
The Magician Returns In just six hours, Esfandiari built the biggest stack at the table, topping even Brandon Steven's solid $189,100 score. On the other end of the spectrum, Sam Kiki (aka "Senor Tilt," the founder of Monkey Tilt Casino) had a rough night, dropping $258,300. A large chunk of that slid across the felt to Esfandiari, including one of the night's most talked-about hands.
It began innocently enough: Kiki limped the straddled pot on the button with 8♣6♣. Han, sitting in the small blind with Q♥2♣, made the call. Esfandiari, waking up with A♣4♣ in the big blind, bumped it up to $3,000. Only Kiki came along.
The flop rolled out 7♦5♠Q♠ -- a tempting board for Kiki, who had an open-ended straight draw. Esfandiari checked, then called a $4,000 bet with just ace-high.
The turn brought the A♦, giving Esfandiari top pair and shutting down some of Kiki's bluff potential. This time, Antonio led out for $10,000. Kiki called again, still chasing.
The 8♠ landed on the river. Esfandiari, wary of the flush possibility, checked. But Kiki, sitting on eight-high and no draw, launched a massive $70,000 bluff - double the pot. The move polarized his range: he either had it, or he didn't.
After a long tank, "The Magician" made the call.
And just like that, Esfandiari raked in a $175,000 pot. At that point, he was already deep in profit - this was just the cherry on top of what would become one of his best live-streamed sessions in years.
More Heat to Come But the magic wasn't done yet. Later in the stream, Esfandiari picked up pocket kings and went to battle against Doc Hollywood's pocket nines. With $237,000 in the middle, the two agreed to run it twice. Both boards went the way of the kings, and Esfandiari scooped another huge pot.
Kiki's nightmare session continued. In one brutal hand, he lost a $100,900 pot to Steve - the same Steve who famously profited from Tom Goldstein's massive blunder during the 2024 Million Dollar Game. This time, Steve turned a straight to crack Kiki's flopped two pair.
It was a session filled with swings, but Esfandiari was the clear standout: cool under pressure, calculated in the big spots, and still every bit the magician fans remember.
With $27.8 million in career live tournament earnings (per The Hendon Mob), including his $18.3 million victory in the iconic 2012 Big One for One Drop, Antonio doesn't have anything left to prove. But when he sits down, he reminds us all why he was one of the greats.
Hustler Casino Live is back at it again Thursday night at 5 p.m. PT. Nik Airball, Senor Tilt, and others will take another shot at glory, but they may still be haunted by the shadow of The Magician's latest trick.
great win for him, it will be interesting to watch this video! He may have traded the grind for family life, but Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari hasn't lost a step. On Wednesday night's Hustler Casino Live stream, the retired poker legend put on a clinic, walking away with a towering $348,100 profit in one of the most electric high-stakes sessions of the year.
Nice to see players we watch years ago, came to play again. I remember him from high stakes poker and from other poker shows.He and Phill Laak were always fun do to watch them play. On other side it's good to see that allot of them have families now. What to say about a hand? It's a great call. I don't know what dinamics were before, but even with very loose and aggresive players this is a hard call to make.
yes, he is a good professional player, but once made a gesture that horrified many people in the poker industry and fans... That does not mean that he cannot play poker, it has nothing to do with the poker game he did, that why he can play and win important sums again.
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