Magician by name magician by nature as Antonio Esfandiari launches a Reddit ‘Ask Me Anything’ and then vanishes without answering anything.
Ask a poker nut to reel off a poker player who excites and ignites and the name of Antonio Esfandiari will fly out of the hat quicker than a white rabbit.
I have never interviewed him. I know nothing about him. So an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session on Reddit is a great time to learn. I obviously didn’t get the memo on how this thing works. I am going to sue Reddit for misleading titles.
During Esfandiari’s time on the site, there were 369 comments, and he answered 69 of them in the shortest way possible. He revealed very little about himself, avoided all of the most controversial questions, and I thought the final question of the 369 summed up the experience for me.
“Why haven’t you answered a single question?”
He didn’t answer.
Here is an example of not answering a question.
“What is your craziest memory from living in Las Vegas?”
His answer…
“I’ll just say that I had a lot of fun in my 20s. Living in Vegas as a single guy for many years were some of the most memorable times of my life. But if you want specifics, I’ll have to plead the fifth.”
I think Reddit need to change the name to “Ask Me Anything, But Don’t Expect me to Answer Anything.”
It was dull, it was drab, it was a doughnut.
Here are the responses in a nutshell.
On His Personal Life
Esfandiari has no plans to launch a Twitch channel and has no more TV projects in the pipeline.
The best place he has ever visited in his life is Istanbul, Turkey. He said it was a magical place filled with kind people, excellent food and beautiful scenery.
He’s lucky he got to see it because Vladimir Putin is about to wipe it off the face of the earth.
On Poker
His most memorable hand was the AK>QQ hand v Guy Laliberte the year he won the One Drop.
“When I hit the King on the turn, the shift in my life just on that one card is pretty significant. Not just on a monetary level either.”
When asked to pick one player in the world to play in a Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) tournament with the top 200 players, and if his player loses the earth would explode, he chose Phil Hellmuth, but then change his mind and selected Niklas Heinecker.
“He’s the boss.”
Other players who received high praise from Esfandiari were Brian Rast (best and toughest), Scott Seiver (coolest) and Phil Galfond (respected). He also said that the most difficult table he has ever sat down at was the One Drop, the year he won, on Day 1. Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Tom Marchese, Ben Lamb and Nick Schulman.
He also said he rarely played online because he was ‘an online fish.’
There was a lot of praise for his commentary at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Esfandiari said that he loved the November Nine concept.
“It’s like foreplay.”
When asked his opinion on Justin Schwartz and who he thought had the worst poker etiquette, he responded, “I believe you answered the question yourself.”
A rare insight into his private life revealed that he lost a prop bet playing heads-up against the actor Don Cheadle. Esfandiari’s forfeit was to do a full magic show at his house in a top hat for him and his guests. Cheadle’s forfeit was to cook for Esfandiari and up to 25 guests in a chef’s apron. Cheadle won the bet. Esfandiari is still to pay his forfeit.
Esfandiari believes Tobey Maguire is the best celebrity poker player in the world, and if he could pick eight opponents for a nine-handed Sit n Go these would be his picks.
Seat 1: Bill Clinton
Seat 2: Eminem
Seat 3: Barack Obama
Seat 4: William Rehnquist
Seat 5: Sam Harris
Seat 6: Bill Perkins (we need a fish)
Seat 7: Clive Owen
Seat 8: Angelina Jolie
Seat 9: Antonio Esfandiari
Abraham Lincoln misses the cut because he is dead, but if ghosts could play Esfandiari would like to slap the stare down on this great man.
Finally, he was asked how difficult it is for poker players to make money these days?
“I believe it is very difficult to make a living playing poker these days unless you have access to some pretty sweet private games.”
And that’s why they call him the Magician.
He is the only person who can launch a Reddit AMA and then vanish without truly answering anything.
