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| Ginah Lasta op SinnerMag.com wrote: |  Living the SINNER Life
By Ginah Lasta
We've all been at jobs that we hate. You know that feeling when your alarm goes off? Noooooooooo! You hit the snooze button a dozen times all because the last thing you want to do is get up and go to work. Imagine if you could get up whenever you felt like it, and did whatever you felt like doing? Well Antonio Esfandiari lives that life and that is why he graces the cover of our Envy issue.
First off, he plays cards for a living. Let's face it, that's just pretty fucking cool in itself. Although there are many card players out there who make their money playing professional poker, Antonio's love of life is what makes him so admirable.
He's spontaneous, a risk taker, an intellectual, and the life of the party. As he enters his thirties, Antonio can truly say that he has lived life with no regrets. He makes the most of everyday by enjoying life to the fullest.
THE PHOTOSHOOT
It's 11:00 AM and the SINNER team is scheduled to shoot with Antonio Esfandiari. We're prepared to shoot at Antonio's ridiculously plush high rise condo inside the Panorama Towers. We head up to his place. Upon exiting the elevator, the hallway reeks of fish. The smell gets stronger the closer we get to his door. I ring the bell. I immediately receive a text. "Come in." The door is open and we go in.
We slowly walk in to what looks like the aftermath of a great party, reminiscent of the suite in The Hangover–minus the tiger. We are there to shoot his beautiful home and we look at each other wondering if this can be pulled off? His place is way beyond picking up a few things to get camera ready. Antonio hasn't come out of his room yet. Although the place is a disaster, it tells a story of how much fun he had the night prior.
There are several glasses, most of which are stained with the last sip of red wine. There was a giant fish that was completely devoured and seemed like enough to feed a small village. Dishes are piled so high that they are slightly leaning like the blocks in a game of jenga. A chair is broken, one that was intact when I was there a day earlier. There was absolutely no counter space because every square inch was covered with evidence of a phenomenal dinner party.
We laugh and we decide, "Fuck it. Let's shoot it like this." This is as envious as it gets. Dining in style with your closest friends, high above Sin City, with a view alone that can get you laid, sleeping in 'til noon and seizing the day. Finally out comes Antonio, barely awake. One of his eyes is open and the other is still closed. "Good Morning Guys." He walks around shirtless with his pajama pants and shakes everyone's hands. He apologizes again for the mess.
As we set up and get all our gear plugged in, Antonio makes his way to the kitchen I'm sure the flash in his face did not help his eye that was trying to open up, but he was a good sport. He grabs a glass and begins his day with a whey protein shake, ironically in a Coor's Light pint glass. This guy knows how to sin responsibly, and we are lovin' it.
Antonio was born Amir Esfandiari in Iran 30 years ago. His father was a hard working man who made a good living. When Antonio was young, his family made the transition to San Francisco. The exchange rate took them from being a well-off family in Iran to a meek lifestyle in the bay area. Antonio attended public school only knowing one word of English–Hello. He changed his name from Amir to Anthony to fit in. Shortly after the move, Esfandiari's mother went back to Iran, leaving Antonio to be raised by his Father and Grandmother from a very young age.
BORN HUSTLER
As a child Esfandiari was always a go-getter. At the age of 9 he had a paper route. Two years later he was making $400 a week selling newspapers. His father was extremely strict and Antonio was not a fan of authority. At age 15, Antonio left home and began supporting himself with a job as a waiter. He had his own apartment in high school.
THE MAGICIAN
When Antonio saw his first magic trick, he was so intrigued he went straight to the magic store and purchased that very trick. He was hooked, practicing magic 10-12 hours a day. He began incorporating what he had learned into his waiter job. People started booking him for private and corporate events. He was making $5K a month as a teenage waiter.
Esfandiari changed his name again to Antonio to better fit the role of the dream he wanted to pursue as a professional magician. When he told his father of his desire to pursue magic, Antonio's father could not hide his disappointment. It resulted in causing some tension between the two of them, and father and son did not speak for a few months.
INTRODUCTION TO POKER
One night Antonio's roommate invited Esfandiari to play cards at a friend's house. Although he didn't know much about the game, Antonio still did pretty well. He liked it so much that he bought a book to learn more. The book was called "Winning Low-Limit Hold'em" By Lee Jones.
After reading the book, Antonio took what he had learned to the tables. He was not of age, but had a fake ID and started playing. "I just took what the book told me to do, and I did it. Before reading the book, I thought I was suppose to always play high cards, but that wasn't what the book said to do." It worked. Antonio was winning. Antonio played underage for a year. Until one day, his psych teacher sat down at his table, knowing he was not 21. He had to start playing at a different casino.
In the meantime Antonio and his father were back on good terms. But that would change when Antonio expressed his latest pursuit, becoming a professional poker player. Once again Antonio's father was upset. Education is priority in the Persian culture and Esfandiari's father did not approve.
Now of age, Antonio was able to lure his father down to the casino. That particular night Esfandiari was on a roll. He predicted each of his opponents hands and his father realized that Antonio knew exactly what he was doing. From that point, Antonio's father gave him complete support in his new career.
Antonio started making a name for himself in the poker world. He would do magic at the tables and was nicknamed "The Magician". However not everyone was a fan including fellow poker player Phil "The Unibomber" Laak. Antonio admits that his friendship with Phil started off on the wrong foot. "I was doing magic at the table and Phil was staring at my hands, and as a magician, We HATE those kinds of people. It was really irritating." That night they had some drinks and stayed out til 8AM. It was the beginning of a beautiful bro-mance. Later Phil and Antonio became roommates. It was an odd mix, but entertaining as hell.
HIS FIRST BIG WIN
Esfandiari had won several pots, but at age 25 he won a tournament that paid him 1.4 million dollars. He made 2 impulsive purchases. A Dodge Viper and an Armani Suit. Two weeks later, while showing off, Esfandiari wrecked the Viper. The accident involved many cars and him spinning around several times. Antonio retired the keys. "I don't think I'll ever own another sports car again. I'd love one... but I just drive too crazy." These days, Antonio cruises in his SUV.
THE MAN WITHOUT A PLAN
One of the biggest reasons to envy Antonio's lifestyle is the fact that he doesn't make plans. "It drives my friends a little bit crazy, but I have designed my life to do whatever I feel like doing that day." How bad ass is that?! Here's how it works, If you ask Antonio to dinner tonight, he will commit, but if you ask Antonio to dinner tomorrow, he will not commit. He says the only planning he does is vacations. After Antonio's big win, he took his best friends on a boys trip to Costa Rica. "These are my best friends, guys that I grew up, they would have done the same thing for me if they won a million dollars."
Antonio's condo is more than his home. It's like a headquarters for his crew. On top of Antonio's stove there are several keys, each with a number. His closest friends have keys to his spot. That's just how he rolls, but if you lose a key, it'll cost you $200 to change the locks. The key I saw had the number 17 on it, just to give you an idea of how many people are members of Club Antonio.
While we are there, Antonio has a friend visiting Vegas for the first time. He is a poker player from Europe and Antonio is the host with the most. He lets his visitor know that "it's cool if you want to bring chicks over here, My room is at the other end so I won't hear anything." Now that's a cool host right? But will Antonio live this bachelor lifestyle forever? No, he says he looks forward to what his thirties have to offer; a wife, some kids and the white picket fence are in the cards for him.
PLACE YOUR BETS
When you hang out with a lot of poker players, I guess it's only natural that you are dealing with a bunch of gamblers. Betting in this group is ongoing. They bet on everything. Antonio and Phil even had a show entitled "I Bet You" where they went head-to-head betting on everything from a game of basketball to the number of elementary questions a call girl could answer correctly.
During our interview with Esfandiari, the WSOP was going on at the Rio. Antonio was challenged to abstain from drinking during the entire series. The rules were as follows, he is allowed two passes throughout. On two occasions he can use his get out of jail free card. Also he was allowed to have 2 glasses of wine at dinner, if everybody was sitting down and eating. It was a $10,000 wager. At the time of our interview he said he had already used one pass.
Antonio made it to the top 30 of this years WSOP out of nearly 6,000 players in the tournament. Even though he is not the chip leader, He's still one pretty lucky guy. With a great career, tons of friends he can trust, a beautiful home, and an appetite for life, how can you not be envious?
POSTED BY GINAH LASTA ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009 AT 1:33 AM
FILED UNDER ENVY, RECOMMENDED · TAGGED WITH |
http://sinnermag.com/2009/08/25/living-the-sinner-life/
| Phil Laak wrote: | A few quick corrections of your fine efforts at Sinner Mag...
- The show Antonio and I did was called "I Bet You", not "I bet"... FREE ADVERTISING AHHHH
- There were over 6,000 people in the WSOP main event this year, not 3,000 (make me feel better about my efforts) |
A full house. That's a concept a Mexican should be quite familiar with, hey Jesus?
Theodore 'T-Bag' Bagwell
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