Can Antonio Esfandiari Win His Second WPT Title?
Published on December 6th, 2010 2:33 am EST
In February of 2004, Antonio Esfandiari burst onto the scene by taking down the WPT LA Poker Classic for $1,399,135. Esfandiari's charisma and affable nature at the table resulted in him receiving numerous invitations to appear on poker TV shows, and a star was born. After winning the LA Poker Classic in 2004 and taking down a WSOP bracelet a few months later, Esfandiari hasn't been able to take down any major poker tournaments, despite coming close a number of times. In the 2009 World Series of Poker main event, Antonio made a very deep run, only to end up finishing in 24th place.
Fast forward to present day. After three full days of play, Esfandiari currently sits atop the Five Diamond World Poker Classic (WPT) leaderboard. Antonio finished Day 3 with 1,082,500 in chips, far ahead of the second place stack of Doug Lee (782,500).
Can Esfandiari continue his strong play and take down his first major title in over six years?
There are a number of very talented players who will be looking to make sure that Antonio isn't able to claim the second WPT title of his career. Here is how the top of the leaderboard looks heading into Day 4 on Monday:
Antonio Esfandiari, 1,082,500
Doug Lee, 782,500
Vanessa Rousso, 694,000
Freddy Deeb, 654,000
Jerry Young, 550,000
Some of the other notable names who are also still alive include:
Bryn Kenney, 458,000
Doyle Brunson, 440,000
Sorel Mizzi, 436,500
Marco Traniello, 315,000
Andrew Robl, 220,000
Isaac Baron, Johnny Chan, Eric Mizrachi, John Juanda and Phil Ivey all hit the rail on Day 3, but all five players managed to take home mini-cashes.
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All of the remaining 54 players in the tournament are guaranteed a minimum of $13,725 for making it through to Day 4.
The 439 player turnout ended up creating a total prize pool of $4,248,000. The eventual winner of the event will walk away with $870,124, while the runner-up will take home $549,003.
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Filed Under: Tournament Results
