Before he made a name for himself as a poker player, Esfandiari was getting well known for his magic. In fact, he did some sleight of hand for World Poker Tour producer Steve Lipscomb prior to the WPT’s launch. Lipscomb was so impressed that he hired Esfandiari to add a bit of pizzazz to one of the early tournament airings.

‘They wanted me to make Shana Hiatt appear,’ he remembers. ‘It was a camera effect [as opposed to real magic], but the camera guy screwed up, so it didn’t come out as good as it should have.’