Playboy.com: What have been your biggest wins and losses?

Esfandiari: I won $1.4 million in a tournament, and I lost $183,000 on the TV show High Stakes Poker.

Playboy.com: Some guys blow a couple-hundred-dollars in a home game and they can't sleep at night. What does it feel like to drop 183-grand?

Esfandiari: It doesn't feel like anything. It's just business. Some days you win, some days you lose. After High Stakes, I did exactly what I would have done if I'd won $183,000. I don't look at poker as one event. I look at what I've done over the last several years. I liken a poker loss to a cost of doing business.

Playboy.com: Besides the obvious, do you have a favorite starting hand?

Esfandiari: My favorite hand is 7, 9. Three times I made insane straights after starting with those cards and won monster pots. I'm of Persian descent and I call that hand the Persian Carpet Ride.

Playboy.com: What advice do you have for talented amateurs who are thinking of turning pro?

Esfandiari: Read books and follow your instincts. Besides my book [entitled In The Money], I advise people to read Winning Low Limit Hold'em, everything by David Sklansky, Super/System, and Joe Navvarro's book on tells [Read 'Em and Reap]. Read all those and you'll get a decent foundation.

Playboy.com: Championship bracelets from the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour are two of the most coveted items in gambling. You've got one of each, yet I never see you wearing them. How come?

Esfandiari: I never wear them. I wore each bracelet on the day that I won it, and that was that. I'm proud of them, but they stay in my safe. Personally, I feel that it's a little tacky to wear poker bracelets. If somebody wants to see them, I take them out. But that's it. They have a mystique for non-players, but I think its cheesy to wear them.

Playboy.com: Tell me about a typical non-poker day for Antonio Esfandiari.

Esfandiari: Normally, I travel a lot. But if I'm home in Vegas, I wake up and do business for a couple hours, I spend time working on my condo, I go to the spa, I have a nice dinner, and I go to the clubs. I love Tao [in the Venetian]. That place is like my second home. I go there all the time. What makes that place great for me is the design, the way it's set up, the way they treat me. When you go there, and you have one of the best tables, it's the greatest place to be. The guys who own it let me do whatever I want.

Playboy.com: Whatever you want? What does that entail?

Esfandiari: Let me give you an example. There's a catwalk in the middle of the club. Only girls are allowed to dance up there -- with the exception of a few select guys. I'm one of those guys. The owners give me the super VIP treatment. I get a bodyguard when I'm in there, bottle service, a great table. Tao even sponsored me for the World Series this year. Put it this way: When I go to Tao I get taken care of.

Playboy.com: Does being a known poker player make it easy to pick up girls?

Esfandiari: Seven years ago, if you told a girl you were a poker player, she laughed in your face. Now you tell her and she is intrigued. Chicks love guys in the spotlight. Poker players are in the spotlight.

Playboy.com: So does that mean that poker players are particularly good with the ladies?

Esfandiari: Poker players are not always smooth or charismatic. Most of them are weenies. Only a few are good with the girls. Gus Hansen is good. David Williams is very good.

Playboy.com: But there must be some facets of poker that transfer over to picking up hot chicks.

Esfandiari: Poker skills help you to get a natural read right away. In two minutes I know if I have a shot with a girl or not. If not, I fold and move on. Otherwise I hope to go all in.

Playboy.com: What's the better chick magnet, poker or magic?

Esfandiari: It depends on the level. David Copperfield will win every time. All things being equal, I have to say that it's definitely magic. It's not even close. Magic brings out the kid in everyone. Women see you doing magic and they become fascinated. They want to know more about you.

Playboy.com: If you could play heads-up poker against anyone in history, who would you pick?

Esfandiari: Bill Clinton. I'm fascinated with him; he's a bad ass. I'd love to simply hang out with him. But if he wanted to play poker with me? All the better.

Playboy's High Roller How-To Playmate Karen McDougal has tips
to raise your poker game  »