Columnist Jeff Haney: How a nobody in the poker world tried to shuffle his way into a tournament with a $25 million prize pool

Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2005 | 7:43 a.m.

The "Quest of Champions," a big poker tournament scheduled to take place at the Palms in January, was created to celebrate -- and capitalize on -- the growing popularity and visibility of poker's leading players.

So it's somehow fitting that the tournament began by nailing a would-be imposter in the act.

The Quest's main event will feature 100 players at 10 "shootout" -- or winner-take-all -- tables, with the winner of each advancing to the final 10-player table.

It was at a preliminary mini-tournament on Labor Day weekend at the Palms that someone tried -- and failed -- to join the ranks of this city's celebrity impersonators by angling to take the place of star poker player Antonio Esfandiari.

"We wanted to invite Antonio Esfandiari, but I had never spoken with him before," said Jason Augustine, chief executive officer of Las Vegas-based PokerQuest Entertainment.

Instead, Augustine said, he reached a little-known poker player, also named Antonio, who did nothing to dispel the notion that he was Esfandiari. "He goes, 'That's me!,' " Augustine said. "At one point he told us he didn't have a fax machine, so he couldn't sign the contract."

The imposter tried to keep up the ruse almost until the start of the mini-tournament, which was to feature 10 well-known poker professionals competing for one of the 100 seats in the main event.

"It turns out he was just some nobody," Augustine said. "He was saying, 'You still have to let me play.' "

After getting rid of the "other" Antonio, Augustine said, tournament officials recruited 1983 World Series of Poker champion Tom McEvoy to take the final seat at the table just moments before the event's scheduled start.

McEvoy went on to win the tournament, earning a seat in January's main event.

"The imposter shows up expecting to play, figuring they couldn't get a replacement at the last minute," said McEvoy, who lives about eight miles from the Palms. "I think I broke a few speed laws getting down there, but I made it. I just seized the moment and made the best of it."

When Esfandiari -- who, in another delicious twist, is an accomplished magician -- heard about the attempted trickery later, he was mostly concerned about missing out on the tournament.

"What was the prize for first place?" he said.

Well, it was entry to an event that will command the largest first-prize payout in poker -- $15 million, according to tournament organizers.

Each of the 100 seats will be "worth" $250,000 -- the largest buy-in in poker history -- for a prize pool of $25 million, Augustine said. One-quarter of the seats will be "sponsored," or reserved for 21 high-profile professional poker players and four Hollywood celebrities.

The money behind the sponsored seats will be generated by a television contract now being negotiated, said Joel Newton, managing director of Los Angeles-based Artist International, which is representing the Quest in negotiations.

The remaining 75 seats will be filled by players who either fork over the whole $250,000 or win their way in through a "satellite," or mini-tournament with a smaller buy-in.

Newton said he knows of a group of 10 "high-rolling doctors" who are conducting their own private satellite tournament, each kicking in $25,000.

"Within the tight Vegas world of poker players, everyone knows about (the Quest)," Newton said. "The general public is just now finding out about it."

The idea behind the sponsored seats for pros, Augustine said, is to give star poker players the same status as, for example, prominent golfers on the PGA Tour.

"We're trying to make them feel like athletes," Augustine said. "They're the reason people watch poker on TV. They shouldn't have to pay their own way in.

"Poker is hot, but it won't stay that way without its stars."

Barry Greenstein, one of the world's top poker players, said he appreciates what the Quest is trying to accomplish in treating big-time poker pros like star athletes. He just hopes tournament officials aren't attempting to do too much too soon.

"It's probably the wave of the future; the question is if they're doing it before it's feasible," Greenstein said. "You're talking about several million dollars in 'added' money (from a TV deal and sponsorships), which is significantly more than we have ever had before."

McEvoy said he's looking forward to taking his shot at the big-money tournament, which will pay prize money to the top 10 finishers.

"It'll be a tough field, but a short field," McEvoy said. "The opportunity to win that much money is right in front of me, which I find appealing."

And Quest organizers, take note:

Esfandiari, the "real" Antonio, still wants to play, too.

"Tell them to get in touch with me," he said.