Antonio Esfandiari Wins $18.3 Million in Poker’s Biggest Payout

Antonio Esfandiari won $18.3 million, poker’s biggest payout, in the $1 million buy-in charity tournament at the World Series of Poker.

Esfandiari, a 33-year-old poker professional from the U.S., beat British player Sam Trickett, 25, on the final hand in the tournament at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Trickett collects $10.1 million. Greenlight Capital Inc. co-founder David Einhorn was third, winning $4.35 million. Einhorn, 43, said he’ll donate his winnings to the charity City Year.

“I just knew I was going to win,” Esfandiari told ESPN in a televised interview. “I just had to put it out there and believe it, and sometimes it comes true.”

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dex McLuskey at dmcluskey@bloomberg.net