Antonio Esfandiari has won the biggest prize in sport, let alone poker, taking down over $18 million at the World Series of Poker Big One Tournament.

The 33-year-old poker star – nicknamed ‘The Magician’ – took down the huge cash prize in Vegas last week, also picking up the first platinum bracelet. Those looking at www.pubfruitmachines.co.uk note how the tournament had a $1 million buy-in, a huge amount of money, even for most pros.

British player Sam Trickett came in a respectable second, netting a decent $10 million for his efforts. As he and Esfandiari made it to the heads-up stage, the Magician had a 3:1 chip lead and took only 16 hands to take the Brit down. The final hand saw Esfandiari flop trips, with Trickett chasing the diamond flush.

The flush didn’t come and Esfandiari walked away with a first prize that sees him rise to the top of the all-time tournament poker earnings list. And he’ll probably stay there for a while.

Put in comparison to other notable sporting prizes: Bubba Watson earned $1.4 million when he won the Masters earlier this year; Roger Federer walked away with $1.7 million after beating Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final this weekend; Matt Kenseth won $1.5 million for his Daytona 500 win. As you can see, Esfandiari’s prize blows even the top sports prizes out of the water.

Perhaps we will see more of these mega-buy ins in the future. Everyone at www.onlinefruitmachines.org note how there seems to be no upper limit for these poker tournaments these days. If you build it, they will come.