In a sign that it might be moving closer to real money online poker in Nevada, Ultimate Poker tabbed tournament poker’s all-time leading money winner, Antonio Esfandiari (pictured), as its Brand Ambassador on Tuesday.

In the announcement, Ultimate Poker chairman Tom Breitling commented, “Antonio is the ultimate champion and modern poker player. He brings the gaming lifestyle to the online arena with his work hard, play hard attitude.” Breitling also commented to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Howard Stutz that the process for becoming one of the first live online poker rooms under Nevada law is almost complete. “This process is being taken very seriously and we are working as hard as we can to be ready,” Breitling noted.

Ultimate Poker, owned by the Station Casinos brand in Las Vegas and the official online poker brand for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is looking to Esfandiari’s ambassadorship as a method for bringing in players, much like what other online poker rooms such as PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker have done with their marketing plans.

Brian Balsbaugh, Chief Executive Officer of Poker Royalty, which represents Esfandiari and was instrumental in the negotiation of the Ultimate Poker deal, stated to Stutz that this will probably be the pattern that U.S. online poker will follow as the industry comes to life.

“History has proven the one clear way to attract new poker players is through professional endorsement,” Balsbaugh said to Stutz. “I think we will see that strategy used with success again in the U.S. online poker market.”

Last year, the man known as “The Magician” took down the largest ever buy-in tournament, the Big One for One Drop, at the World Series of Poker against a field of 48 of the most talented and deep-pocketed poker players in the world.

In battling through the field and defeating the United Kingdom’s Sam Trickett to win the tournament, Esfandiari pocketed $18.3 million, easily pushing him into the #1 slot on tournament poker’s all-time money list with over $24 million.

Esfandiari’s success wasn’t limited to just that tournament, however. Later last year, he won his third WSOP bracelet in Cannes and capped off the 2012 calendar year with a final table finish at the World Poker Tour’s Five Diamond World Poker Classic. In finishing fourth in that event, Esfandiari just missed out on adding what would have been his third WPT title to his resume.

“The Magician” has also shown an ability to be just as engaging when not on the felt. He has been a commentator for WSOP broadcasts on ESPN, earning excellent reviews for his adept commentary, insight into the game, and general entertainment for the casual poker fan.

In demonstrating his “play hard” attitude, Esfandiari also starred in the television series “I Bet You” with good friend and fellow poker professional Phil Laak (pictured). “I Bet You” was a program that followed the prop betting shenanigans that went on between the two.

Already operating a Facebook free play site that has drawn rave reviews, Ultimate Poker has been quite diligent in its efforts to perfect its in-house software to provide everything that an online player wants from an online poker site. With its tie-in with the UFC as well as the new deal with Esfandiari, Ultimate Poker should have a plethora of promotional opportunities available to it once it goes live for cash play.

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