Where Are They Now – David Benyamine
Where are They Now is a series of an in depth look at all poker players – not just the pros – as they travel through one long game. Some of the players profiled are deceased but not forgotten.
For the second time we are profiling a successful poker player that had previously found success at a previous game, tennis. It gives me pause for a moment to look back on the stories I’ve done and realize that a good portion of successful poker players were well on their way to succeeding in another field, be it a sport or a business, before turning those energies to poker. In turn, it seems that a large portion of people that have succeeded in the world of poker would have, cliché’s aside, done well in anything they tried. David Benyamine surely fits this description, as he took the dedication he had learned from becoming a successful tennis player to becoming one of the most feared poker players in the world today, particularly in cash games.
David Benyamine was born in Paris, France on July 5, 1972. Benyamine was taught poker around the age of 12 from family members but during this time he was more focused on a budding tennis career. Benyamine took up tennis around eight years old, and by the time he was a teenager he was one of the top amateur players in the country. A professional career followed as a young man, and just like in the amateur ranks, Benyamine worked his way to near the top of the ranks of the professional circuit in France. However, before he could jump onto the world scene, a back injury caused him to hang up his racquet.
The lack of competition left a void in Benyamine’s life. At first he took up a job as an au pair, which is the equivalent of a personal assistant in America, only you live with the family you work for. That obviously didn’t quench his thirst for competition, so he eventually started playing pool. In short order, the hard work he displayed at tennis turned him into a highly successful pool player. Benyamine worked himself all the way up the ranks into the top ten players in his country. It was while playing pool that he began to play poker during breaks and in between matches.
Benyamine began playing at the Aviation Club in Paris, which is one of the most respected, and nicer, casinos in the world. Benyamine started playing at lower stake cash games and smaller buy-in tables, and like his other two career choices of tennis and pool it wasn’t long before he started inching towards the best in poker as well. At the time Isabella Mercier, who is a fantastic poker player in her own right, was the poker room manager at the Aviation Club. She noticed the success Benyamine was having and asked him about some of the books he was reading in order to improve his game. Benyamine told her, and to this day tells people who ask, that he has never read a book, or even a magazine for that matter. In other words, he’s a natural.
Benyamine may have never had the chance to test his tennis skills against the very best in the world, but when the opportunity arose for him to take on the very best in the world in poker he acted upon it. In 2002 he traveled to Las Vegas, and has since called it home, having bought a house in nearby Henderson, Nevada.
One of the things that took Benyamine a while to get used to was the way the players acted in casinos in America. In France, and many other European Casinos, poker is played in a quiet setting where the players are polite to each other and not very boisterous. As you can imagine there was a bit of an adjustment period, but once he settled in he continued to do well in America just as he did in France.
Later in 2003 Benyamine proved you can go home again, when he won the World Poker Tour’s Grand Prix De Paris, winning $410,886. Tournament success would come in the USA as well. In 2004 he finished in 6th place at the WPT, winning an additional $132,355. It would take a few years, but 2008 would be a huge tournament year for Benyamine. It started with a $120,000 victory on NBC’s Poker After Dark’s “Love at First Raise,” which featured power couples in the poker world. Benyamine’s fiancé Erica Schoenberg was the first eliminated. At the World Series of Poker Benyamine scored his first WSOP bracelet when he took down the $10,000 World Championship of Omaha Hi/Lo Split for $535,687. Of the four WSOP final tables he has made, three came this year, quite the amazing feat. While Benyamine of course enjoyed that victory, he said he really wants to win another $10,000 buy-in WSOP event – The Main Event. With all the success he’s already had, we shouldn’t put it past him.
The tournament money has of course been nice, amounting to nearly four million dollars in career winnings, but there have been nights where Benyamine has won or lost that while playing at “Bobby’s Room” at the Bellagio, home of the biggest cash games in the world. “Bobby’s Room” doesn’t keep track of money won or loss, but it is believed that in 2006 Benyamine was the big winner for the year, an accomplishment that most likely resulted in tens of millions of dollars. Stories from “Bobby’s Rooms” are stuff of legends, and Benyamine’s 2006 fits the mold of those stories.
On top of appearing on NBC’s Poker After Dark, Benyamine has also appeared on Game Show Network’s High Stakes Poker which features the highest pots ever recorded and made public. Benyamine exudes a confidence without being cocky, and is polite to his peers, win or lose. Benyamine’s successes have also led him to become a sponsored player at Full Tilt Poker, where he plays under his real name.
*Read Billy Monroe's Blog*
Major Tournament Results
03-Jul-2009 $ 10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em (Final table to be played in November) 40th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2009, Las Vegas 102nd $40,288
10-Jun-2009 $ 10,000 World Championship 2-7 Lowball
40th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2009, Las Vegas 7th $ 30,492
18-Apr-2009 $ 25,000 No Limit Hold'em – Championship Event
Seventh Annual Five Star World Poker Classic, Las Vegas 45th $ 32,685
30-Mar-2009 $ 20,000 Week 6 – International III
Poker After Dark V, Las Vegas 6th
13-Dec-2008 $ 15,000 No Limit Hold'em – Doyle Brunson Classic
2008 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Las Vegas 25th $ 43,235
05-Oct-2008 £ 20,000 High Roller Event – No Limit Hold'em
2008 European Poker Championships, London 8th £ 69,000 $ 126,346
01-Oct-2008 £ 5,200 Main Event – No Limit Hold'em
2008 European Poker Championships, London 12th £ 35,891 $ 65,720
11-Jul-2008 $ 15,000 No Limit Hold'em – WPT
Bellagio Cup IV, Las Vegas 2nd $ 840,295
19-Jun-2008 $ 10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi/Lo Split
39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas 1st $ 535,687
17-Jun-2008 $ 5,000 World Championship Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo
39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas 10th $ 30,667
14-Jun-2008 $ 5,000 Pot Limit Omaha
39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas 3rd $ 316,307
09-Jun-2008 $ 5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball
39th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2008, Las Vegas 7th $ 58,990
07-Apr-2008 $ 20,000 Week 9 – "Love at First Raise"
Poker After Dark III, Las Vegas 1st $ 120,000
02-Mar-2008 Finals
NBC National Heads-Up Championship 2008, Las Vegas 5th $ 75,000
10-Jul-2007 $ 10,000 Bellagio Cup III – No Limit Hold'em
Bellagio Cup III, Las Vegas 20th $ 41,310
15-Jun-2007 $ 5,000 H.O.R.S.E
38th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2007, Las Vegas 14th $ 11,731
Jun-2007 $ 50,000 Week 18 – Mega Match
Poker After Dark II, Las Vegas 6th
03-Jun-2007 $ 2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better
38th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2007, Las Vegas 6th $ 29,708
Jun-2007 $ 20,000 Week 12 – International Event
Poker After Dark II, Las Vegas 3rd
16-Apr-2007 $ 20,000 Week 9
Poker After Dark, Las Vegas 4th
06-Apr-2007 € 3,300 The Irish Open – No Limit Holdem Freezeout
2007 Paddy Power Irish Open, Dublin 64th € 3,500 $ 4,671
14-Dec-2006 $ 15,000 WPT Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic – No Limit Hold'em Fifth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Las Vegas 90th $ 25,370
16-Oct-2006 $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em – Championship Event
Festa Al Lago V Poker Tournament, Las Vegas 79th $ 12,525
07-Aug-2006 $ 10,000 Bellagio Cup II – No Limit Hold'em
Bellagio Cup II, Las Vegas 30th $ 17,145
15-Jul-2006 Semi-Final Round 2
Intercontinental Poker Championship, Las Vegas 5th
08-Jul-2006 Semi-Final Round 1
Intercontinental Poker Championship, Las Vegas 6th
24-Jun-2006 Round 1 – Group C
Intercontinental Poker Championship, Las Vegas 1st
08-May-2006 $ 10,000 Championship Event – No Limit Hold'em
2006 WSOP Circuit – Caesars Las Vegas, Las Vegas 13th $ 23,575
15-Dec-2005 $ 5,000 No Limit Hold'em Shootout
FullTilt.net Poker Global Poker Challenge, Las Vegas 4th $ 40,000
30-Aug-2005 No Limit Hold'em
World Poker Tour Battle of Champions II, Los Angeles 1st $ 25,000
Mar-2005 Heat 11
Party Poker World Open, Maidstone 2nd
07-Nov-2004 € 800 No Limit Hold'em
Master Classics of Poker 2004, Amsterdam 6th € 11,061 $ 14,341
06-Nov-2004 Semi-Final III
Pacific Poker UK Open, Maidstone 4th $ 15,000
03-Nov-2004 $ 10,000 Heat 14
Pacific Poker UK Open, Maidstone 1st
10-Sep-2004 € 5,710 Episode 6
The Gaming Club World Poker Championship (Pot Limit Hold'em), Dublin 15th
17-Jul-2004 € 10,000 Grand Prix de Paris / WPT – No Limit Hold'em
Rendez Vous a Paris, Paris 23rd € 10,000 $ 12,193
18-Mar-2004 $ 7,000 Limit Hold'em Championship Final Day
2004 – PartyPoker.com Million III Limit Hold'em, Cruise 76th $ 2,000
21-Feb-2004 $ 9,900 No Limit Hold'em Championship – WPT
2004 L.A. Poker Classic, Los Angeles 6th $ 132,355
04-Dec-2003 $ 1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo
2003 Bellagio Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, Las Vegas 3rd $ 20,603
10-Jul-2003 € 10,000 Grand Prix de Paris / WPT
Summer Tournament 2003, Paris 1st € 357,200 $ 410,886
25-Jun-2002 $ 3,100 Limit Hold'em
Bellagio High Buy-in Tournament Series, Las Vegas 3rd $ 26,100
20-Jun-2002 $ 2,500 Limit Hold'em
Bellagio $2,500 Limit Hold'em, Las Vegas 3rd $ 26,100
13-Feb-2002 € 1,000 No Limit Holdem
Euro Finals of Poker 2002, Paris 1st € 34,300 $ 29,428
02-Feb-2002 € 2,000 European Omaha Championship
Euro Finals of Poker 2002, Paris 2nd € 28,400 $ 24,366
25-Jun-2001 FF 5,000 No Limit Hold'em
Summer Tournament 2001, Paris 8th FF 11,500 $ 1,511
10-Feb-2001 FF 30,000 European Championship – No Limit Hold'em
Euro Finals of Poker 2001, Paris 2nd FF 467,000 $ 66,666
05-Feb-2001 FF 5,000 No Limit Hold'em
Euro Finals of Poker 2001, Paris 3rd FF 97,900 $ 13,976
09-Dec-2000 FF 5,000 No Limit Holdem
Winter Tournament 2000, Paris 2nd FF 157,300 $ 20,910
07-Dec-2000 FF 5,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Winter Tournament 2000, Paris 2nd FF 133,900 $ 17,800
23-Sep-2000 FF 10,000 No Limit Hold'em
Autumn Tournament 2000, Paris 1st FF 371,000 $ 48,944
09-Mar-2000 FF 5,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Euro Finals of Poker 2000, Paris 6th FF 23,100 $ 3,398
07-Mar-2000 FF 5,000 Pot Limit Holdem/Omaha
Euro Finals of Poker 2000, Paris 1st FF 233,600 $ 34,358
07-Sep-1999 FF 200 No Limit Hold'em
Autumn Tournament 1999, Paris 1st FF 17,050 $ 2,757
03-Sep-1999 FF 2,500 Hold'em/Omaha Mixed
Autumn Tournament 1999, Paris 9th FF 2,500 $ 404
02-Sep-1999 FF 2,500 No Limit Hold'em
Autumn Tournament 1999, Paris 8th FF 3,800 $ 615
27-Jun-1999 FF 1,000 No Limit Holdem
Summer Festival 1999, Paris 8th FF 1,400 $ 222
