PROFILE
Name: David Benefield
Age: 27
Birthplace: Arlington, TX
Current Hometown: Arlington, TX
A veteran of the online poker wars, David Benefield will come to the 2013 World Series of Poker “November Nine” with the dubious honor of being the short stack. With only 6.375 million in chips, Benefield has two large stacks on both sides of him in chip leader J. C. Tran (38 million) and Jay Farber (25.975 million) which will leave very little wiggle room for him to work his magic. If there is a player who can grind on this short stack, it is Benefield, however.
Known as ‘Raptor’ online, Benefield was a highly successful online cash game pro through the mid-2000s, where it is rumored that he won over $5 million. He was a member of the Cardrunners.com training staff and, as detailed in the book, was a member of the “Ship It Holla Ballas” crew that ran rampant over the online poker world at the same time. In 2009, though, Benefield withdrew from the game a bit, preferring to play as a hobby rather than a profession.
He has done well in the live arena despite that “semi-retired” status, with his current position in the “November Nine” earning him his 13th cash at the WSOP. Surprisingly, Benefield’s largest score in the live tournament poker world was his eighth place finish in last year’s €50,000 High Roller tournament at the WSOP Europe. That score, for €115,000 ($150,035), has been vastly eclipsed by the ninth place money that Benefield has earned for being a member of the “November Nine,” but he will have to have some luck on his side if he is able to push beyond that $733,224 payday.
HOW HE GOT HERE
Day 1(B): 88,025
Day 2(B): 261,100
Day 3: 249,000
Day 4: 1,675,000
Day 5: 3,675,000
Day 6: 1,840,000
KEY HAND
Peaking at 18th place on Day 5, Benefield has been fighting for his life over the two days of play that led up to the determination of the “November Nine.” He would go into Day 6 play as the short stack of the 27 players that remained and that is the same position that he will hold when the table reconvenes this fall in the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio.
Benefield made a misstep on Day 7 that chopped his stack down, otherwise he would be in prime position to make a run at the title. After raising from the cutoff, he found Michiel Brummelhuis ready to defend his blind and the twosome saw a 3-Q-K flop. After two checks, an eight hit the felt, which Brummelhuis fired at. After calling, Benefield and Brummelhuis saw a four complete the board and Benefield would call a 2.25 million bet out of Brummelhuis. Thinking he was bluffing, Benefield instead saw Brummelhuis turn up a K-J that Benefield couldn’t beat. The loss chopped him down under the ten million mark and he would nurse that stack through the remainder of Day 7 to make it to the “November Nine.”
