High stakes cash game specialist David Benyamine is no longer a Full Tilt red pro. For the past couple weeks Benyamine has been playing on Full Tilt’s site, but his red avatar has been removed and his name is no longer listed on the official homepage with the other pros. While no press release from Full Tilt has been released and Benyamine hasn’t commented, it is rumored that he has made a deal with another poker site.
Benyamine has been involved in some of the largest pots ever played on the Full Tilt felt. His daily clashes with Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, and many other big name players attracted high traffic numbers to the site, which makes this news a bit of a surprise. Benyamine was considered the glue that held the high-stakes tables together on FTP for a while as he would spend long hours multi-tabling the highest games available on the site and would regularly get action.
Full Tilt is now the king of the nosebleed games with the addition of Antonius to the FTP roster and gossip of a Tom Dwan signing in the near future, which may be the reason behind the removal of Benyamine. PokerStars and Betfair seem like logical choices to make a play for a Benyamine sponsorship deal, as both sites lack a regular big name high-stakes cash player to bring enthusiasts to the rail. Betfair, the European-based site, would seem to be a perfect fit for the former French tennis star. He would join the likes of Annette Obrestad, Sorel Mizzi and John Tabatabai on the Betfair pro team.
According to pokerlistings.com’s Market Pulse, Benyamine has accrued more than $1.5 million in earnings at the cash tables on Full Tilt this year, trailing only Dwan, Ivey, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond and “trex313” for the most winnings on the site. Benyamine is also often found at the “Big Game” at Bobby’s Room in the Bellagio cutting it up with some of the world’s best players in the largest games found anywhere.
While ring games might be his area of expertise, Benyamine has made plenty of noise on the tournament circuit as well. His big wins include a 1st place finish at the Grand Prix de Paris in 2003, a 6th place finish in the L.A Poker Classic in 2004 and a 2nd place finish in the Bellagio Cup IV in July of 2008. He made three final tables at the 2008 World Series of Poker, including a victory in the $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo Split World Championship for $535,687. It was his first ever bracelet at the WSOP. Benyamine has more than $3 million in tournament cashes.
