David Benyamine – Poker Player Profile

Born, raised and still residing in Paris, France, poker professional David Benyamine is living proof that whatever you set your mind to do, you can succeed at.

In early adulthood, Benyamine was a world class tennis player before a severe back injury forced him away from the courts. With this avenue of competition eliminated, he decided to move on to billiards and, once again, his keen competitive nature made him one of the top ten players in France. Around this time, David found the burgeoning French poker scene.

A friend who worked in one of the smaller card clubs in Paris took David with him one night and Benyamine decided he could make more working the poker tables than the pool tables. He started small, built his bankroll to surprising heights and quickly was regarded as one of the most dangerous high stakes cash game players in Europe. Wherever the game was – London, Paris, Monte Carlo or elsewhere – Benyamine would take on all comers. As his reputation grew, though, David realized that there was another challenge that faced him in the field of poker.

The tournament world was growing quickly in Europe and David Benyamine was ready to take on that challenge as well. In 1999 he scored his first documented tournament victory at the Aviation Club in Paris. The next year, David followed with two major victories during festivals at the Aviation Club and continually cashed in other events over the next few years.

America finally got a chance to meet David Benyamine during the first season of the World Poker Tour: in the 2003 Grand Prix de Paris 10,000 Euro Championship Event, Benyamine was able to defeat Americans Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren and fellow Frenchman Jan Boubli on his way to taking his largest tournament victory of his career. Two years later, Benyamine defeated a stacked final table that included Hoyt Corkins, Mel Judah, Noli Francisco, Antonio Esfandiari and Phil “The Unabomber” Laak to win the WPT’s Battle of Champions II.

What David really wanted, however, was to achieve poker greatness on its largest stage:  the World Series of Poker. He cashed for the first time only last year, but has since gone on to cash five times with three final tables. He finally broke through and won his first bracelet this summer in the $10,000 World Championship of Omaha Hi/Lo, taking $535,687 for his efforts.

2008 has definitely been Benyamine’s finest year as a tournament professional. David has earned well over $2 million and, along with that WSOP bracelet, has a runner up finish on the WPT at the Bellagio and deep finishes at the recently concluded EPT London. He has earned over $3 million in his tournament poker career and arguably has done just as well in cash games over the past decade. In 2010, Benyamine finished 58th in the WSOP Main Event.

Benyamine’s game analysis (by Barry Greenstein):

• Aggressiveness: 7
• Looseness: 8
• Short-handed: 8
• Limit: 7
• No-limit: 7
• Tournaments: 7
• Side games: 8
• Steam control: 3
• Against weak players: 7
• Against strong players: 8

Whenever he doesn’t take money from players around the world, David can often be found online taking the money there! He is a member of the Full Tilt Poker stable and will be playing the highest stakes that are offered. Benyamine is lucky away from the tables as well, sharing his spare time with fellow poker pro Erica Schoenberg.

In a short time, David Benyamine has demonstrated that he can be one of the most dangerous players in poker. Whether a cash game or a tournament, he has the skills to be able to outlast his competitors in a multitude of disciplines and has an inner drive that propels him to greatness. This competitive spirit should continue to stoke the desire that makes Benyamine one of the top players in the world.