The break room at the offices of Full Tilt Poker was buzzing on Monday morning with news that one of its pros, David Benyamine, had won his first World Series of Poker bracelet over the weekend. The masterful poker player has been on a tear at the 2008 World Series, capped off by his win in the $10,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split World Championship (Event #37). He pocketed $535,687 for his efforts and quickly became the talk of the Rio early Sunday morning. The tournament attracted 235 entries, which meant a prize pool that totaled $2,209,000, the largest Omaha High-Low Split prize pool in poker history.
After the final cards were dealt, he commented to WSOP staff, “Winning is always important to me, but I never thought I had anything to prove.” Counting Event #38, Benyamine has made three final tables at the 2008 WSOP. He took third in the $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha with rebuys event (#28) for $316,307. He also took seventh in a $5,000 buy-in No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball with rebuys event (#18) for $58,990. Needless to say, it’s been a productive 2008 World Series of Poker for Benyamine, who is quickly making the case to the people of his home country of France and the rest of the world that he’s one of the hottest players on the tour right now. He’s a frequent guest on shows like GSN’s High Stakes Poker.
Toto Leonidas took fourth place in Event #37, cashing for $171,197. It was the L.A. native’s first cash during the 2008 WSOP. Mike Matusow continued his resurgence, finishing fifth for $138,062. He took home his first World Series of Poker bracelet in Event #18, the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball with rebuys tournament. Matusow hadn’t finished higher than fifth in a WSOP tournament since 2003 prior to this year’s tournament series.
In Event #36, a $1,500 no limit tournament, Jesper Hougaard, from Denmark, barreled through a field of 2,447 entrants en route to a $610,304 payday, leading the final table virtually wire to wire. He defeated Cody Slaubaugh heads up; the runner up took home $389,128. Hougaard became only the second Dane to win a WSOP bracelet. The other: Jan Sorensen. Aaron Kanter, who stormed onto the poker scene in 2005 with a fourth place finish in the Main Event for $2 million, finished third. He also has a pair of World Poker Tour cashes.
At the conclusion of 37 events in the 2008 World Series of Poker, the “Year of the Pro” continues. Professionals, whom the WSOP classifies as those who have played on the tour for at least two years and derive a significant portion of their earnings off of poker, have won 30 out of the 37 completed events, or 81%. Amateurs have taken down five events; the other two have been won by semi-pros.
We’re now a week and a half away from the 2008 Main Event. Keep checking back to Poker Source for the latest news and updates from Las Vegas.