David Benyamine is a phenomenal poker player, as shown by the fact that he has won both a bracelet from the World Series of Poker and a championship from the World Poker Tour. Both of these accomplishments highlight his excellent strategies. Since he began playing poker, Benyamine has amassed over $6.4 million in earnings, propelling him to the number two spot on the All Time Money List in France.
Benyamine asserts that he is an expert at Pot Limit Omaha, despite the fact that the majority of his most remarkable accomplishments have come from his participation in other types of poker. In any scenario, it is impossible to ignore the fact that Benyamine is a highly good and well-respected poker player. This is shown by the fact that he has been invited to make guest appearances on NBC’s Poker After Dark as well as on the Game Show Network’s High stakes poker.
The Beginning Years
The 5th of July, 1972 saw David Benyamine being born in the city of Paris, France.
Even though he was just twelve years old when he discovered the fundamentals of poker, he focused all of his time and energy on developing his tennis skills since he was such a brilliant player. Soon after that, he began his career as a professional tennis player; however, a catastrophic injury to both his shoulder and back forced him to quit earlier than expected.
Benyamine began visiting to the casino more often to play rummy and pool, both of which he excelled at for many years before he was exposed to poker. At the time, he was feeling little melancholy and uncertain of what direction he should pursue in his professional life. It is odd that he began his poker career by playing five-card draw poker, but he now considers this variation to be his least favorite.
The Transition to a Profession in Poker
Benyamine soon began playing Omaha and Texas Hold ’em cash games at the local casinos with his friends. However, many of his friends observed his natural aptitude and enthusiasm for the game, and as a result, they pushed him to begin entering more tournaments. Benyamine finally began winning a significant amount of money at these cash games. His first victory in a group competition came in 1999 at the Autumn Tournament in Paris, when he took first place in the No-Limit Texas Hold’em tournament. This was his first victory in a group competition.
In 2002, Benyamine competed in two consecutive No Limit Hold’em events at the famous Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Both times, she finished in third place. Every time he participates in the “Big Game” held at Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio, he bets thousands of dollars. Today, he is a regular at the “Big Game.”
He once went for two and a half days without stopping to do anything except play in one location, only getting up to use the restroom.
Benyamine’s level of excitement skyrocketed when he learned that the World Poker Tour will be making a stop in Paris, France. Benyamine attended the 2003 Grand Prix de Paris tournament, anticipating to come out on the losing end due to the fact that he was going up against more experienced players. He was looking forward to some more challenging competition. That day included a lot of big names in poker, like Erick Lindgren and Daniel Negreanu, who were also competing. Benyamine triumphed in the World Poker Tour (WPT) tournament despite the fact that the deck was stacked against him and took home more than $410,000 in prize money.
Benyamine had a run-in with the FBI in San Diego, California, the following year, since his name and look were similar to a person who was on the terrorist watch list. To add fuel to the fire of their suspicion, he had more than $25,000 in his wallet at the time. They immediately realized that they had made a mistake, but Benyamine was still required to be deported back to France since he lacked the appropriate work visa required to continue his career as a professional poker player in Las Vegas. This prevented him from continuing to work in the city.
Because he was banned from visiting the United States for a whole year, he decided to concentrate his efforts on competing in tournaments in Europe for a spell. He participated in the Pacific Poker UK open event, where he was able to make it to multiple of the tournament’s final tables and finish in first place as well as in fourth place.