David Benyamine, born on July 5, 1972 in Paris, France, is a professional poker player. Prior to turning to poker, David Benyamine was a professional tennis player, but had to retire because of back pain. His talent doesn’t end here as he is also a successful billiards player. At present, David Benyamine lives in Henderson, NV, with his daughter and is engaged to professional poker and blackjack player Erica Schoenberg. He learned the game when he was 12 years old. One night, a friend who worked at a poker club, invited him to play poker and soon he was hooked to the game. In a very short span of time, he moved from small to high-stake games, and now he is known as one of the best European poker players.
On July 13, 2003, David Benyamine finished first to take home a tidy sum of $468,153 at the Grand Prix De Paris – World Poker Tour (WPT) Season 2 No-Limit Hold'em. The same year, on December 4th, he participated in the 2003 Five Diamond - WPT Season 2 Limit Seven Card Stud, finished third, and went home with $20,603. Another significant victory for this Frenchman is his sixth-place finish in Event 23 - WPT Main Event No-Limit Hold'em at the LA Poker Classic - WPT Season 2. This memorable win took place on February 24, 2004, from which he earned $132,355. The next notable financial gain for David Benyamine was $13,106, which he won from the Rendezvous a Paris - WPT Season 3 in the No-Limit Hold'em event, held on July 21, 2004.
His next money finish was on May 11, 2006 at the Caesars Las Vegas Poker Tournament – World Series of Poker (Poker) Circuit Main Event – No-Limit Hold'em. He ranked 13th in the event and made a total sum of $23,575. On December 19th, he played his last tournament for the year, the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic/WPT Event Season 5, in which he secured 90th place and bagged $25,370 in the No-Limit Hold'em Championship Doyle Brunson North American Classic.
David Benyamine earned his first noteworthy winning of 2007 on June 3rd at 38th Annual WSOP Event 5 - Pot-Limit Omaha & Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo. By securing sixth place in the event, he took home prize money worth $29,708. His next remarkable performance was at the Bellagio Cup III WPT No-Limit Hold'em Championship Bellagio Cup, which was held on July 15, 2007 and at the end of this event, he walked away with a neat sum of $41,310.
David Benyamine proved his prowess at poker at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship No-Limit Hold'em held on February 29, 2008, by finishing sixth and bagging a neat sum of $75,000. Another remarkable winning for David Benyamine was the $58,990, which he took home from the 39th WSOP 2008 Event 18 - No-Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball Draw after finishing in seventh position. On June 14, when Event 28 – 39th WSOP Pot-Limit Omaha was held, David Benyamine held third rank and walked away with another $316,307. His 10th place finish at Event 33 – 39th WSOP Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo World Championship 8 or Better earned him $30,668. One event which David Benyamine would never forget is Event 37 of the same tournament held on June 19 that year in which he finished first and took home $535,687. With this first-place finish, he went on to add a greater sum of $840,295 in the Bellagio Cup IV/WPT Season 7 Event 8 - WPT No-Limit Hold'em Championship held on July 17, 2008.
David Benyamine is predominantly a cash game player and as of June 22, 2008, he has appeared in 4 WSOP final tables and won a WSOP bracelet. Interestingly, in a game fraught with superstitions, David Benyamine doesn’t entertain any and this proficient poker player has never read a book or magazine on poker.