WSOP 2013 Main Event November Niner David Benefield
David Benefield may be the short stack coming into the November Nine of the 2013 WSOP Main Event, but don’t count him out just yet. If this incredibly talented American poker pro finds the slimmest of opportunities, his immense experience on the live and virtual felt could be devastating to his worthy opponents. He may not be as decorated as he chip leaders JC Tran and Amir Lehavot, but he is easily one of the most feared professional poker players in the world.
Born May 17, 1986 in Fort Worth, Texas, David Benefield discovered the game of poker at 16 years of age. He success was instant, but he knew better than to jump the levels too quickly. Due to his age, Benefield stuck to underground poker games until the he turned 18, then began playing online poker since he was still too young to play live casinos in the US. Despite his overall success, once more David made the calculated decision to start out at the lowest table limits.
Over time, the young poker pro, under the online moniker “Raptor”, found himself winning consistently at stakes of 10/20 NL Holdem. He continues to rise in the ranks, beating 25/50 NLHE, all the way up to 200/400 before taking on the highest stakes games of 500/1000 at Bobby’s Room in Las Vegas. Benefield has always been on to study the game as much as possible and even gained a lot of knowledge from his good friend and former roommate Tom “durrrr” Dwan.
Benefield put his poker career on hold to pursue a college education, and even managed to abstain from the card tables altogether throughout his first semester at university, but in the end, his poker career prevailed. David came to the summation with or without a college degree, poker would ultimately be his career of choice. He dropped out of college and got back to the felt, where he continued to smash the high stakes cash games with superior proficiency. Being the intelligent young man that he is, however – Benefield has invested a great deal of his earning in real estate – Benefield has since re-entered college life, currently studying political science at Columbia University in New York.
Although the Texas native has made countless millions playing cash games in live casinos and online poker rooms, he has seen some success at live events as well. Benefield has cashed in 14 live poker tournaments, accumulating $648,177. Interestingly enough, 13 of those 14 cashes came in World Series of Poker tournaments. While he’s never routed an entire field, his most notable in-the-money finishes came in the 2010 WSOP Event #17, NL Holdem, where he ended 6th for $135,718, and in the 2012 WSOP-Europe where he landed 12th in the NL Holdem Majestic High Roller for $164,969.
This year will mark 27 year old David Benefield’s second cash in a WSOP Main Event. In 2008, he finished in the money, pocketing $77,200 for a 73rd place ousting. He is guaranteed at least $733,224 for making the 2013 WSOP Main Event November Nine, and could potentially cash in for as much as $8,359,531 should the young American poker pro go on to claim the WSOP Championship bracelet.
The 2013 WSOP Main Event November Nine has shaped up as follows, listed by chip stacks:
- JC Tran –38,000,000
- Amir Lehavot –29,700,000
- Marc-Etienne McLaughlin – 26,525,000
- Jay Farber – 25,975,000
- Ryan Riess – 25,875,000
- Sylvain Loosli – 19,600,000
- Michiel Brummelhuis – 11,275,000
- Mark Newhouse – 7,350,000
- David Benefield – 6,375,000
And finally, the calculated payouts for the 2013 WSOP Main Event November Nine will be as follows:
- 1st place: $8,359,531
- 2nd place: $5,173,170
- 3rd place: $3,727,023
- 4th place: $2,791,983
- 5th place: $2,106,526
- 6th place: $1,600,792
- 7th place: $1,225,224
- 8th place: $944,593
- 9th place: $733,224