| Name | David Benefield |
| Nickname | Raptor |
| Born | Texas, USA |
| Place of Residence | New York |
| WSOP Bracelets | |
| WSOP Money Finishes | |
Biography –
Popular as “Raptor” in the online poker circuit, David Benefield is a native of Texas. Born & brought up in Texas, he completed his education there. His love for various sports began at a very early age, as he used to play competitive baseball until his senior year in high school. The 27-year-old poker pro came across poker game during his teenage years. He learned to play poker with his friends when he was just 16 years.
Initially he used to play home game and moved up to the underground poker cash games in Dallas on and off. After completing his high school, Benefield went to the Texas Christian University for pursuing graduation. While he kept his poker passion alive by playing online poker, he couldn’t concentrate on studies. Soon, he dropped out of his college to focus on poker.
His natural skills & ability in the game provided him huge success & he moved from $.25/$.50 No Limit Hold’em to $2/$5 NLHE & earned several thousand dollars. After the poker grinder injured his shoulder and put an end to his baseball career he became totally focused on his poker career.
He is a pro in high-stakes poker games and loves to play Heads-Up poker games, especially Heads-Up Pot Limit Omaha. David Benefield has been a part of the online and live poker for more than 9 years & has managed to rack up more than $600,000.
In 2006, Benefield with his friend Tom Dwan, moved to Las Vegas & then back to Texas. Later, he became a sponsored pro at Full Tilt Poker, where he regularly played games at $200/$400 and $500/$1,000 levels. He was also a member of the Full Tilt Poker ‘Red Pro’ crew.
Benefield began his live tournament career in 2007 at his first World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. He played several events & cashed in many of them. He also travelled to Cannes for the WSOP, Europe and finished eighth at the €50K Majestic High Roller final table for €115K.
In 2008, when Full Tilt Poker partnered with CardRunners.com, he joined them as a coach. Later, in 2009, he decided to take a break from the game to continue his academic studies and went to Colombia University to study Chinese and political science. Still, he can be often seen playing live tournaments occasionally.
Benefield’s WSOP career boasts of 12 cashes, 3 final tables & $455,713 cash winnings. His recent achievement, to make it to the final table of November Nine WSOP Main event, is enough to get an idea of his sharp poker skills.
The poker pro recently went for a trip to Macau, where he played high stakes cash games. His calm behavior and recent educational pursuits, along with his past poker experience, are surely going to give him all the tools that he will need for the November Nine event.
Notable Achievements of David Benefield-
- Oct 2013: UKIPT, London- Super High Roller Event: Finished 7th and won £139,600
- Sept 2013: EPT Barcelona- High Roller Re-Entry Event. finished 8th and won €47,850
- Sept 2013: EPT Barcelona- Super High Roller Event. finished 5th and won €208,150