The Scoop -- David Benefield

David Benefield is 22 years old and has already earned the reputation as one of the most dangerous high-stakes no-limit hold'em cash-game players in the world. Known as "Raptor" online, Benefield worked his way up from the smallest to the highest limits that the virtual felt has to offer. Although his win potential playing cash games online is often more than most first-place finishes that the World Series of Poker would offer, he has made the trek to Las Vegas the past two years in pursuit of a coveted bracelet.

Diego Cordovez: They [ESPN] just aired the main event of the World Series, and briefly, they showed your elimination. You made a deep run, down to the final 100 players, and you also had two near final tables at the World Series. Now, with all of your success online in the cash games, which people track and follow, are these tournaments important?

David Benefield: Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't play them if they weren't important. I really enjoy playing tournaments. It's something different that I don't get to do every day. Especially during the World Series, it's really exciting. I've always wanted to win a bracelet. Every kid who comes up saw Chris Moneymaker win and says, "Oh, that's so cool. I want to do that." So, yeah, I put a lot of effort into the tournaments. I really enjoy playing them, and I really want to win one.

Adam Schoenfeld: I've noticed from reading your blog that you've written about being frustrated that you haven't broken through with a huge tournament first place yet. Is that still on your mind?

DB: It's always on my mind. Every time I play a tournament, I want to win it. I'm just like everybody else, but yeah, it's definitely on my mind. I wish I had a win.

AS: Do you ever think it's not worth the frustration and dealing with the stuff that goes on in tournaments?

DB: There definitely is a lot of drama and all this other stuff behind tournaments that you don't get from playing poker online or whatever, but I can't say if it is worth it or not. I haven't won anything yet, but I'm going to keep doing it until I do.

AS: I rarely play live tournaments, but I play the main event, and I get super frustrated with the antics of people who are calling for cards and, you know, doing the robot dance. That annoys me to where I play very few live events.
I get frustrated just playing live, even though, of course, for years and years, I only played live before the Internet came along; but for someone who has really learned to play on the Internet, there is a very different pace in live play.

DB: Well, actually, I started playing live before I played online. I played in live underground games probably three or four times a week, a $1-$2 no-limit game, for probably about a year and a half before I started playing online. For the people in my age group who started online, I feel like I do have a little bit more experience in live poker.

DC: One thing that is really different is, in terms of just recognition to the extent that it is important to someone, it used to be that tournaments were the one public avenue to achieve a certain public image, and there were cash-game players who were making millions who were virtually anonymous. Now with the Internet, databases are tracking all the players, and guys, including you, have become folk heroes to some extent to a whole crowd of guys who follow the big games online …

AS: The rail aficionados [laughing].

DC: … but it is different in the sense that I can understand the appeal of winning a tournament. It's such a great experience, but on the other hand, even without playing tournaments, you can establish a reputation. In a sense, it's a more valuable reputation. Anyone can win a tournament, but to consistently beat the live games is different.

AS: Lol-donkaments [laughing].

DB: It's just viewed differently. The cash-game players are like, "Oh, all the tournament players suck." All the tournament players are like, "Oh, I can beat those cash-game guys." Whatever. Everybody has his niche.