WSOP: Bracelet Winner Q and A -- David BenyamineDavid Benyamine Talks About His Goals and Expectations For This Year's WSOP |
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Widely regarded as one of the game’s most premier cash players, David Benyamine nixed the naysayers and put all of the rumors to rest here tonight as he outlasted one of the toughest final tables to date, claiming his first gold bracelet and $535,687.
Benyamine is no stranger to the tournament trail with two World Poker Tour titles and now over $2 million in live winnings, but in a CardPlayer.com interview with the champ, he explains that he had some extra motivation to bring home the gold this year. A man of pride and determination, Benyamine had set a new goal for himself at this year’s WSOP, and with four cashes, three final tables, and one gold bracelet under his belt, perhaps now Benyamine can get the much deserved respect that he has been looking for.
Card Player caught up with David Benyamine shortly after his victory.
Question: David, you spend a lot of time playing a lot of cards with a lot of people that have a lot of bracelets. Do they ever make fun of you for not having one? And how does it feel to shut them up?
David Benyamine: Ummm…they normally don’t. They have a lot of respect for the way I play, and I proved it by winning. You don’t especially need a bracelet for people to have respect for you. First of all, if you respect them, then they should definitely have respect for you as a person. But after that, I think they have seen me win too many times not to any have any respect for my game because I didn’t have any bracelets. They have played how many hundreds of tournaments? And I don’t even think I’ve reached one hundred today. Obviously they have to consider that, and if they don’t, then that’s their problem. I’ve never really felt that I’ve had anything to prove. I play poker because I like it, and I will keep on doing it the same way.
Q: Everybody else around you has won a bracelet…how big of an issue was this for you?
DB: So far it hasn’t been an issue at all. I believe that I never really tried hard to come and play the tournaments, I was more about playing cash games, and playing tournaments sometimes. I wasn’t playing the tournaments all of the time like everyone else did. For many of them that has been their first job. A couple of people came up to me at the beginning of the year and said to me, you are not doing anything in tournaments and you probably can’t do anything. I said ok, I ‘m just going to give a year and try to show them. I’m going to try for one year.
Q: Did that encourage you to play more tournaments?
DB: I like playing tournaments but it’s very hard when I can win in one night in a cash game what I could win in a tournament after three days. There is so much effort and so many times you finish second, third, or don’t even make the money. The money is sometimes frustrating, but now I’ve found another goal.
Q: Do you still consider your hometown to be Paris, France or Las Vegas, NV now?
DB: That’s a tricky question. I don’t even know anymore. I have been living here for the last few years and haven’t been back to Paris much. I’m from Paris, and of course I’m from France, but I now live here…so I’m from both.
Q: With Mike Matusow at the table keeping a steady chatter going, does that put you off at all?
DB: It doesn’t bother me, whatever he does. It really doesn’t bother me. I love Mike. He is a great guy and he has a very big heart, and he gives a lot to poker, so you’ve got to respect him, and the character that he is.
Q: When you were heads-up, you had quite a big chip advantage over Greg Jamison. Did you feel like you were definitely going to take it home at that point.
DB: Yeah, I didn’t think I was going to lose. Sometimes you can have doubts when the guy is making a big comeback, but…he’s a good player…but I think his game is the ring game. In the ring game he is going to do much better than when it gets short-handed. Short-handed I was getting too many cards, they had no chance today. Even on the days where cards are ugly, I will have a better chance than them short-handed. When I play heads-up with one of these guys, in a ring game he might do better than me because he’s more patient than me. But I’ve been pretty patient in this tournament. As I said, I was really motivated and I really tried hard.
Q: You play a lot of Omaha Hi-Lo online, is it your favorite game?
DB: I don’t have a favorite game. I like every game. People think that Omaha Hi-Lo is my favorite game because I have the best results, but I play all sorts of games live as well. Omaha is not my favorite, I don’t have a favorite. I like poker, and I like every game in poker.
Q: Who was your toughest opponent at the final table?
DB: I think it is very often myself and the deck. That’s what it has been showing the past couple of years, and I think it was the same this year. Last week I finished third and I was extremely happy to finish third. When it got three-handed, even though I had a lot of chips, I believed that I didn’t have a shot to win at all. Look what I did to them today short-handed. When I went on a rush, I showed aces too many times, I showed the nuts too many times…there was nothing they could have possibly done today. And the other day, when I finished third it was the exact same thing. I was not even disappointed then. When you are trying to win, you should always be grateful to make the third seat, or even the final table.
Q: When it got down to four-handed, you started to bully the table and you were responsible for eliminating the last three players. Did you feel the need to be the hero with the chip lead, or did the cards dictate that?
DB: I had a plan, as I usually do when I get to the three, four, five players short-handed game. I play a little aggressive, but not too much. I can normally read people for whatever they have pretty good, and that’s my strength in poker. So I usually put a little more aggression in the game short-handed. So that was my plan, but I didn’t even have time to think about, or consider my pan because the deck was just giving me too many cards. I had aces and very, very strong hands to play with all of the time. There was nothing that they could have possibly done here today.
Q: So far, you’ve made three final tables, all in different games. Do you have high expectations going into the H.O.R.S.E. event?
DB: I always do and I never do. That’s the thing about tournaments, they are very streaky. For a long time I haven’t done anything and I didn’t try as hard as I am trying now. And sometimes I did, without any good results. I have been very streaky myself in the tournaments. I have lost so many times in the first round, where nobody would even remember sitting next to me at the table. I don’t have especially high expectations. There is just a chance that I will do good. I think that I am running very good this year, and I am playing good as well, but it doesn’t mean it will last. I might not cash in any more tournaments, and who knows, maybe I’ll win another one. I’ll do my best anyway, and that’s what counts.
Q: You have reportedly had a very good month [online]? Do you want to comment on that?
DB: I have had a very good month because I have a nice girlfriend, a nice family, and a lot of friends that support me. That’s my good month, not because I win or lose. You have to leave those things aside, otherwise there would be a lot of unhappy times.
Q: What would you be doing if it weren’t for poker?
DB: I would be an archaeologist. That’s what I really wanted to be, I was just, way, way too lazy. I really think I would have found poker somehow because I have a lot of gamble in me. I’m sure it’s just not a coincidence that I play poker.
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