David Benyamine wins PartyPoker Premier League IV

David Benyamine wins PartyPoker Premier League IV

Friday, 19 February 2010

He may not play in many tournaments but when he does, David Benyamine usually makes it count. So it proved in this year’s PartyPoker Premier League.

After dominating the qualifying heats Phil Laak was in prime position at the start of the final table. The Unabomber appeared to have used up all of his luck in those qualifying heats though and was the first to be eliminated after Benyamine’s Ace King overturned his pocket tens.


Roland de Wolfe was the next to go, eliminated in fifth by Daniel Negreanu. Both players had earlier earned a seat in the final after winning heads up play off matches against Ian Frazer and JC Tran respectively. The chips went in with the Briton’s AJ unable to outdraw Negreanu’s pocket nines.


Kid Poker joined de Wolfe on the rail shortly afterwards. Most of the damage was caused by Luke Schwartz but it was David Benyamine who produced the killer blow, hitting a full house to eliminate the Canadian in fourth.


Internet qualifier Giovanni Safina has had a life changing week, spinning his original €100 investment into a very impessive $158,000. It looked like he was going to go even further until Luke Schwartz rivered a three to eliminate the Italian in third place.


“_FullFlush_” held an almost two to one chip lead going into heads up play but that soon changed when both players hit straights. Benyamine’s was higher than Schwartz’s and the momentum had shifted. The end came soon afterwards with the chips going in on a 5s3cQs board. The mouthy Brit revealed Q2 but Benyamine with Q8 had the better kicker. Despite pleading with the dealer, there were to be no miracles for the young Londoner who was forced to settle for $200,000 for his second place finish.


"It feels really good winning a title, I'm not used to it," said a delighted Benyamine. "The whole time I never thought about winning, I just wanted to do what I thought was right. I know people always say that when they win but it's true. I haven't really been around for a while and I hope this gives me momentum going forward! I really enjoyed the format and competition - I'm sure it will make great TV."


The total payouts including the preliminary heats were as follows:
David Benyamine $476,000
Luke Schwartz $258,000
Giovanni Safina $158,000
Phil Laak $146,000
Daniel Negreanu $132,000
Roland De Wolfe $114,000
Ian Frazer $52,000
JC Tran $40,000
Phil Hellmuth $38,000
Yevgeniy Timoshenko $32,000
Vanessa Rousso $32,000
Tony G $22,000



Tags: Poker News, David, Benyamine, wins, PartyPoker, Premier, League, IV