Benyamine claims Premier League Poker IV title - 20/02/2010

David Benyamine beat Luke “Full Flush” Schwartz heads-up in the final of the PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker IV at the M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas to win the title and $400,000 winner’s cheque.

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Benyamine claimed second place in the league to take his spot at the final table, but it was Schwartz who held the advantage heads-up after a high-class final, having 1,320k to play with against the Frenchman’s 580k. Benyamine doubled up quickly though when his K10 held up against Luke’s K7, and after taking the chip lead when he made a higher straight than Schwartz, he moved in for the kill.

Schwartz raised to 80k with Q2 and Benyamine called with Q8. The flop came down 53Q and Benyamine checked to allow Luke to bet 70k, David raised to 210k and Luke moved all-in – Benyamine dwelt for while before calling, the turn came 76 and the high-stakes cash game specialist from Paris took down the title.

“It feels really good winning a title, I’m still not used to doing it,” said Benyamine, who adds $76,000 to his winning prize money from his league performances. “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.”

“Position in these final tables can help and I didn’t do anything special today, I just got hands at the right time and played them properly. Luke is a very impulsive player but I just stuck to my own game heads-up and it was enough.”

Schwartz was at his entertaining best at the final table as he was all week in his Premier League debut – strutting around the table and letting out cries of delight when he won crucial pots. But he was gracious in defeat when Benyamine won the final hand, although he vowed to end his “close but no cigar” run in televised tournaments.

“I’m really, really disappointed – I keep getting second and third in these TV tournaments,” said Schwartz, who pocketed $200,000 for his second place finish plus $58,000 for his 29 league points. “I think I played the best this week and deserved to come first but that’s the way it goes – it just makes me want to take it down more next time.”

One of the biggest stories to come out of the fourth edition of the Premier League was the astonishing run of online qualifier Giovanni Safina, who turned his €100 satellite win into over $150,000. He took third place and enjoyed some interesting battles with Schwartz, with the Londoner ousting the Italian lawyer when he moved all-in with A7 and Luke called with K3 – spiking a three on the river to get heads-up with Benyamine.

Earlier in the day, Daniel Negreanu and Roland De Wolfe clinched the last two spots at the final table – both winning their heads-up triple headers in a deciding match, with Negreanu knocking out defending champion JC Tran and De Wolfe winning an all-English affair against Ian Frazer.

Negreanu’s debut in the Premier League was one of the biggest highlights of the tournament and his thrilling final heat win over Phil Hellmuth to both scrape into a heads-up position and deny the 11-time bracelet winner a chance to make the final will be compulsive viewing when the event begins on Channel Four in September.

Kid Poker had to settle for fourth spot after a roller-coaster final, starting off with 260k in chips but doubling up early but then getting crippled when Schwartz moved to over a million in chips with pocket kings against Negreanu’s sevens. Daniel managed to double up through Benyamine, but his joy was short lived as he ran into an action flop after limping with Q5 of clubs – Benyamine completed the small blind with K9 and the board fell K9Q – David checked, Negreanu bet 40k, Benyamine raised it to 120k and Negreanu moved all-in – David made the call and the king of hearts on the turn ended Negreanu’s tournament for $80,000.

We had to wait until the blinds hit 7/15k before we lost anyone, with chip leader Phil Laak the first man to go. Having dominated the league with three wins from four, Laak couldn’t impose his lead on the table – he raised pre-flop with pocket tens, Benyamine reraised all-in with AK and after tanking for a while Laak called, prompting Negreanu to say: “you should lose just for taking so long to call.” Phil yelped for joy when he saw the Q42 flop but the ace of hearts on the turn silenced him and the five on the river saw him bust out with $50,000 to add to the $98,000 he won during the heat stages.

In this final the busts were like buses as Roland De Wolfe followed Laak out the door in fifth spot. Negreanu raised with pocket nines under the gun and De Wolfe moved all-in with AJ – it was 210k for Daniel to call which he did in a flash. Negreanu made a set on the flop and Roland couldn’t hit runner-runner to survive, taking home $70,000 for his placing and $44,000 from his league results.

In Negreanu’s heads-up match, Tran took the opener after fighting back from just 30k in chips twice winning hands when both of them held top pair but JC had the better kicker. Then, on a 478 flop, Negreanu moved all-in with 106 and Tran made the call with 108, the turn and river came QJ to edge Tran in front. Daniel levelled in a lightning fast second match that lasted only a few hands of the second match – the flop threw up 253 of hearts, Daniel bet with 7h7c and JC raised with after flopping a straight with As4h. Negreanu moved all-in and Tran called – the ten of hearts completed Daniel’s flush and kept him in the tournament. In the final match, Negreanu moved into an early lead but had to dodge a bullet when he picked up AK and raised and Tran called with K5 - the flop came down K55 and it looked like Daniel was in trouble, but a king on the turn saw the pot chopped and he soon dealt a killer river blow to knock out the champ, moving with K10 and getting called by Tran with A7. The board ran 97QQ for Negreanu to need any king, jack or ten to win and the ten of diamonds duly arrived.

Frazer took an early lead against De Wolfe in their opening match, but Roland’s aggression turned the tide and he soon moved ahead, with Ian moving all-in Q10 and Roland calling with A3, spiking a three on the river to move one-nil up. Ian took the match into a decider by levelling in the second match, again getting ahead but this time making it count, De Wolfe moving in pre-flop for 36k with A9 and Frazer calling with Q10 and hitting a queen on the river. The third match was a tense affair as once again Frazer edged ahead but De Wolfe rivered a straight with 87 on a 1059KJ board with Frazer holding KJ, before De Wolfe took a massive lead with another sickening river for Frazer – he held pocket fours and called Roland’s all-in bet, with De Wolfe holding A4 – the fours led until Roland hit an ace on the river. Frazer managed two double ups to stay alive but as the chips went in pre-flop with Roland holding As4s and Ian with Jc6c, Roland turned a flush to get through.

Final Table result and total prize money (one league point equals $2,000 in prize money)

1 David Benyamine $476,000 (38 points)
2 Luke Schwartz $258,000 (29 points)
3 Giovanni Safina $158,000 (29 points)
4 Daniel Negreanu $132,000 (26 points)
5 Roland De Wolfe $114,000 (22 points)
6 Phil Laak $146,000 (48 points)

Beaten heads-up players:
Ian Frazer $52,000 (fifth spot with 26 points)
JC Tran $40,000 (eight spot with 20 points)

Failed to qualify:
9 Phil Hellmuth $38,000 (19 points)
10 Yevgeniy Timoshenko $32,000 (16 points)
11 Vanessa Rousso $32,000 (16 points)
12 Tony G $22,000 (11 points)