Benyamine wins heat three of Premier League Poker IV - 15/02/2010

David Benyamine climbed out of his sick bed to win the third heat of the PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker IV, beating online qualifier Giovanni Safina heads-up at the M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas.

Benyamine held a slight chip advantage over Safina heads-up but needed a stroke of luck to take the 16 points. He limped with K10 and then called when Safina raised with KJ, the flop came K72 and all the money went in. David hit a ten on the turn to go in front and a deuce on the river sealed the deal for Benyamine, with Giovanni claiming 11 points.

David Benyamine beat the flu to take heat three - Photo by Mickey May

“When you force yourself of your sick bed it makes winning more satisfying – and getting lucky when you are sick makes you feel a bit better!” said Benyamine. “I’m playing well but you always look good when you are making the right decisions at the right times and at the moment, that’s how it is going for me.”

Benyamine moves to second in the league on 24 points behind Phil Laak, while Safina is handily placed in fifth spot with 15 points – much to the Italian’s delight.

“This is a dream, it is completely unbelievable. Just to be sat at the table with the likes of Daniel Negreanu and David Benyamine is enough and without a couple of bad beats I would have won!” Safina told PartyPoker.com’s blog – blog.partypoker.com. “I have only played two heats but I have seen my style of play changing,” added Safina. “I am typically a tight aggressive player but the more exposure I get to these world class pros the more aggressive my game is becoming. I am definitely becoming more relaxed in their company – the language barrier is difficult but I am becoming more focused by the day.”

De Wolfe was aiming for a big day of points after cruelly missing out on winning heat two, but he was the first player out of heat three with no points with another tough river. Timoshenko raised with pocket eights and Roland moved all-in with pocket jacks and Yevgeniy called. The flop came down 922 for De Wolfe to stay in front and he remained there with a Queen on the turn. But like Laak hitting a deuce on the river to win heat two against De Wolfe, Timoshenko hit an eight on the river to send Roland out.

Vanessa Rousso was the second player to exit and Timoshenko was again responsible. Yevgeniy raised from the button with AQ to 30k and Rousso called in the small blind with AJ, as did Negreanu behind her with J2. The flop came down KQ8 and all three players checked and when the ace of hearts coming on the turn, Vanessa was in trouble. She bet 40k, Negreanu folded and Timoshenko raised all-in to put Rousso all-in – and after tanking for a while, she called. A seven came on the river to knock Vanessa out in seventh spot with two points.

Phil Hellmuth had to settle for sixth spot after getting knocked out by Negreanu just before the sixth level. Daniel raised to 36k with KQ and Hellmuth moved all-in for 99k with A6, and Negreanu quickly called – hitting a King on the flop to leave Hellmuth with back-to-back sixth place finishes. Negreanu moved to nearly one million in chips but he quickly lost them through Benyamine and Ian Frazer and fell in fifth spot, moving with A6 and getting called by Safina with AQ and not finding a six to leave with four points.
Frazer was the fourth player to go when Safina raised all-in with AK and Frazer called all-in with pocket jacks in the small blind. The flop came down KQ4 to put Safina ahead and an ace on the turn gave him two pair. Frazer was calling for a jack or ten to come on the river but that was a Queen and Ian had to settle for six points.

Timoshenko folded nines in the big blind on Frazer’s exit hand to remain in the heat, but he was eliminated in third spot soon after. He moved all-in for 389k with A2 and Benyamine called with pocket eights that held to leave Yevgeniy with eight points.

Heat four takes place on Monday with league leader Laak taking on Benyamine, Safina, Frazer, Rousso, Tony G, Luke Schwartz and JC Tran – live reporting is available at PokerNews.com.

Heat Two result
1 David Benyamine – 16 points
2 Giovanni Safina – 11 points
3 Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 8 points
4 Ian Frazer – 6 points
5 Daniel Negreanu – 4 points
6 Phil Hellmuth – 3 points
7 Vanessa Rousso – 2 points
8 Roland De Wolfe – 0 points

League Table after Heat Three
Phil Laak Pld 2 Pts 32
David Benyamine Pld 2 Pts 24
JC Tran Pld 2 Pts 17
Yevgeniy Timoshenko Pld 3 Pts 16
Giovanni Safina Pld 2 Pts 15
Roland De Wolfe Pld 3 Pts 14
Ian Frazer Pld 2 Pts 8
Vanessa Rousso Pld 2 Pts 8
Phil Hellmuth Pld 2 Pts 6
Daniel Negreanu Pld 2 Pts 4
Luke Schwartz Pld 1 Pts 4
Tony G Pld 1 Pts 2