Gary Benson (poker player)

Gary Benson
Nickname(s)	OzGary
Residence	Sydney, Australia
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)	1
Final table(s)	1
Money finish(es)	9
Highest ITM Main Event finish	283rd, 2007
World Poker Tour
Final table(s)	1
Money finish(es)	1

Gary Benson (born 1957, in Sydney, Australia) is a professional poker player and sports bettor. He has won a World Series of Poker bracelet in addition to other titles as a poker player.

Early life and career

Benson started playing poker during his school years, but his interest in card games was fostered at a young age by his grandmother. He attended his first live poker game in the late 1970s and has been a stalwart on the Australian and New Zealand poker scene ever since.

Benson obtained a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology, Sydney in 1983, and was admitted as a Chartered Accountant in 1985. From 1989 until his retirement in 1995, Benson worked as a partner at the chartered accountant firm Grant Thornton.

Benson has been married twice with three daughters, and his hobbies include chess, genealogy and travel.

Poker career

Benson attended the first Australian Poker Championship held in Adelaide in 1987, and has since attended nearly every major poker event in Australia and New Zealand. Benson enjoys Pot Limit Omaha and Limit Seven-card stud tournaments, predominantly plays Omaha Hi/Lo online, and can often be found playing the biggest cash games at any casino he attends, usually High Limit Omaha. In addition to many tournament victories, Benson's major achievements include being crowned the Australian Poker Champion in Adelaide in 1997, and the Australian National Champion in Canberra in 2000.

Benson made his first trip to Las Vegas in 1990 and entered his first World Series of Poker in 1996, where he won the $1,500 Seven-card stud event^[1] to become the first Australian-born winner of a gold bracelet. On 24 April 1996, after a 15-hour battle, Benson managed to outlast the field of 247 players to take home the $148,200 prize. Benson reached the final table fourth in chips and finished heads-up with Las Vegas poker professional Billy Cohen. On the last hand, Cohen was forced all-in after Benson had won a huge pot on the previous hand. The two-hour heads-up battle was finally over when Benson's pair of Kings beat Cohen's pair of sevens. Benson also had three money finishes at the 2006 WSOP.

As of 2014, Benson's total live tournament winnings exceed $1,864,000 including his 2nd-place finish in World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas in 2013 for $672,685.^[2]

In January 2009, Benson was honoured to become one of the inaugural inductees into the Australian Poker Hall of Fame.^[3]

Chess career

Benson started playing chess at the age of 13 and joined the Correspondence Chess League of Australia (CCLA) in 1970. Benson is a former Australian Champion having won the Australian Correspondence Chess Championship in 2003. Benson was awarded the International Master (IM) title for Correspondence Chess in 2004, and the Senior International Master (SIM) title for Correspondence Chess in 2005.

References

External links

1990s WSOP bracelet winners
1990	Allen Baker John Bonetti Norm Boulus Marie Gabert Mike Hart Berry Johnston Monte Kouz Vasilis Lazarou Mansour Matloubi Phil Reher Ray Rumler Amarillo Slim Shawqui Shunnarah Tony Stormzand Hugh Todd
1991	Joe Becker Doyle Brunson Brent Carter Thomas Chung Artie Cobb Brad Daugherty Pat Flanagan Mike Hart Jay Heimowitz Paul Heinrich Max Linder Rodney H. Pardey John Spadavecchia Ron Stanley An Tran Donna Ward Byron Wolford Charles Wight
1992	Bob Abell Mickey Appleman Eli Balas Lyle Berman Buddy Bonnecaze Paul Clark Hoyt Corkins Hamid Dastmalchi Dal Derovin Kenny Duggan Shari Flanzer Lamar Hampton Phil Hellmuth Tom McEvoy Men Nguyen Ray Rumler Erik Seidel Rick Steiner Lance Straughn Billy Thomas
1993	Billy Baxter Jim Bechtel John Bonetti Buddy Bonnecaze Humberto Brenes (2) Hamid Dastmalchi Gene Fisher Ted Forrest (3) Chau Giang Phil Hellmuth (3) Jack Keller Phyllis Kessler Hugo Mieth Erik Seidel Marty Sigel Robert Turner
1994	Lyle Berman Vince Burgio Brent Carter Johnny Chan J. J. Chun T. J. Cloutier (2) Barbara Enright Russ Hamilton Mike Hart John Heaney Jay Heimowitz Mike Laing O'Neil Longson Roger Moore Rodney H. Pardey J. C. Pearson George Rodis Huck Seed Erik Seidel Steven Sim Bill Sykes
1995	Mickey Appleman John Bonetti Starla Brodie Anthony DeAngelo Marlon De Los Santos Phil Earle Valter Farina Dan Harrington (2) Berry Johnston Richard Klamian Men Nguyen (2) Rod Peate Dan Robinson Clifford Roof Hilbert Shirey (2) Mickey Sisskind Max Stern John Tsagaris Christian Van Hees Peter Vilandos Steve Zolotow
1996	Gary Benson John Cernuto David Chiu Freddy Deeb Barbara Enright Sam Farha Jim Feldhouse Gregory Grivas Adeeb Harb Randy Holland Jim Huntley Susie Isaacs Donny Kerr Al Krux Hans Lund Tony Ma John Morgan Men Nguyen Henry Orenstein Dody Roach Huck Seed Marty Sigel Frank Thompson Mel Weiner
1997	Louis Asmo Chris Björin John Cernuto Johnny Chan Claude Cohen Phil Hellmuth Susie Isaacs Linda Johnson Mel Judah Vasilis Lazarou Scotty Nguyen Matthias Rohnacher Doug Saab Maria Stern Max Stern (2) Kevin Song Dean Stonier Dave Ulliott Stu Ungar Bob Veltri
1998	Farzad Bonyadi Patrick Bruel Doyle Brunson Ken Buntjer Jan Chen David Chiu T. J. Cloutier Artie Cobb Mendy Commanda Bill Gempel Chau Giang Tommy Hufnagle Kirk Morrison Daniel Negreanu Scotty Nguyen Donnacha O'Dea Jeff Ross Paul Rowe Steve Rydel Erik Seidel Michael Shadkin
1999	Josh Arieh Steve Badger Eli Balas Charles Brahmi Paul Clark John Esposito Layne Flack Tom Franklin Noel Furlong David Grey Eric Holum Hassan Kamoei Ron Long Mike Matusow Christina Pie Mike Wattel
note number in brackets represents the number of bracelets earned in that year
1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

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