Michael Benvenuti

A graduate of the University of Texas, Michael Benvenuti is a tournament poker specialist that came up through the online scene. Playing under the screenname ‘benvo123’ on Full Tilt, the California-born pro was ranked in the in the top 0.1% of online tournament earners in three consecutive years between 2008 and 2010. During this period, he pocketed over $1,100,000 in MTT earnings at Full Tilt alone.

Using this money as a means to enter some bigger buy-in events on the live tournament circuit, Michael incidentally won his first ever live event that he cashed in. A sign of bright things to come, Benvenuti earned his first six-figure score in the live arena less than 12 months after this initial win. This was in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Championship Event at Caesars Palace, where the American finished runner-up for $129,562.

Less than a year on, Michael picked up his biggest tournament score to date at the 2010 WPT $10,000 Championship Event in Las Vegas. Although it was another runner-up finish for Benvenuti, he bagged $564,200 for the deep run which included triumphing over the likes of Jason Koon, Andy Frankenberger and John Monnette.

Michael continues to grind the live tournament circuit and his winnings from tournament poker now exceed over $3,000,000.