David "Raptor" Benefield And His $5 Million Poker Career

David “Raptor” Benefield is a 25 year-old US high-stakes cash pro, who along with players such as Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan, Phil Galfond and the Dang brothers, is considered a wunderkind of the online poker boom generation.
David Benefield long ago became a  multi-millionaire, using his insightful, analytical, and aggressive play to rake in a ton of cash over the past seven years. At his peak, the Texan confessed to earning around $10,000 per hour playing $2-4 and $3-6 PLO/NL HU, and citing one of his favourite poker moments, stated:
“My first time playing in Bobby’s room I was playing 500-1k PLO (2007ish). This was way higher than I had ever played before…. I won a 200k pot in the first orbit, then Bobby showed up and forced my hit and run. I would have stuck around a while, but honestly I felt really great about the run good and was happy to lock up the win.”
However, despite winning over $5 million throughout his seven year career, David “Raptor” Benefield has said he prefers to play the game as a hobby and not full time. Consequently, he has diversified his business interests away from the game and has invested much of his winnings in a number of business start-ups which, he says, have “awesome potential.”
He has also recently started at Columbia where he is currently doing a major/minor in Chinese language/culture (Mandarin) and political science.
Back to the subject of poker once more, the one time roommate” of Tom Dwan has some pretty interesting things to say about his old pal, whom he describes as a “really creative/smart fish.” Recalling their time together, Benefield  explains:
“I spent a lot of time with durrrr, and there were a couple of times where I would actually have more money than him, but he would be playing 5x bigger stakes, go on a superheater and have twice my net worth the next day. It made me feel like a bitch. Happy for him, but still a bitch.”
To read more about this prodigious, high-stakes pro, check out his questions and answers section on the twoplustwo forum here.