An Orbit with the the Current EPT10 Player of the Year Leader

Chad Holloway

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

David Benefield, a 27-year-old who made his name in the online poker realm, is one of the hottest players in the world right now. Not only is he a member of the 2013 World Series of Poker November Nine as the short stack in the Main Event final table, he currently leads the EPT10 Player of the Year Race. He afinished in fifth-place finish in the EPT10 Barcelona �50,000 Super High Roller for �208,150 and seventh in yesterday's EPT10 London �50,000 Super High Roller for �139,600.

We noticed Benefield was on a short stack of 4,650, and thought we'd spend an orbit with the pro. After all, he is the short stack in the November Nine, so we thought we might be able to get some insight on his short stack game.

Hand #1 (early position): The under-the-gun player folded and Benefield did the same.

Hand #2 (Under the Gun): Benefield folded.

Hand #3 (Big Blind): The cutoff folded and action folded to Benefield. He too folded.

Hand #4 (Small Blind): A player in middle position raised to 775 and Benefield folded.

Hand #5 (Button): A player in middle position raised to 700, the cutoff three-bet to 1,200, and Benefield folded. At this time, Benefield struck up a conversation with a member of the 2012 WSOP November Nine, Russell Thomas, who was quick to give Benefield some advice.

"Wear a watch," Thomas said. He then explained how many of last year's November Nine struck deals with watch companies where they received a watch in exchange for wearing one at the final table. According to Thomas, last year's runner-up, Jesse Sylvia (who is also playing in today's field), received a watch worth $20,000 last year.

"I did not foresee that," Thomas said before showing off his own watch and explaining that he had purchased it prior to the final table and learning of possible watch deals. John Juanda then joined the conversation and the three discussed the current sponsorship landscape in the poker industry.

Hand #6 (cutoff): Slaven Popov opened for 750 under the gun only to have Hong Kong's Elton Tsang three-bet to 1,800 from the hijack. Benefield folded, as did the rest of the field, and Popov moved all in for 11,000. Tsang snap-called with the , which had Popov's dominated. The board ran out and Popov hit the rail.

Hand #7 (hijack): After the blinds went up, action folded to Benefield and he released his hand. He then began to peruse watches on his mobile device.

Hand #8 (middle position): Two folds put action on Benefield and he once again tossed his cards to the muck.

Hand #9 (early position): Benefield folded.

Hey, we didn't say it was going to be exciting. If anything, it's a testament to Benefield's patience, which will no doubt come in handy come November.

As far as the EPT Player of the Year race is concerned, players will be able to accumulate points in all events throughout Season 10, regardless of the buy-in level. In addition, all of the Festival Events (Estrellas, UKIPT, Eureka, FPS, IPT) that combine with an EPT tour stop will be eligible for Player of the Year points. The winner of this season��s award will walk away with �50,000 in Main Event buy-ins, good for any PokerStars or Full Tilt sponsored event.

The Global Poker Index (GPI) points formula, which will be used to determine the EPT10 POY, is a bit complicated, but you can read about all the details here.

Here are the top ten on the EPT10 POY Leaderboard as of October 7:

Place	Player	Points
1	David Benefield	312.18 pts
2	Ole Schemion	240.65
3	Joao Barbosa	220.20 pts
4	Thomas Muehloecker	196.87 pts
5	Jonathan Duhamel	195.58 pts
6	Tom Middleton	181.74 pts
7	Kevin Vandersmissen	173.42 pts
8	Oleksii Khoroshenin	166.89 pts
9	Eduard Bhaggoe	164.91 pts
10	Alejandro Perez Torres	164.27 pts