Gary Benson is an Australian poker legend whose first-ever WSOP appearance, in 1996, produced the first WSOP bracelet ever won by an Australian player — a landmark result that predated Joe Hachem’s 2005 Main Event victory by nine years. A former Chartered Accountant and partner at Grant Thornton, Australian Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and a player who attended the very first Australian Poker Championship in Adelaide in 1987, Benson has been a pillar of Australian poker across four decades.

Career Earnings & Biggest Results

Total live earnings stand at over $2,723,000 across 121 cashes, per The Hendon Mob.

Career Highlights at a Glance
💰 Live Earnings: $2,723,000+ | 🏆 WSOP Bracelet 1996 (1st Australian ever) | 💵 WPT Five Diamond 2013: $672,685 (2nd) | 🇦🇺 Australian Poker Hall of Fame

Notable Results (click to expand)

Date	Event	Result	Prize
Apr 1996	WSOP $1,500 Seven Card Stud (Bracelet) — debut appearance	1st / 247	$148,200
Dec 2013	WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic	2nd	$672,685
Jan 2007	Aussie Millions	Final table	$118,083

Biography & Poker Background

Benson was born in Sydney and raised with a love of card games nurtured by his grandmother, who introduced him to playing in his childhood. He went on to obtain a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology, Sydney in 1983 and was admitted as a Chartered Accountant in 1985, working as a partner at Grant Thornton until 1995. He attended the first-ever Australian Poker Championship in Adelaide in 1987 and has attended nearly every major poker event in Australia and New Zealand since — a commitment spanning nearly four decades.

His first trip to Las Vegas came in 1990. At his debut WSOP in 1996, without any previous experience at the series, Benson entered the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event and won it outright — becoming the first Australian in history to win a WSOP bracelet. After a 15-hour battle he outlasted 247 players and finished heads-up against Las Vegas pro Billy Cohen, whose pair of sevens fell to Benson’s kings at the final hand. The result opened the door that Joe Hachem would later walk through in 2005.

His 2013 WPT Five Diamond runner-up for $672,685 — the largest single cash of his career — came nearly two decades after his bracelet win, confirming a sustained excellence that few players maintain across such an extended timeframe. He was inducted into the Australian Poker Hall of Fame in recognition of both his results and his decades of contribution to the game at home and internationally.

Play Style & Strategy

Benson is a Pot Limit Omaha and Limit Seven Card Stud specialist whose mixed-game expertise underpinned his bracelet win and his broader longevity on the circuit. His accounting background informs a meticulous, risk-managed approach to tournament play — patient, precise, and rarely tilted by adversity.

Online Presence

The Hendon Mob Profile

The Best of Gary Benson: Exclusive Poker Image Gallery