The SunBet Poker Tour stop at GrandWest Casino in Cape Town tends to be the largest of the year, and the 2024 edition will be no different after a very busy start to the series for Africa’s Richest Poker Tour. It has teamed up with The Hendon Mob to bring in some international players, some of which made the trip to South Africa for this stop to combine sightseeing with their love for the card game.
Held in cooperation with Sun International and the Monster Jam Poker Tour, the series is one of the most well-known in the country and on the African continent, with multiple stops every year. PokerNews already reported on the previous two stops in Pretoria earlier this year, and this is the third time for exclusive updates from this series in 2024.
Sugen Singh and Jehan Richards Among the Big Stacks on Day 1a
Among the key events on the schedule is the The Hendon Mob Championship Cape Town Million, which officially kicked off yesterday with the first of three starting days. With a buy-in of ZAR 8,000 ($440) and a ZAR 1 Million ($55,079) guarantee, the opening flight attracted 83 entries, and 11 players advanced. That has put the tournament well on track to surpass the guarantee.
One year ago, the same tournament attracted a field of 210 entries and the top 28 finishers earned a portion of the ZAR 1,498,560 ($79,948) prize pool. Defending champion Rachid Amamou and runner-up Cliton Taliwanth have already been participating during events in Cape Town since the start of the festival, along with Sean Bloom, Janno Cazemier, Lyle Julien, and Sugen Singh. Many of these familiar names of the close-knit South African poker community are expected to return to the felt today.
All participants receive 30,000 in chips and the levels will last 30 minutes each with the late registration open until the end of level level 11. Day 1b will continue with 30-minute levels for the entire duration whereas the final starting heat Day 1c reduces the levels to 15 minutes each after the end of the late registration. Unlimited re-entries are available during the registration period and all three Day 1 will play down to the money with one out of eight entries set to advance.
The second flight kicks off at noon local time, while Day 1c follows at 6 p.m. local time. All PokerNews updates will focus on Day 1b, and the final chip counts for Day 1c and the Day 2 seat draw are provided the next morning.
Day 1a Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muaaz Gani | South Africa | 425,000 |
| 2 | Sean Botes | South Africa | 401,000 |
| 3 | Sugen Singh | South Africa | 332,000 |
| 4 | Jehan Richards | South Africa | 291,000 |
| 5 | Jonathan Wooley | South Africa | 291,000 |
| 6 | Cliton Taliwanth | South Africa | 246,000 |
| 7 | Mojtaba Razavi | Iran | 160,000 |
| 8 | Abraham Van Huyssteen | South Africa | 146,000 |
| 9 | Muzamil Gothey | Tanzania | 128,000 |
| 10 | Maureen Bloechlinger | Switzerland | 71,000 |
| 11 | Dirk Steenkamp | South Africa | 53,000 |
Joey Weissman Leads Final Nine in Super High Roller
A trio of American poker pros made the trip to South Africa, and two of them reached the final table in the ZAR 75,000 Super High Roller ($4,130) out of a field of 47 entries. After finishing Day 1 with half a starting stack, Joey Weissman spun it up to the chip lead for the last nine players. He is joined by Dylan Wilkerson, while Maxwell Young busted without anything to show for.
Several notables are still in contention such as the best-placed South African in the 2024 WSOP Main Event Giovanni Zanette, Rayhaan Adam, Remy Murcia, Howard Lipman and defending The Hendon Mob Championship Cape Town winner Rachid Amamou.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Chilchik | South Africa | 1,375,000 | 28 |
| 2 | Panayiotis Giannakopoulos | Tanzania | 2,925,000 | 59 |
| 3 | Dylan Wilkerson | United States | 2,110,000 | 42 |
| 4 | Rachid Amamou | Switzerland | 1,455,000 | 29 |
| 5 | Joey Weissman | United States | 4,450,000 | 89 |
| 6 | Giovanni Zanette | South Africa | 3,235,000 | 65 |
| 7 | Remy Murcia | France | 4,305,000 | 86 |
| 8 | Rayhaan Adam | South Africa | 1,535,000 | 31 |
| 9 | Howard Lipman | Israel | 2,110,000 | 42 |
Only the top five will earn a share of the ZAR 2,961,000 ($163,861) prize pool with the min-cash worth nearly two times the buy-in. There are 30 minutes left at blinds of 30,000-50,000 with a big blind ante of 50,000 and the final day recommences at 1 p.m. local time. The tournament’s conclusion will be streamed on the Monster Jam Poker Tour Twitch and YouTube channels with cards-up coverage and commentary on a 30-minute delay.
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in ZAR) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,250,000 | $69,175 | ||
| 2 | 810,000 | $44,825 | ||
| 3 | 500,000 | $27,670 | ||
| 4 | 250,000 | $13,835 | ||
| 5 | 151,000 | $8,356 |
