The second of four starting days has been completed in the 2024 SunBet Poker Tour GrandWest Main Event and the field size has essentially been doubled here in Cape Town thanks to 128 entries on Day 1b of the ZAR 15,000 ($828) flagship tournament. Despite a much slower start than the first flight, the attendance was just two entries short in the end with another 19 players advancing to Day 2.
With a guarantee of ZAR 4 Million and 429 entries to beat from the previous year, Africa's Richest Poker Tour is looking forward to conclude yet another successful stop powered by the country's leading casino brand Sun International and the Monster Jam Poker Tour (MJPT) under their helm. At half time, the attendance now shows 258 entries and a new chip leader was narrowly missed.
Ireland's Colin Horgan was having a ball at the tables and perfectly aligned with the jovial atmosphere in South Africa. His roller coaster day ended with a stack of 662,000 after he sent Jedd Kossew to the rail and concluded the proceedings for the night. Another two players bagged up more than half a million in chips including Joey Weissman and Matthew Whitelaw.
Top Ten Chip Counts Day 1b
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | BB Day 1b |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colin Horgan | Ireland | 662,000 | 110 |
| 2 | Joey Weissman | United States | 587,000 | 98 |
| 3 | Matthew Whitelaw | South Africa | 509,000 | 85 |
| 4 | Rajeev Poonhath | South Africa | 406,000 | 68 |
| 5 | Martin Diggle | South Africa | 369,000 | 62 |
| 6 | Gilbert Tin Fook | Mauritius | 335,000 | 56 |
| 7 | Giovanni Zanette | South Africa | 294,000 | 49 |
| 8 | Terry Brookes | South Africa | 273,000 | 46 |
| 9 | Dhinesh Soopramanien | Mauritius | 225,000 | 38 |
| 10 | Stephen Courtney | South Africa | 215,000 | 36 |
Weissman has had quite an incredible run here in Cape Town so far. In the ZAR 75,000 Super High Roller, he led the nine-handed final table and finished third with fellow American poker pro Dylan Wilkerson clinching the victory. Weissman returned as the chip leader for the ZAR 50,000 High Roller earlier in the day and went wire-to-wire after defeating Troy McTeer in heads-up.
After taking care of the winner pictures, he went on a break before jumping into Day 1b of the SPT GrandWest Main Event and crashed out on the first bullet rather quickly. The second attempt, however, was crowned by success and he bagged up the second-biggest stack of 587,000. Weissman had fortune on his side when he cracked the kings of Rajeev Poonhath with ace-king, then knocked out Leonard Dormehl to compete for the top spot.
High Roller Final Table Result
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in ZAR) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Weissman | United States | 1,028,000 | $56,405 |
| 2 | Troy McTeer | South Africa | 750,000 | $41,505 |
| 3 | Mario Fata | France | 550,000 | $30,437 |
| 4 | Ciro Koncke | Mozambique | 375,000 | $20,752 |
| 5 | Cliton Taliwanth | South Africa | 250,000 | $13,835 |
| 6 | Stephen Courtney | South Africa | 200,000 | $11,068 |
| 7 | Rachid Amamou | Switzerland | 150,000 | $8,301 |
| 8 | Gilbert Tin Fook | Mauritius | 125,000 | $6,917 |
| 9 | Giovanni Zanette | South Africa | 100,000 | $5,534 |
| Bubble | Jonathan Woolley | Prize Pool | 3,528,000 | $195,238 |
Whitelaw had several knockouts under his belt to make it through with 509,000 after a frantic late stage that included numerous hard-fought battles with Horgan. Two players from Mauritius advanced in the top ten including Gilbert Tin Fook and Dhinesh Soopramanien, while Giovanni Zanette also advanced with a healthy stack to his name despite a topsy turvy end of the night.
Other notable Day 1b survivors include Stephen Courtney, Jaryd Jardien, Darren Kramer and Sugen Singh. The latter finished second to Muaaz Gani in The Hendon Mob Championship Cape Town Million after a heads-up deal. Earlier this year, Singh won the SPT Time Square Main Event and will aim to run up a short stack of 87,000 on Day 2 or fire another flight to potentially bag up more chips.
Besides Kossew, who already had a cruel exit on Day 1a of this event the previous night, other notables such as Rayhaan Adam, Jehan Richards, Huawei Sun, Maxwell Young, David Ng, Cliton Taliwanth, Edgar Antezana, Patrice Ah-Nien, and Maureen Bloechlinger all departed without anything to show for.
It would be no surprise to see most of them enter one of the two remaining starting flights on Friday, November 29, 2024. Day 1c kicks off at 11 a.m. local time with up to 15 levels of 50 minutes each whereas the turbo heat 1d is scheduled for 8 p.m. with 30-minute levels during the late registration and 15-minute levels thereafter.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the floor then to showcase the efforts of the close-knit South African poker community. Live stream action with commentary and cards-up coverage will also be available on the Monster Jam Poker YouTube channel as well.
