2024 SunBet Time Square

SPT Main Event
Day: 1bc
Event Info

2024 SunBet Time Square

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
ak
Event Info
Buy-in
15,000 ZAR
Prize Pool
4,926,600 ZAR
Entries
391
Level Info
Level
27
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
100,000
Players Info - Day 1bc
Entries
87
Players Left
14

Kumar Crashes Out Against Giannakopoulos

Level 4 : Blinds 300/500, 500 ante
Anand Kumar
Anand Kumar

Four ways to the K73 flop, it checked to Joe Rahme and he bet 11,000. Panayiotis Giannakopoulos called from one seat over and Anand Kumar then pushed all-in for 15,500 thereafter. The fourth player in the hand folded and Rahme called, as did Giannakopoulos.

Both active players checked down the 2 turn as well as 2 river. Rahme showed the 99 but Giannakopoulos had that beat with the KJ. Kumar was pipped by one kicker as his K10 ended the run on this bullet.

Giannakopoulos won the next larger pot to further boost his stack.

Player Chips Progress
Panayiotis Giannakopoulos tz
Panayiotis Giannakopoulos
165,000
125,000
125,000
Jedd Kossew za
Jedd Kossew
125,000
85,000
85,000
Stephen Courtney za
Stephen Courtney
110,000
12,000
12,000
Joe Rahme za
Joe Rahme
105,000
-15,000
-15,000
David Ng mu
David Ng
70,000
-45,000
-45,000
Anand Kumar za
Anand Kumar
Busted

Tags: Anand KumarJoe RahmePanayiotis Giannakopoulos

Mulji Doubles Through Taliwanth

Level 3 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Three ways to the A72 flop, Cliton Taliwanth checked in the small blind and Anjan Mulji bet 4,500 in the hijack. Huawei Sun called on the button for Taliwanth to check-raise to 14,500, earning a call from Mulji only.

On the 7 turn, Taliwanth check-called for 11,000 and then jammed the 10 river for 11,600 effective. Mulji called all-in for as much and Taliwanth sighed, as he exposed the A2 for counterfeited flopped two pair. Mulji had that crushed all the way with A7 to double with a full house.

Player Chips Progress
Anjan Mulji tz
Anjan Mulji
85,000
85,000
85,000
Huawei Sun bw
Huawei Sun
32,000
2,000
2,000
Cliton Taliwanth za
Cliton Taliwanth
3,200
-31,800
-31,800
Imran Bhojani za
Imran Bhojani
Busted
Day 1B Chip Leader

Tags: Anjan MuljiCliton TaliwanthHuawei Sun

Richards Doubles Through Nortje

Level 2 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante

With some 5,500 in the middle to the 865 flop, Jehan Richards checked and Marko Nortje bet 2,600 from the cutoff. Richards called and checked again the J turn before calling a second barrel worth 8,000.

Following the Q river, Richards checked the third time and Nortje moved forward his stack of T-5,000 chips. Richards instantly called all-in and Nortje told him "you win" before showing his 94 for a bluff gone wrong. Richards had flopped the straight with 97 to double for 17,600.

Player Chips Progress
Jehan Richards za
Jehan Richards
73,000
33,000
33,000
Marko Nortje za
Marko Nortje
29,700
-53,300
-53,300

Tags: Jehan RichardsMarko Nortje

Smith Among the Early Exits

Level 2 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante
David Ng
David Ng

Peter Smith reraised to massive 17,000 on the 1032 flop and David Ng, who had made it 7,500 to go, eventually called.

Smith then jammed for around 7,900 on the 9 turn and Ng came along.

"Do you have a pair?" Smith asked and showed his 44. Ng had the superior pocket pair in 88 and the 3 river knocked out Smith.

Player Chips Progress
David Ng mu
David Ng
115,000
59,000
59,000
Peter Smith ca
Peter Smith
Busted

Tags: David NgPeter Smith

New Entries and a Bustout

Level 2 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante
Johan De Graaff
Johan De Graaff

Anand Kumar saw his first entry in the tournament come up very short-lived as he was knocked out by Marko Nortje. His seat was almost immediately filled by Cliton Taliwanth and the bubble boy of the last SPT Main Event here in Pretoria, Imran Bhojani, has also entered Day 1b as well.

Last but not least, Giovanni Zanette is now involved in the action, too. Only a few weeks ago, the South African finished in 33rd place in the 2024 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas and that propelled him into fourth place on the all-time money list of South Africa.

Johan De Graaff avoided a re-entry for now when he doubled his short stack of 7,600 with AK versus 65 on a board of A1059K.

Player Chips Progress
Marko Nortje za
Marko Nortje
83,000
83,000
83,000
Imran Bhojani za
Imran Bhojani
40,000
40,000
40,000
Day 1B Chip Leader
Giovanni Zanette za
Giovanni Zanette
40,000
Day 1D Chip Leader
Cliton Taliwanth za
Cliton Taliwanth
40,000
40,000
40,000
Johan De Graaff za
Johan De Graaff
17,000
9,500
9,500
Anand Kumar za
Anand Kumar
Busted

Tags: Anand KumarCliton TaliwanthGiovanni ZannetteImran BhojaniJohan De GraaffMarko Nortje

High Roller Champion to be Crowned in the 2024 SPT Pretoria August Edition

Level 1 : 100/200, 200 ante
High Roller Final Table
High Roller Final Table

The most expensive tournament on the schedule of the 2024 SunBet Poker Tour Pretoria stop in August is the ZAR50,000 High Roller, a three-day tournament which kicked off on Tuesday, August 6. A total of 51 entries generated a prize pool of ZAR2,142,000 ($116,210) and Day 2 concluded upon completion of level 15. By then, only seven players remained on the stone money bubble.

Leading the way was Greek business owner Costa Giannakopoulos, who is based in the nearby Tanzania, as he bagged up 3,990,000 in chips. Gavin Sardini, who reached the final table of the Main Event here in March, advanced with 3,255,000. "Ben" (2,940,000) and Ahmed Karrim (2,840,000) were separated by two big blinds only while Max Deveson (1,075,000) and Nico Wiechers (835,000) were shorter than that.

However, the bottom stack belonged to David Ng from Mauritius, who returned with just 370,000 and a mountain to climb at blinds of 25,000/50,000 and a big blind ante of 50,000.

Final Day Seat Assignments

SeatPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Nico WiechersSouth Africa835,00017
2Gavin SardiniSouth Africa3,255,00065
3Ahmed KarrimSouth Africa2,840,00057
4David NgMauritius370,0007
5BenSouth Africa2,940,00059
6Max DevesonUnited Kingdom1,075,00022
7Costa GiannakopoulosTanzania3,990,00080

Only the top six spots were guaranteed at least ZAR100,000 for their efforts with a top prize of ZAR850,000 awaiting for the eventual champion. The action has already commenced at 11 a.m. local time and can be followed with cards-up coverage and commentary on the Monster Jam Poker Tour YouTube channel.

Payouts for the High Roller

RankWinnerCountryPrize (in ZAR)Prize (in USD)
1  850,000$45,900.00
2  542,000$29,268.00
3  325,000$17,550.00
4  200,000$10,800.00
5  125,000$6,750.00
6  100,000$5,400.00

Tags: Ahmed KarrimBenCosta GiannakopoulosDavid NgGavin SardiniMax DevesonMonster Jam Poker TourNico WiechersSunBet Poker Tour

Two Chances To Bag Big in the 2024 SunBet Poker Tour Pretoria Main Event

Tournament Room
Tournament Room

The second edition of the Sunbet Poker Tour in the current year is currently taking place at the Time Square Casino Pretoria. Poker pros and aspiring amateurs alike in the close-knit South African poker community will be heading back to the north of Johannesburg for one of the most riveting live poker events of the year, which takes place in cooperation with Monster Jam Poker Tour (MJPT) and South African Hotels, Gaming and Entertainment Group Sun International.

Earlier this year in March 2024, Sugen Singh came out on top of a 418-entry strong field in the very same SPT Time Square Main Event and took the trophy as well as the second-largest cash prize of ZAR 707,675 ($38,214), while "SM" and MAJ" also earned large slices of ZAR5,266,800 ($281,989) in prize money.

Final Table Result SPT Time Square March Edition

RankWinnerCountryPayout (in ZAR)Payout (in USD)
1Sugen SinghSouth Africa707,675$38,214*
2SMSouth Africa1,000,000$54,000*
3MAJSouth Africa600,000$32,400*
4Jarred SolomonSouth Africa323,910$17,491
5Danny DayaniSouth Africa249,120$13,452
6David NgMauritius206,460$11,149
7Norman CherrySouth Africa173,280$9,357
8Gareth KalilSouth Africa140,200$7,571
9Gavin SardiniSouth Africa107,285$5,793

Singh was among the participants in yesterday's opening flight but didn't make it through in a field of 65 entries, He did, however, earn his next entry at a bargain in the live satellite to take another shot in the the ZAR15,000 (~$790) buy-in for a fraction of the cost.

The marquee tournament on the schedule in Pretoria includes a guarantee of ZAR4,000,000 with the number of starting days having increased from your to five. While the turnout on Day 1a and in the ZAR50,000 High Roller was lower than in the previous edition in Spring, the ZAR5,000 Little Slam set a new attendance record when it ran on the previous weekend.

As has been the case yesterday, all participants start their journey with 40,000 in chips and three of the five available Day 1 flights feature a level duration of 50 minutes each. Two starting days are taking place today with Day 1b kicking off at noon local time while the third flight kicks off at 6pm, the latter of which wraps up ten levels of 40 minutes before bagging and tagging for the night. Action then resumes the following day at 11 a.m. local time at the same time as the last regular heat.

Day 1b will play a total of 15 levels of 50 minutes each or until the top 15% of the field has been reached, whichever comes first. Last night, the top 15% were reached half-way through the final level of the night.

The Day 1 flights at a Glance

FlightStart TimeLevel DurationMore Info
Day 1aAug 7 at 12 p.m.50 minutes10 players / 65 entries advanced
Day 1bAug 8 at 12 p.m.50 minutes15 levels or down to 15%
Day 1cAug 8 at 6 p.m.40 minutesPlay 10 levels
Day 1cAug 9 at 11 a.m.40 minutesLate reg closes on restart
Day 1dAug 9 at 11 a.m.50 minutes15 levels or down to 15%
Day 1eAug 9 at 8 p.m.30/15 minute levels15 levels or down to 15%

Many notable names didn't enter the Main Event yet because they were still busy in the three-day ZAR50,000 High Roller, which bagged up on the money bubble with seven players out of 51 entries remaining. The finalists are already back in their seats on the live-streamed feature table to determine a champion with the restart one hour prior to Day 1b of the Main Event.

The PokerNews live updates will focus on the heat with regular duration for today but general updates about Day 1c and the final chip counts after level ten will be provided later in the night.

Tags: Monster Jam Poker TourSugen SinghSun InternationalSunBet Poker Tour