Roy Bitton and Nick Sissou Lead 12 Survivors After Day 1b
Two starting days of the 2024 SunBet Poker Tour Time Square Main Event have now concluded at the Time Square Casino in Pretoria and the overall field so far has reached 180 entries. Day 1b contributed another 73 entries and 12 players advanced to Day 2 on Saturday, March 9, 2024.
The flagship Main Event comes with a buy-in of ZAR15,000 (~$790) and the tournament is more than half-way to meeting the ZAR5,000,000 (~$263,400) guarantee. Another two starting days remain on March 8 and they are expected to be busy with many poker enthusiasts heading to the administrative capital for the weekend to join the action.
Among the one dozen survivors of Day 1b are three players from outside of South Africa while a local duo sits atop the leaderboard. Roy Bitton was responsible for the penultimate elimination and advanced with 406,000 while Nick Sissou knocked out Rayhaan Adam to finish the night for everyone else while claiming 371,000 to his name.
Third in chips is Edgar Antezana from Bolivia with 339,000, spot on even with Okkie Fourie. The latter was down to just 7,000 at some point but had a very strong finish to the night. Germany's Samuel Tebege is visiting South Africa for the very first time and advanced with 270,000 while Botswana's Huawei Sun is just a single chip behind (269,000).
End of Day 1b Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | BB Day 1b |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roy Bitton | South Africa | 406,000 | 102* |
| 2 | Nick Sissou | South Africa | 371,000 | 93 |
| 3 | Edgar Antezana | South Africa | 339,000 | 85 |
| 3 | Okkie Fourie | South Africa | 339,000 | 85 |
| 5 | Darryl Shaff | South Africa | 284,000 | 71 |
| 6 | Samuel Tebege | Germany | 270,000 | 68 |
| 7 | Huawei Sun | Botswana | 269,000 | 67 |
| 8 | Nic Ioannoy | South Africa | 236,000 | 59 |
| 9 | Jacobus de Nysschen | South Africa | 207,000 | 52 |
| 10 | Alvin Pillay | South Africa | 160,000 | 40 |
| 11 | Khushil Shah | South Africa | 59,000 | 15 |
| 12 | Joe Rahme | South Africa | 45,000 | 11 |
*Day 1b concluded with 48:14 minutes left in level 13 at blinds of 2,000-4,000 with a big blind ante of 4,000
It was a quiet day at the start for the new up and coming live poker series in South Africa, which came to life in 2022 thanks to a partnership between the Monster Jam Poker Tour (MJPT) and Sun International Group. Only two tables were running when the cards went in the air at noon, but the number of entries grew consistently.
Especially towards the end of the late registration period, the action at the table exploded with the addition of High Roller finalists, who flicked in a flip to build a stack or try again. "NT" and "SM" were the most active of them but neither survived the carnage.
Adam Woolf bowed out on the final two tables in the biggest pot of the day when Tebege held up with pocket jacks versus ace-king and Woolf's eights. There was no happy end for Ahmed Karrim either, who flirted with the top of the leaderboard during the final stages of the registration period only to run into a flopped straight.
Further notables to come up short on Day 1b were Merwan Corront, Muaaz Gani, Jon Per Persent, Rudolf Fourie, Ronit Chamani, and Mystery Bounty Event champion Marko Nortje. Sissou's brother Costa and father Peter were both among the contestants as well but joined the dozens of casualties.
Today also marked the conclusion of the ZAR50,000 High Roller ($2,664). The second-most expensive tournament on the schedule drew 72 entries to generate a ZAR3,024,000 ($161,105) prize pool and all cash prizes were awarded on the live-streamed final table. Nahum Lim, Cliton Taliwanth and Imran Bhojani agreed to a three-way deal and Bhojani then came out on top of a heads-up duel with Taliwanth to claim the winner's trophy.
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize in ZAR | Prize in USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Imran Bhojani | South Africa | R713,000 | $37,789* |
| 2 | Cliton Taliwanth | South Africa | R700,000 | $37,100* |
| 3 | Nahum Lim | South Africa | R713,000 | $37,789* |
| 4 | Nic Ioannoy | South Africa | R348,000 | $18,444 |
| 5 | Kinesh Pater | South Africa | R225,000 | $11,925 |
| 6 | Ronit Chamani | South Africa | R150,000 | $7,950 |
| 7 | Muaaz Gani | South Africa | R100,000 | $5,300 |
| 8 | Eben Mare | South Africa | R75,000 | $3,975 |
*the top three finishers agreed on a deal and continued to play for the trophy
Another two starting days remain in the Main Event for everyone to take a shot at running up a stack. This doesn't exclude an appearance of the 28 Day 1 survivors so far either, as they can enter again with the bigger stack getting carried over to Day 2.
Main Event Day 1 Info and Schedule
| Day 1 | Entries | Survivors | Starting Time | Level Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1a | 105 | 16 | March 6, 12.00 p.m. local time | 50-minute levels |
| Day 1b | 73 | 12 | March 7, 12.00 p.m. local time | 50-minute levels |
| Day 1c | March 8, 11 a.m. local time | 50-minute levels | ||
| Day 1d | March 8, 8 p.m. local time | 30-minute levels late reg, 15-minute levels after |
March 8 will feature the final two starting days. Day 1c kicks off one hour earlier than the previous two flights at 11 a.m. local time with a level duration of 50 minutes each. The turbo heat 1d has been pushed back by one hour to 8 p.m. local time and contains 30-minute levels during the registration period followed by 15-minute levels thereafter.
The PokerNews live updates will focus on Day 1c and chip counts as well as a recap of the final two flights will be provided at the end of the following night.