Jaco Mouton Bad Beats Aces to Top Day 1b of the 2024 THMC Cape Town Million
The penultimate starting day of the 2024 The Hendon Mob Challenge Cape Town Million surpassed the attendance of the opening flight with a total of 97 entries to bring the field size up to 180 entries while surpassing the ZAR 1,000,000 guarantee before the late registration had closed. Once the final river card was dealt, another 13 players advanced to the money stages and the bubble burst in cruel fashion at the GrandWest Casino in Cape Town, South Africa.
Jaco Mouton applied maximum pressure preflop with six-four and jammed them into the pocket aces of Werner Smit only to flop two pair and turn a full house. Smit's misfortune propelled Mouton to a mighty stack of 558,000, the far biggest for Day 1b. All but one of the 13 survivors hail from South Africa with Renier Britz (371,000) following next, Saint-Pierre resident Didier Mery (330,000) occupied the final spot on the podium.
Among the notables to advance from Day 1b were also Gregory Maistry, Jaryd Jardien, as well as Rajeev Poonhath.
Final Chip Counts Day 1b
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaco Mouton | South Africa | 558,000 |
| 2 | Renier Britz | South Africa | 371,000 |
| 3 | Didier Mery | France | 330,000 |
| 4 | Gerhard Oosthuizen | South Africa | 303,000 |
| 5 | Michael Franken | South Africa | 284,000 |
| 6 | Adam Gamsy | South Africa | 176,000 |
| 7 | Gregory Maistry | South Africa | 152,000 |
| 8 | Jaryd Jardien | South Africa | 150,000 |
| 9 | Rajeev Poonhath | South Africa | 136,000 |
| 10 | Greg Mokgoathleng | South Africa | 125,000 |
| 11 | Samuel Finder | South Africa | 121,000 |
| 12 | Alan Jung | South Africa | 82,000 |
| 13 | BC Van Rooyen | South Africa | 62,000 |
Alongside the second flight of The Hendon Mob Challenge, the ZAR 75,000 Super High Roller ($4,130) determined a winner as well. Only nine players out of a field of 47 entries returned to their seats on the live stream feature table with the ZAR 2,961,000 ($163,861) prize pool up for grabs with the top five spots paid.
Joey Weissman held the lead and reached the money as well, the bubble burst with the elimination of Panayiotis Giannakopoulos. First to call in the money was Remy Murcia, who then jumped into the Single Day High Roller and defeated the UK's Max Deveson heads-up to clinch a trophy late in the evening. Rayhaan Adam bowed out next followed by Weissman, which set up the heads-up duel between Giovanni Zanette and Dylan Wilkerson.
It came down to a classic flip with Zanette three-bet jamming K♥J♦ and Wilkerson calling 8♠8♦. The 10♦8♥5♦7♦3♠ board gave Wilkerson the winning flush and he earned the biggest slice of the pie.
Final Result ZAR 75,000 Super High Roller
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in ZAR) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dylan Wilkerson | United States | 1,250,000 | $69,175 |
| 2 | Giovanni Zanette | South Africa | 810,000 | $44,825 |
| 3 | Joey Weissman | United States | 500,000 | $27,670 |
| 4 | Rayhaan Adam | South Africa | 250,000 | $13,835 |
| 5 | Remy Murcia | France | 151,000 | $8,356 |
| Bubble | Panayiotis Giannakopoulos | Prize Pool | 2,961,000 | $163,861 |
With three tournaments already wrapped up for the day, the third and final starting day of THMC Cape Town Million continued to grow in the late evening and surpassed 100 entries. One year ago, the very same tournament in South Africa had attracted a field of 210 entries but that figure has certainly be shattered this time.
During today's proceedings, Roland Boothby of The Hendon Mob also announced that the event will return to Cape Town in 2025 with a larger guarantee and declared a bounty on his head in the Day 1c flight. The special prize for his elimination was an entry to the third edition and it was claimed well before the end of the registration period of the evening heat.
The prize pool information, full chip counts of the Day 1c survivors and Day 2 seat draw will be published later on. Stay tuned right here on PokerNews, as this marquee event of the 2024 SunBet Poker Tour Cape Town stop will be playing down to a winner on Tuesday, November 25, 2024.