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$1,000 APC Main Event
Day 3 Completed
2026 African Poker Championship Tanzania
$1,000 APC Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info
2026 African Poker Championship Tanzania
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 3
Buy-in
$1,000
Prize Pool
$215,040
Total Entries
256
Places Paid
32
Level
32
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
300,000
Entries
39
Players Left
1
Players Left 1 / 256
Filter
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The conclusion of the first ever African Poker Championship (APC) Main Event at Le Grande Casino in Dar Es Salaam became a challenge of endurance on the final day, which lasted more than 17 hours to whittle down a field of 256 entries to the eventual champion. Only the top 32 spots were paid a share of the $215,040 prize pool in the inaugural APC Tanzania $1,000 Main Event and all of it was up for grabs on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
In the early Monday morning hours, South Africa's newest rising star Adriaan Jacobs jumped out of his chair with a vivid "get in" after defeating the UK's Anuj Sareen heads-up to claim the top prize of $48,000. Known to most in the close-knit South African poker community as Aidan, he became the country's youngest WSOP bracelet winner this past summer when he won the $600 Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold'em event only a few weeks after turning 21 years old.
Sareen show-cased his poker talents in Tanzania after making the trip to show none other than Dan "Jungleman" Cates around and eventually finished as the runner-up for $32,000, while Jacobs recorded his second trademark victory of the year in the brand new live poker tour on the African continent, which has been founded by the creator of the Monster Jam Poker Tour (MJPT) Marc Joseph.
Among the finalists were also Cliton Taliwanth, Steven Radloff, as well as Le Grande Casino owner Costa Giannakopoulos and his son Panayiotis Giannakopoulos, the latter of which became the first two casualties of the final table.
Main Event Final Table Result
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aidan Jacobs | South Africa | $48,000 |
| 2 | Anuj Sareen | United Kingdom | $32,000 |
| 3 | Tome Dinh | Viet Nam | $22,240 |
| 4 | Steven Radloff | South Africa | $16,000 |
| 5 | Cliton Taliwanth | South Africa | $12,000 |
| 6 | Reagan Naidoo | South Africa | $9,100 |
| 7 | Dimitri Hadjipaschali | South Africa | $7,100 |
| 8 | Costa Giannakopoulos | Tanzania | $5,800 |
| 9 | Panayiotis Giannakopoulos | Tanzania | $4,700 |
Considering that the average was incredibly high, it came as somewhat of a surprise to see how quick the eliminations kept piling up. Within the first two levels, the money bubble burst and among those to leave empty-handed was long-time big stack Banks Solomons, who lost two big pots to Benjamin “Guppie” Lingenfelder Jr.
Steven Radloff then knocked out Shazin Rehmtullah and Mr KING, finding suited cards in both hands to score the final blow. Hand-for-hand mode on the stone cold money bubble was supposed to come next but never kicked in, as Franco Da Matta saw his ace-high flush on a paired board get smacked by the flopped quads tens of Dimitri Hadjipaschali. Just like that, everyone had locked up a min-cash of $2,000 and a flurry of eliminations followed.
Manuel Cardoso was the first casualty in the money after losing a flip to Panayiotis Giannakopoulos, which left his wife Maria Cardoso still in contention. The tournament of Marko Nortje came to an end when his straight and flush draw came up short to the pocket pair of Alfred Magani. He was soon followed to the payout desk by fellow South African Jaryd Jardien, who suffered three setbacks in a matter of minutes.
In just over six levels and a quarter, the nine-handed final table was set also thanks to the rush hour of Cliton Taliwanth who sent several opponents to the rail en route to go from middle of the pack to chip leader after a double knockout with eleven players remaining. The speed of how things unfolded came as a surprise because the average was always between 60 and 70 big blinds during that period, yet it didn't stop the field from being whittled down quickly. Little did everyone know that the final table itself would last nearly two times as long as getting from 39 hopefuls to the final nine.
The Giannakopoulos father and son duo made the final table but unfortunately, they were also the first two casualties. Aidan Jacobs earned a full double through the son with aces full against trips kings and finished the job he had started soon after. Having been a wrecking ball of sorts during the entire Main Event with his super aggressive play, it was a rather disappointing ninth place finish for him. His father and owner of the Le Grande Casino then became short in a series of hands and then missed an open-ended straight draw to bust against Dinh's kings for an overpair.
Bubble burster Hadjipaschali became the next casualty when his then short stack went into the middle with ace-five suited. Taliwanth was involved with pocket tens and got away from it whereas Jacobs prevailed with pocket kings.
From there on, however, the entertaining Tome Dinh from Vietnam slowly but surely ascended to the top of the leaderboard and continued to pull away. Reagan Naidoo lost a flip to Jacobs with pocket fours to ace-king because an ace appeared on the river. The lead changed soon after with Jacobs taking control and Dinh not far behind.
Taliwanth's roller coaster ride on his third final table appearance of the festival in Tanzania ultimately ended in fifth place at almost midnight local time. He three-bet jammed a shorter stack with ace-nine suited and Sareen woke up behind him with pocket jacks to flop quads, sealing the knockout in an instant.
The very talkative and somewhat tipsy Radloff bowed out in fourth place when his jack-four suited flopped two pair only for Dinh to hit a set of fours. During three-handed play, Sareen was the chip leader all of a sudden while Jacobs was the shortest stack. He doubled through Dinh two times and the second clash left the player from Vietnam on fumes. Jacobs sent Dinh packing soon thereafter and entered heads-up play with a small lead.
The battle back and forth culminated in a big preflop all-in with Jacobs hitting the superior two pair and Sareen was left on a handful of big blinds only. However, three double ups later the heads-up duel was seemingly wide open again. There was, however, no comeback this time as the Brit's ace-deuce hit trips aces on the river only to jam into the turned flush of Jacobs to end the tournament at 3.15 a.m. local time.
This wraps up the PokerNews live coverage of the first-ever African Poker Championship here in Tanzania and further stops of the brand new live poker tour in Africa are expected to be announced in the near future.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Anuj Sareen limped in with the A♥2♦ and Aidan Jacobs checked his option with the 9♠7♠. They checked the A♣K♠Q♥ flop to the 6♠ turn on which Jacobs bet and Sareen called.
The A♠ river paired the ace but also gave Jacobs the flush. His bet saw Sareen move all-in and Jacobs snap-called then instantly declared "it is over". When the victory was confirmed, Jacobs yelled an "get in" before shaking hands with Sareen. After more than 17 hours of play on the final day, the winner has been crowned!
Stay tuned for a recap of today's action.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Anuj Sareen needed several double-ups in a row to get back into contention and the first one against Aidan Jacobs came as follows.
Anuj Sareen: J♣5♣ 
Aidan Jacobs: 6♣4♠
Both paired up on the 5♥4♦2♣8♥K♣ board for Sareen to double the first time.
He then sucker-punched with 9♥7♣ versus A♠Q♦ preflop when spiking help on the J♠5♣2♣3♦7♠ board.
A few all-ins without call later, the chips were in the middle again with Sareen at risk for around four million.
Anuj Sareen: K♦J♠
Aidan Jacobs: A♦Q♣
The J♥8♣6♠6♣10♠ board awarded the third double up in a row.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Aidan Jacobs ended up all-in and at risk preflop against Anuj Sareen, who had the chance to seal the victory albeit with very close stack sizes.
Aidan Jacobs: A♣J♠
Anuj Sareen: A♦6♠
The A♥J♣5♣6♦Q♠ board gave both players a full house and Jacobs doubled into a huge lead.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Anuj Sareen pulled into the lead through several small pots and then limped in the J♥8♠, prompting. a check from Aidan Jacobs with the Q♣9♥. They headed to the K♥10♠4♣ flop on which Jacobs' bet ended the action right there.
Sareen raised to 600,000 with the K♠8♥ next for Jacobs to call with the J♥7♦. They checked the A♦A♦A♠ flop and 6♠ turn to the 8♥ river on which Sareen's bet won it uncontested.
When both limped a king rag and checked to the 9♦6♥3♣4♦Q♦ river, Jacobs bet 800,000 with the K♥5♣ and Sareen folded the K♣2♦ that was pipped by a notch. Despite this, Sareen had retained a solid lead for several orbits.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Aidan Jacobs raised to 600,000 with the 7♥6♠ and Anuj Sareen called with the Q♦3♦. The 5♠3♠3♥ flop was check-raised from 300,000 to 1,000,000 by Sareen and Jacobs called. After the 3♣ turn,. Sareen check-called for 800,000 and the 8♥ followed on the river. Both checked this time and Sareen showed his quads.
Level 32
: Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Aidan Jacobs raised to 600,000 with the 10♦4♦ and Anuj Sareen defended his J♣10♥ to a flop of J♥3♣3♦. The bet of Jacobs for 500,000 was called. Both checked the 10♣ turn and Sareen's bet of 800,000 found no call.
The next limped pot saw both players pick up a flush draw to the Q♥8♦6♥5♦ turn. Jacobs bet 700,000 with his J♥9♥ and Sareen called with the 9♦2♦. The river was the J♠ and Jacopbs bet 900,000. Sareen raised to 4,000,000 and that sent Jacobs into the tank. Once he called and was shown the bluff, the young South African pulled into a large lead.
Level: 32
Blinds: 150,000/300,000
Ante: 300,000
Level 31
: Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
There were brief discussions about a possible deal and Anuj Sareen is actually out of time banks but they couldn't come to an agreement. For heads-up play, the levels duration is cut in half to 30 minutes each.
Anuj Sareen received a walk and had pocket ten - a promising start?
