button in SafariDay 2 of the Inaugural APC Tanzania Main Event Kicks Off at Noon
The first-ever edition of the African Poker Championship is gearing up for the conclusion of the festival within the next two days at the Le Grande Casino in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. All eyes will be set on the 2026 APC Tanzania $1,000 Main Event, which has attracted 193 entries across the three starting flights but the final field size is not set yet as five levels of late registration and re-entry remain today.
Day 2 for the $200,000 guaranteed flagship tournament is set to kick off at noon local time with 80 players remaining and they will hope to avoid the early minefields when poker enthusiasts from near and far try to run up their stack. With a deep structure and repeat levels on a 60-minute clock, it will be a long session until after midnight that awaits and it appears that up to 12 levels will be played today.
Leading the way with a stack of 645,000 in chips is Banks Solomons, but his overall lead was nearly surpassed yesterday by Sami Matar who re-entered and bulldozed his way to 631,000. The $3,000 High Roller champion Mattia Festa retained his podium spot on the leaderboard and returns third in chips on 580,500 followed by Mauritian player Patrice Ah-Nien (570,500) and the always dangerous Imran Bhojani (545,000).
Top 10 Chip Counts for Day 2
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Banks Solomons | South Africa | 645,000 |
| 2 | Sami Matar | Lebanon | 631,000 |
| 3 | Mattia Festa | Italy | 580,500 |
| 4 | Patrice Ah-Nien | Mauritius | 570,500 |
| 5 | Imran Bhojani | South Africa | 545,000 |
| 6 | Tutu Russon | South Africa | 517,500 |
| 7 | Todd Hellyar | Australia | 513,000 |
| 8 | Ryan James | South Africa | 483,000 |
| 9 | Raphael Bsiri | France | 479,000 |
| 10 | Alfred Magani | Albania | 439,000 |
Further down on the leaderboard are the likes of Gavin Sardini (386,000), Ivan Govorov (357,000), Alvin Pillay (301,000), Jaryd Jardien (293,000), Sugen Singh (274,500) and Harold Brooks (263,000) to name all but a few. Also still in contention is Dan "Jungleman" Cates, who made a late appearance on Day 1c, busted once and then made a small profit on his second bullet to advance with 139,500.
Recommencing blinds for level nine at noon local time will be 1,500-2,500 with a big blind ante of 2,500 and that gives all entrants forty big blinds worth thanks to the 100,000 starting stack. Including repeat levels, the slower structure to begin with will allow 25 big blinds as last chance entry when the registration closes later in the afternoon.
It appears likely that the money bubble will burst today, however, reaching the nine-handed final table may be out of reach.
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The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor in Tanzania to deliver updates from the flagship Main Event until a winner has been crowned and you can also follow the live stream action on the Monster Jam Poker Tour (MJPT) YouTube channel with cards-up coverage and commentary on a 30-minute delay as well.