The fireworks keep on coming on the outer table when three players got their chips into the middle on the 7♥4♦2♦ flop. Dan Zvonaru had a squeeze to 25,500 out in front before Harold Brooks pushed all-in. Praful Patwa then jammed and Zvonaru called to be also at risk against Brooks.
Praful Patwa: A♦10♦
Dan Zvonaru: Q♣4♣
Harold Brooks: Q♦9♦
"No flush please," Zvonaru jokingly asked for and his wish was granted on the 3♣ turn and Q♠ river. Patwa was eliminated and Zvonaru doubled off Brooks for 99,900.
There are now 17 players registered and Panayiotis Giannakopoulos has continued his super aggressive approach, this time taking on Banks Solomons. "The river gotta be expensive," Giannakopoulos said as he fired a bet of 3,500.
"Come on bro," he added and wiggled the chips in his hand waiving at Solomons, who eventually folded.
Harold Brooks raised and then called a three-bet for 4,000 on top by Panayiotis Giannakopoulos. As they headed to the 8♥6♦4♠ flop, Brooks said "check" even though it was not his turn and Giannakopoulos was about to reply to him when Brooks added "I am speaking for you".
Giannakopoulos didn't check, though, and het 6,500 for Brooks to call. They checked the 2♦ turn and Giannakopoulos' bet of 13,500 on the 5♥ won it uncontested.
One hand later, Brooks and Jasbir Panchi built a massive pot that let to the all-in and call on the 4♣4♥3♥9♣ turn.
Harold Brooks: K♠K♣
Jasbir Panchi: Q♦Q♥
The 5♣ river gave Brooks the double for 56,400.
Panchi was then all-in for his short stack with 10♠10♣ versus 8♦8♠ and made the higher flush on the K♣Q♣5♣Q♠4♣ runout.
Dan Zvonaru joined the action and limped in, Yoav Rottenberg and Praful Patwa checked out of the blinds. On the J♥7♣6♣ flop, Rottenberg led for 600 and Patwa called. Zvonaru raised to 1,500 and Rottenberg called as the only opponent.
The 10♠ turn and 5♠ river were blanks and Rottenberg won the pot with the 6♠3♥.
There are 12 players registered with the cards now in the air and one table is in the main tournament section while the other is on the live stream setup. All updates will focus on the outer table for now and we will keep an eye on the cards-up coverage of the stream table with a 30-minute delay.
The target stack satellite just finished with the victory of Daniel van der Berg, but he actually has a stack from Day 1a already and just won a possible re-entry for the five levels on Day 2.
In the meanwhile, there are two players registered for Day 1b and the cards are not in the air yet. We will keep you posted when the shuffle up and deal is taking place.
In just over one hour from now at 2 p.m. local time, the inaugural edition African Poker Championship in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, will see the second of three starting flights for the 2026 APC Tanzania $1,000 Main Event kick off in the conference rooms of Le Grande Casino. The flagship tournament of the series comes with a $200,000 guarantee and yesterday's opening flight produced a total of 51 entries including 7 re-entries across eight levels of play.
The very same is planned for today with eight 60-minute levels and there is a extended 60-minute dinner break right in the middle upon completion of level four. All players start with 100,000 in chips and that represents 333 big blinds in the first level of 200-300/300. On Day 1a, only 23 contenders bagged up and Australia's Todd Hellyar set the bar very high for all those wishing to become the new chip leader, as he advanced with 513,000 in chips - more than five starting times.
Expected to join the action after running deep in the $3,000 APC High Roller yesterday or busting out from the opening flight are Jaco Mouton, Rudolf Fourie, Harold Brooks, Alvin Pillay, Gavin Sardini, Banks Solomons, and Patrice Ah-Nien of Mauritius from Mauritius.
The conclusion of the $3,000 APC High Roller lasted until approximately 2 a.m. local time and Italian vlogger Mattia Festa came out on top of an 65-entry strong field to claim the largest slice of the $163,800 prize pool for a top prize of $56,000. With Festa's appearance on the final table, more than 1,000 viewers followed the live action from Tanzania on the Monster Jam Poker Tour (MJPT) YouTube channel and they got to witness Festa taking over control after start-of-the-day chip leader Muaaz Gani lost a sizeable pot to him.
Tusar Somaiya was the last player to bow out empty-handed after he was eliminated on the cash and final table bubble by eventual runner-up Obi Zhang with ace-nine versus ace-king while Day 1a of the Main Event was still unfolding. Zhang went on to claim $32,000 for his efforts, while Gani bowed out in 7th place for $7,700. That latest prize money will boost Gani to more than $1 million in recorded live poker cashes on The Hendon Mob.
Final Table Result $3,000 APC Tanzania High Roller
Place
Winner
Country
Prize (in USD)
1
Mattia Festa
Italy
$56,000
2
Obi Zhang
China
$32,000
3
Dan Zvonaru
Tanzania
$20,000
4
Sami Matar
Lebanon
$14,500
5
Dimitri Hadjipaschali
South Africa
$11,500
6
Cliton Taliwanth
South Africa
$9,000
7
Muaaz Gani
South Africa
$7,700
8
Tome Dinh
Viet Nam
$6,800
9
Costa Giannakopoulos
Tanzania
$6,300
Mattia Festa wins the 2026 APC Tanzania $3,000 High Roller
Most if not all of these players are expected to join the remaining two flights of the $1,000 Main Event as well, and the late registration remains open for another five levels on Day 2 this upcoming Saturday, October 3, 2026.
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The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to cover all of the action until a winner has been crowned at Le Grande Casino in Dar Es Salaam this weekend.
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