The first of four starting days has concluded for the 2024 Sunbet Poker Tour GrandWest stop in Cape Town and the final festival of ths year usually gathers the largest fields for Africa's Richest Poker Tour. Held in cooperation with South Africa's leading casino operator Sun International and the Monster Jam Poker Tour (MJPT), the marquee ZAR 15,000 Main Event ($828) is well on track to reach and surpass the ZAR 4 Million guarantee in the days to come.
One year ago, the very same tournament attracted a field of 429 entries and the opening flight drew a total of 130 entries, of which 20 players bagged up chips nearly 14 hours after the first cards went into the air.
A duo sits atop the leaderboard, virtually tied and separated by only a single chip as Clive Berman (677,000) edged past Gareth Fourie (676,000) by the smallest of margins possible. Jaron Kavnat (550,000) and Christopher Dean (445,000) are the next biggest stacks and they all ended up on the same table during the final stages of the night.
Among those to finish with a top ten stack were also Okkie Fourie, Max Deveson, and Adrian Andritz.
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1a
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clive Berman | South Africa | 677,000 | 135 |
| 2 | Gareth Fourie | South Africa | 676,000 | 135 |
| 3 | Jaron Kavnat | South Africa | 550,000 | 110 |
| 4 | Christopher Dean | South Africa | 445,000 | 89 |
| 5 | Rohan Conradie | South Africa | 349,000 | 70 |
| 6 | Okkie Fourie | South Africa | 305,000 | 61 |
| 7 | Max Deveson | United Kingdom | 231,000 | 46 |
| 8 | Eban Lottering | South Africa | 211,000 | 42 |
| 9 | Adrian Andritz | Switzerland | 209,000 | 42 |
| 10 | Vygandas Simuntis | Lithuania | 197,000 | 39 |
Defending champion Ahmed Karrim finished just outside of the top ten after two late setbacks. He had busted the High Roller before the money and ran up a stack, but then doubled Vygandas Simuntis close to the end before also being involved in the final showdown on Day 1a. Karrim's attempt to knock out Simon Solomon and Remy Leblanc with ace-jack was then not crowned by success, as he rivered a straight but Solomon improved to the ace-high flush to survive and triple up.
Eventual chip leader Berman knocked out one of the 2024 SPT Main Event champions in Sean Bloom en route to topping the leaderboard, while Fourie was at the end of a cascade of large pots throughout the day. He survived a spectacular four-way all-in thanks to a rivered straight in level seven to stay in the mix to enter the highlight reel in the first half.
Jonathan Hoal then saw his flopped straight crushed by the turned quads of Joe Rahme, who was ousted by Jedd Kossew when he ran pocket kings into pocket aces. Fourie then knocked out Colin Horgan with kings versus fives to get a decent stack. Kossew moved next to him and Fourie five-bet jammed pocket jacks into his aces ... only to turn a set in a huge pot. There was no happy end for Kossew thereafter, as his nines were no match to the kings of aforementioned Dean who became a wrecking ball.
Further notables to come and leave without anything to show for but their entry slips were Maxwell Young, Sheldon Grove, Patrice Ah-Nien, Wesley Blom, Jehan Richards, Nellie Park, Jaryd Jardien, and yesterday's The Hendon Mob Challenge Cape Town Million runner-up Sugen Singh.
All of them are expected to join the action again in the days to follow as another three starting flights will take place across September 28 and 29, 2024. Stay tuned back then for all of the exciting live poker action here in South Africa as the PokerNews team will be on the floor until a winner has been crowned.
