Just before the blinds went up, Justin Cohen limped in and Gareth Fourie did so from the cutoff. Jaron Kavnat on the button raised to 12,000 and earned two calls. The Q♠4♥4♦ flop was checked to Fourie and he bet 5,000, only Cohen called with a shorter stack behind.
That led them to the 8♠ turn on which Cohen check-called for another 5,000.
On the 3♥ river, Cohen checked and Fourie now bet 10,000. The curiosity caught Cohen, as he sighed and almost silently let out an "fuck ... I am bleeding off my chips". He asked Fourie if he had a four or queen, to which the big stack replied "honestly ... no, I swear".
Cohen called to get shown 8♥8♣ for a turned full house, exposed his 6♠6♥ and plummeted to only a handful of big blinds.
Ben Young jammed a short stack with the Q♣10♥ and was called by Adrian Andritz in the small blind who had the A♦6♥, Jacobus de Nysschen let go from the big blind.
The K♦2♦2♠J♠7♠ board missed both players and the ace was good enough to knock out Young.
Jaron Kavnat raised to 11,000 and Wessel Conradie called in the small blind. Justin Cohen pushed all-in for 42,000 from the big blind and Kavnat called, Conradie folded.
Justin Cohen: J♦9♠
Jaron Kavnat: A♣10♣
"I am in big trouble," Cohen had declared Cohen before the cards were turned over.
Cohen was very much live but failed to connect on the J♦6♣4♦2♥10♥ board to bow out in 23rd place.
Devid Berlin lost a portion of his shorter stack with ace-queen suited against Gareth Fourie, who rivered the bottom end of the straight and almost didn't notice it.
Berlin was then all-in for a severe short stack of 34,000 with 10♦9♦ against the 9♠9♣ of Jaron Kavnat.
The board came A♥J♦6♦2♥3♠ and Berlin bowed out two spots away from reaching Day 2.
Max Deveson raise-called the shove by Dylan Wilkerson for 83,000 out of the big blind.
Wilkerson's J♦10♦ were behind versus K♣Q♣ but hit a huge double draw on the 9♦8♣3♦ flop. The 4♦ turn secured his double and the 6♦ river officially locked up the pot for the Super High Roller champion.
Remy Leblanc open-jammed for 55,000 from under the gun and Ahmed Karrim called in the cutoff. Simon Solomon then put his last 56,000 in from the big blind and Karrim added the single chip to put two players at risk.
Remy Leblanc: 7♥7♦
Simon Solomon: A♥A♣
Ahmed Karrim: A♠J♥
The Q♦10♣5♣ flop gave Karrim a gutshot and the 9♣ turn added further outs to potentially knock out two players. He hit a king on the river, but it was the K♣ to give Solomon a flush for the triple up. Leblanc was eliminated and that reduced the field to the last 20 players who will now bag and tag the chips for the night.
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
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.
Jedd Kossew
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.
