Over on table eight, a small crowd had gathered on the rail and witnessed a duel between SM and Brett Toker for one of the biggest pots of the day thus far.
The completed board showed 10♠3♥2♠5♠9♦ and Toker faced the shove by SM for 108,000. He eventually paid it off and was shown 3♠3♦ for a set of treys, mucking his Q♥Q♦.
That clash left Toker short with just 45,000 at his disposal. Those went in with the A♥5♠ and Sean Bloom looked him up holding the J♠10♦.
"I folded pocket deuces," Nadav Mazor mentioned in table chat. The 9♥9♦6♣8♠K♦ board missed both players and Toker doubled with his ace.
Sean Bloom raised to 12,000 and SM called on the button. Eben Mare then three-bet from the big blind for Bloom to call, SM folded.
The 10♥7♦6♣ flop saw Mare continue for 25,000 and Bloom flat-called. Both checked the K♠ turn and 5♥ river, as the pot was awarded to Bloom with the Q♦Q♣. Mare briefly flashed his cards to him and Bloom nodded.
One table over, Ahmed Karrim is no longer in contention while Chris Luyt had jumped to a big stack. There are now 29 players remaining and Day 1d is four eliminations away from an early finish.
On the three-way turn of K♥10♥5♠4♣, Kade Ollewagen bet 12,000 out of the small blind and Chris Luyt called in the big blind. Robert Hertzog raised to 25,000 on the button and Ollewagen used one time bank to call, Luyt also called.
They checked the Q♦ river and Ollewagen won the pot with K♠7♥.
It was a setup hand that unfolded over on table eight with El-Juan Du Plessis from under the gun and Eben Mare in the big blind ending up all-in and at risk. Mare was the second-shortest stack and at risk for 111,000 while Sean Bloom had both covered in an early position.
El-Juan Du Plessis: K♦K♣
Eben Mare: A♣J♣
Sean Bloom: A♥A♦
There was no escape for either short stack on the 7♠7♥5♠5♣4♥ runout and that brought the field down to the last 27 players.
"I folded pocket jacks," Yadav Mazor said, after he had apparently tanked for a long time in the small blind.
Vishal Ghoorbin lost a decent chunk of his middling stack when his K♦J♦ hit the top two pair. Gerrit van der Spoel got paid with A♥Q♣ for broadway to climb the leaderboard.
Ghoorbin was then all-in for 68,000 with the A♣A♠ and up against the K♥Q♥ of Menesh Keshav. There was no upset on the J♦6♣5♦2♦3♦ board and Ghoorbin survived.
There was barely any time to breathe as Elai Mazor ran his K♥K♠ into the A♣A♠ of Giovanni Zanette. Chrissy Luyt complained that he would have won the pot with A♥J♥ if they had just flat-called preflop.
Over on table eight, moments later, Greg Tucker was all-in for fumes. He had lost a big pot to Brett Toker when the latter four-bet jammed pocket tens for 147,000 into his pocket kings. The 9x7x6x10x3x runout left Tucker in dire shape according to Max Deveson.
Tucker's subsequent preflop all-in for 17,000 in the hijack was looked up by Muzamil Gothey in the small blind and SM. The 9♦7♥5♥ flop saw Gothey check-call for 16,000 before they checked down the Q♦ turn and 3♠ river.
Tucker showed his A♠6♦ and was eliminated, as Gothey had him beat with the J♣J♦ to score the final knockout on Day 1d.
Another three all-in showdown in quick succession have brought down the field to the last 25 players and Day 1d concluded with 5:54 minutes left in level 14. All survivors are now bagging up their chips and will return tomorrow for the chase towards the money bubble and beyond.
Full counts and a recap of today's action are to follow.
The penultimate level of turbo heat 1e currently features 27 players out of 71 entries remaining, while the 25 survivors of Day 1d have already bagged up their chips.
Out of a field of 78 entries, only 15 players made it through the turbo heat 1e and will join the survivors of the previous three starting days. Jamie Vilela topped the leaderboard with 484,000 in chips followed by Nico Wiechers and David Ng, the latter of which reached the final table here in March. Ahmed Karrim, Jarred Solomon and Gavin Sardini also all advanced as well.
As expected, it was a busy day at the Time Square Casino in Pretoria as the long weekend promised large field sizes for the SunBet Poker Tour Time Square Main Event. Held in cooperation between the South African gaming and entertainment giant Sun International as well as the Monster Jam Poker Tour, the live poker series visited the venue for the second time in the current year.
The marquee event of the series comes with a price tag of ZAR15,000 ($790) and produced a strong turnout in the final two starting days to more than double the field size. Across the opening two flights in the previous two days, 152 entries had emerged but that figure was surpassed by Day 1d alone with 161 entries.
It was then the final turbo heat 1c which added another 78 entries on top to create a field of 391 entries and generate a prize pool of ZAR4,926,600 ($266,036), nearly reaching the attendance of the March edition and breezing past the ZAR4,000,000 guarantee.
Day 1d provided the last chance for players to take advantage of the 50-minute level structure and 25 players advanced with none other than Giovanni Zanette leading the way. Only a few weeks ago, Zanette finished in 33rd place in the record-breaking 2024 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas and showcased his talents on home soil once more. Zanette ended the night with 610,000 in chips, which puts him in second place overall.
Sean Bloom ended Day 1 within eyesight of Zanette as he bagged up 578,000, whereas Chrissy Luyt finished with 420,000. Among the notable survivors in the top ten were also Menesh Keshav (365,000), Warren Zackey (359,000), Brett Toker (348,000), and the runner-up of the previous stop in Pretoria known under his alias SM (340,000).
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1d
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Giovanni Zanette
South Africa
610,000
122
2
Sean Bloom
South Africa
578,000
116
3
Chrissy Luyt
South Africa
420,000
84
4
Menesh Keshav
South Africa
365,000
73
5
Warren Zackey
South Africa
359,000
72
6
Brett Toker
South Africa
348,000
70
7
SM
South Africa
340,000
68
8
Robert Hertzog
Denmark
334,000
67
9
Muzamil Gothey
Tanzania
328,000
66
10
Muddassir Ameer
South Africa
273,000
55
Other notables to advance from Day 1d were Edgar Antezana (247,000), Anand Kumar (231,000), Kade Ollewagen (218,000), Jacobus de Nysschen (127,000), Max Deveson (102,000), and Kinesh Pather (84,000). Antezana has been the only player to bag up in multiple starting days and will carry over his larger stack from today into Day 2 after he had the bottom stack of 56,000 on Day 1b.
Zanette had a healthy stack for most of the day and started his rise to the top of the leaderboard after the end of the late registration. His ascend culminated with the elimination of Elai Mazor when his aces held against pocket kings. Fellow big stack Bloom was responsible for several late eliminations including a double knockout during the final hands of the night.
Many other big names of the close-knit South African poker community didn't make it through the minefields of the penultimate Day 1 such as Ahmed Karrim, Gareth Kalil, Rayhaan Adam, Marko Nortje, Jarred Solomon, Gavin Sardini, and Rudolf Fourie. Karrim, Solomon and Sardini all advanced in the turbo flight 1e and will be back in action at noon.
The Day 1 flights at a Glance
Flight
Start Time
Level Duration
More Info
Day 1a
Aug 7 at 12 p.m.
50 minutes
10 players / 65 entries advanced
Day 1b
Aug 8 at 12 p.m.
50 minutes
14 players / 87 entries advanced
Day 1d
Aug 9 at 11 a.m.
50 minutes
25 players / 161 entries advanced
Day 1e
Aug 9 at 8 p.m.
30/15 minute levels
15 players / 78 entries advanced
Across the first three starting days, 48 players qualified for Day 2 and they will be joined by the survivors of the turbo heat 1e, which will carry over at least 12 contenders. With all starting flights having concluded in either level 14 or 15, it is expected that the blinds will roll back prior to the pursuit of the money bubble.
The Women's Day Cup, which was hosted during the National Women's Day in South Africa, became a thorough success today as well thanks to the sponsoring brands Craft Hair & Beauty, Goldwell, LaserM Aesthetics, La Boutique Eyewear, Motherkind Co., and Distri-Liq. Prior to the start of the ZAR1,500 buy-in ($81), a brunch for all participants was hosted in the Time Square Pretoria entertainment complex before the largest Ladies Event in the history of the SunBet Poker Tour and Monster Jam Poker Tour (MJPT) drew a field of 123 entries.
This generated a prize pool of ZAR154,980 ($8,369) and the action unfolded right next to the Main Event with most tables rotating to the live-streamed feature table. The tournament concluded in the late evening and filled the room with a buzz from start to finish. Among the finalists were Tanith Rothman and Melissa Kalil, who both made it to the top three. Ann Moodley scored a double knockout to secure the victory and earned the top prize of ZAR41,945.
Final Table Result Women's Day Cup
Rank
Winner
Country
Prize (in ZAR)
Prize (in USD)
1
Ann Moodley
South Africa
41,945
$2,265
2
Melissa Kalil
South Africa
27,895
$1,506
3
Tanith Rothman
South Africa
16,660
$900
4
Julie Ramos
South Africa
10,460
$565
5
Zoé Klaver
South Africa
7,750
$419
6
Chantelle Olivier
South Africa
6,665
$360
7
Marelize Meintjes
South Africa
5,775
$312
8
Alice Mansour
South Africa
5,115
$276
9
Joanne Duval
South Africa
4,495
$243
Ann Moodley Wins Women's Day Cup at Time Square
Kalil will be back for Day 2 of the Main Event at noon local time, where she continues her journey with a stack of 258,000 after advancing in the opening flight. The penultimate tournament day will not only burst the money bubble but also get close to reaching the final table.
As usual, the live updates can be followed right here on PokerNews. All the action will also be broadcasted on the MJPT YouTube channel with cards-up coverage and commentary on a security delay of 30 minutes.
