Nico Wiechers Tops Day 1a of the 2025 Joe-Boy Rahme MonsterStaK Main Event
The final SunBet Poker Tour stop of the year at the GrandWest Casino by Sun International on the outskirts of Cape Town has seen a strong turnout for the first of three starting days for the crown jewel on the schedule. On Day 1a of the Joe-Boy Rahme MonsterStaK Main Event, a total of 126 players ponied up the ZAR 15,000 (USD 850) buy-in and upon completion of level nine, the field was essentially cut in half.
During the first break, the life of the local veteran Joe Rahme was honoured after he had suddenly passed away three weeks to send shockwaves through the close-knit South African poker community. The entire field of all ongoing tournaments went on their feet to watch the tribute in silence before returning to the action.
When the dust had settled near midnight local time, the entire top ten on the overall leaderboard was hailing from Africa and Nico Wiechers was the only player to surpass five starting stacks to bag up 524,500. His nearest follower is Yoni Lipshitz, who reached the final two tables in the 2025 The Hendon Mob Championship Cape Town Million with 455,500 followed by Kiran Moodley with 413,500.
Day 1 a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Wiechers | South Africa | 524,500 | 210 |
| 2 | Yoni Lipshitz | South Africa | 455,500 | 182 |
| 3 | Kiran Moodley | South Africa | 413,500 | 165 |
| 4 | Reagan Benjamin | South Africa | 411,000 | 164 |
| 5 | Damon Fine | South Africa | 400,000 | 160 |
| 6 | Adam Katz | South Africa | 392,000 | 157 |
| 7 | Jamie McCarthy | South Africa | 381,500 | 153 |
| 8 | Simon Solomon | South Africa | 367,000 | 147 |
| 9 | Jay Pereira | South Africa | 365,000 | 146 |
| 10 | Jaco Mouton | South Africa | 333,500 | 133 |
Local vlogger Damon Fine had a decent day at the tables and made it through with exactly four starting stacks. Earlier this year, he ran deep in his most pivotal live poker tournament thus far. In the 2025 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, he cashed for $35,000 in 471st and that is also his largest cash prize so far.
Wiechers started his rise towards the top of the leaderboard early on when he made trips with jack-nine suited against then big stack Alvin Pillay, who had been responsible for the first elimination of the day. That was none other than Jaco Mouton, who re-entered and bagged up 333,500 while Pillay busted.
Dirk Steenkamp was almost the second player on the rail when he ran his ace-king for top pair and top kicker into a set of aces. Down to a mere 10,000, he went on a wild roller coaster ride and made it through with 262,500. Other notables to advance include Jedd Kossew (254,000), Chad Moolman (220,500), Imran Bhojani (205,000), Robin Kayalsum (138,500), Adrian Andritz (80,000) and Sugen Singh (66,500).
The list of Day 1a casualties included Eben Lottering, Keenan Pienaar, Chris Luyt, Jubal Chetty, Simon Brown, Marko Nortje and Cliton Taliwanth. However, they all have another two starting days to try and run up a stack.
Day 1b with 60-minute levels commences at 11 a.m. local time while the turbo heat 1c follows as of 7 p.m. local time with 40-minute levels.
The late registration remains open for the first four levels on Day 2 on Saturday, November 29. Several duplicate levels are included in the structure to preserve a deeper playing field for everyone.
Stay tuned right here on PokerNews for all of the Main Event action from Cape Town. You can also follow the cards-up coverage and commentary of the ZAR 50,000 High Roller final table alongside Main Event Day 1b as well.