Welcome to Day 2 of the Joe-Boy Rahme MonsterStaK Main Event
The penultimate tournament day awaits for the 2025 SunBet Poker Tour Joe-Boy Rahme MonsterStaK Main Event and the crown jewel of the series at the GrandWest Casino by Sun International in Cape Town will be soaring towards the money bubble and beyond today. Across the three opening days, the ZAR 15,000 (USD 850) buy-in attracted a field of 253 entries thus far but the late registration remains open for another four levels.
Day 2 is set to kick off at noon local time with some 120 players remaining, but thanks to the deep structure and extended entry period that figure will likely change. For instance, many of the High Roller regulars of the last couple of days have not even jumped into the action yet and many poker enthusiasts from Cape Town may only come over on the weekend as well.
Leading the way is South Africa based Italian Michele Lodi-Fe with 629,000 and another two players have more than five starting stacks at their disposal including Franco Da Matta (560,000) and Nico Wiechers (524,500). Also in the overall top ten are Yoni Lipshitz (455,500), ZAR 50,000 High Roller champion Bradley Moore (454,000) and Stephen Courtney (399,500).
Top 10 Chip Counts for Day 2
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michele Lodi-Fe | Italy | 629,000 | 252 |
| 2 | Franco Da Matta | South Africa | 560,000 | 224 |
| 3 | Nico Wiechers | South Africa | 524,500 | 210 |
| 4 | Jeebaun Singh | Mauritius | 478,500 | 191 |
| 5 | Yoni Lipshitz | South Africa | 455,500 | 182 |
| 6 | Bradley Moore | South Africa | 454,000 | 182 |
| 7 | Kiran Moodley | South Africa | 413,500 | 165 |
| 8 | Reagan Benjamin | South Africa | 411,000 | 164 |
| 9 | Damon Fine | South Africa | 400,000 | 160 |
| 10 | Stephen Courtney | South Africa | 399,500 | 160 |
The UK's Alexander Rizvi topped the turbo heat with 40-minute levels last night and returns on a very healthy stack of 375,000, as does Caleb October (358,500). Other notables in contention include Dean Hutchison (309,000), Tanith Rothman (299,000), Beat Schlegel (281,000), Jedd Kossew (254,000) and Wesley Blom (205,000).
A total of eleven levels of 60 minutes are scheduled for today with a break every two hours of play and an extended dinner break after the sixth level. The late registration period and re-entries are allowed for the first four levels, after which we will know if the crown jewel surpasses the ZAR 4 million guarantee. Recommencing blinds are 1,500-2,500 with a big blind ante of 2,500, giving all late entrants in the first level of Day 2 fourty big blinds worth.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor all day long to provide as many of the key hands as possible in the Joe Rahme Memorial event and you can also follow the live stream action with cards-up coverage and commentary on a 30-minute security delay on the SunBet Poker Tour YouTube channel.