At least one dozen players have arrived to enter with a fresh stack of 100,000 and two new tables are opening to accommodate and balance the field. The start will be delayed by a few minutes but cards should be in the air shortly.
At least one dozen players have arrived to enter with a fresh stack of 100,000 and two new tables are opening to accommodate and balance the field. The start will be delayed by a few minutes but cards should be in the air shortly.
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).
| 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.
| Table | Seat | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Kevin Boyer | 140,000 | 56 |
| 1 | 2 | Reagan Benjamin | 411,000 | 164 |
| 1 | 3 | Imran Bhojani | 205,000 | 82 |
| 1 | 4 | Dirk Steenkamp | 262,500 | 105 |
| 1 | 5 | Gareth Duncan | 147,500 | 59 |
| 1 | 6 | Savva Savvas | 272,000 | 109 |
| 1 | 7 | Matthew Mulhall | 250,000 | 100 |
| 1 | 8 | Terry Brookes | 83,500 | 33 |
| 2 | 1 | Andrew Smith (SA) | 127,000 | 51 |
| 2 | 2 | Naven Naicker | 136,500 | 55 |
| 2 | 3 | Simon Solomon | 367,000 | 147 |
| 2 | 4 | Alvin Pillay | 175,000 | 70 |
| 2 | 5 | Nico Wiechers | 524,500 | 210 |
| 2 | 6 | Ryan Anderson (SA) | 92,000 | 37 |
| 2 | 7 | Philipp Muller | 115,000 | 46 |
| 2 | 8 | Damon Fine | 400,000 | 160 |
| 3 | 1 | Carrie Feinauer | 315,500 | 126 |
| 3 | 2 | Warren Abrahams | 267,000 | 107 |
| 3 | 3 | Devon Baard | 126,000 | 50 |
| 3 | 4 | Rudy Frick | 309,500 | 124 |
| 3 | 5 | Chad Moolman | 220,500 | 88 |
| 3 | 6 | Wesley Wessels | 332,500 | 133 |
| 3 | 7 | Ben | 123,000 | 49 |
| 3 | 8 | Andrew Holland (SA) | 325,500 | 130 |
| 4 | 1 | Reece Solomons | 227,500 | 91 |
| 4 | 2 | James Rann | 45,500 | 18 |
| 4 | 3 | Jonathan Hoal | 177,500 | 71 |
| 4 | 4 | Mark Wright | 192,500 | 77 |
| 4 | 5 | Jonathan Bland | 132,500 | 53 |
| 4 | 6 | Jacobus de Nysschen | 184,500 | 74 |
| 4 | 7 | Jaco Mouton | 333,500 | 133 |
| 4 | 8 | BC Van Rooyen | 176,000 | 70 |
| 5 | 1 | Karol Korzeniowski | 275,000 | 110 |
| 5 | 2 | Dean Hutchison | 309,000 | 124 |
| 5 | 3 | Alexandra Müller | 117,500 | 47 |
| 5 | 4 | Dylan Barnard | 51,500 | 21 |
| 5 | 5 | Karl Hudsun | 104,500 | 42 |
| 5 | 6 | Caleb October | 358,500 | 143 |
| 5 | 7 | Kiran Moodley | 413,500 | 165 |
| 5 | 8 | Ronnie Welgemoed | 204,500 | 82 |
| 6 | 1 | Menesh Keshav | 173,500 | 69 |
| 6 | 2 | Shaun Govender | 166,500 | 67 |
| 6 | 3 | Gabriel Demuru | 121,500 | 49 |
| 6 | 4 | Adrian Andritz | 80,000 | 32 |
| 6 | 5 | Tanith Rothman | 291,000 | 116 |
| 6 | 6 | Clive Kikia | 136,500 | 55 |
| 6 | 7 | Sugen Singh | 174,000 | 70 |
| 6 | 8 | Brian Bouwer | 203,000 | 81 |
| 7 | 1 | Ricardo Sequeira | 267,000 | 107 |
| 7 | 2 | Rajeev Poonhath | 83,000 | 33 |
| 7 | 3 | Alan Jung | 170,000 | 68 |
| 7 | 5 | Michael Cupido | 289,000 | 116 |
| 7 | 6 | Frank Chilchik | 144,000 | 58 |
| 7 | 7 | Danie van den Berg | 213,500 | 85 |
| 7 | 8 | Jehan Richards | 399,500 | 160 |
| 8 | 1 | Martin Smit | 121,000 | 48 |
| 8 | 2 | Tisshik Naidoo | 161,000 | 64 |
| 8 | 3 | Siva Naidoo | 214,000 | 86 |
| 8 | 4 | Jon Persent | 180,500 | 72 |
| 8 | 5 | Djordje Stojic | 120,500 | 48 |
| 8 | 6 | Steven Radloff | 96,500 | 39 |
| 8 | 7 | Pierre Kitching | 154,500 | 62 |
| 8 | 8 | Jay Pereira | 365,000 | 146 |
| 9 | 1 | Brett Kramer | 355,000 | 142 |
| 9 | 2 | Brett Pamensky | 55,000 | 22 |
| 9 | 3 | Harold Brooks | 122,000 | 49 |
| 9 | 4 | Beat Schlegel | 281,000 | 112 |
| 9 | 5 | Ariel Mazabow | 231,000 | 92 |
| 9 | 6 | Robin Kayalsum | 138,500 | 55 |
| 9 | 7 | Yoni Lipshitz | 455,500 | 182 |
| 9 | 8 | Alexandre Blanc | 161,500 | 65 |
| 10 | 1 | Jeebaun Singh | 478,500 | 191 |
| 10 | 2 | Wesley Blom | 205,000 | 82 |
| 10 | 3 | Gregory Zetler | 105,500 | 42 |
| 10 | 4 | Daniel Scott | 249,500 | 100 |
| 10 | 5 | Jedd Kossew | 254,000 | 102 |
| 10 | 6 | Alexander Rizvi | 375,000 | 150 |
| 10 | 7 | Hennie Appel | 97,000 | 39 |
| 10 | 8 | Stephen Courtney | 399,500 | 160 |
| 11 | 1 | H Mathee | 185,000 | 74 |
| 11 | 2 | Karin Hasseriis | 129,000 | 52 |
| 11 | 3 | Lyle Abrahams | 116,000 | 46 |
| 11 | 4 | Marko Nortje | 234,500 | 94 |
| 11 | 5 | Cliton Taliwanth | 171,000 | 68 |
| 11 | 6 | Daniel Brauer | 131,500 | 53 |
| 11 | 7 | Sunelle Kirstein | 224,000 | 90 |
| 11 | 8 | Jamie McCarthy | 381,500 | 153 |
| 12 | 1 | Bradley Moore | 454,000 | 182 |
| 12 | 2 | Julie Ramos | 102,500 | 41 |
| 12 | 3 | William Henderson | 210,500 | 84 |
| 12 | 4 | Daniel Habib | 254,500 | 102 |
| 12 | 5 | Cassiem Du Toit | 92,500 | 37 |
| 12 | 6 | Richard Barnard | 164,000 | 66 |
| 12 | 7 | Jubal Chetty | 222,500 | 89 |
| 12 | 8 | Jonathan Hyman | 22,500 | 9 |
| 13 | 1 | Diane Walker | 21,000 | 8 |
| 13 | 2 | Gustav Louw | 262,000 | 105 |
| 13 | 3 | Kabir Mulla | 88,500 | 35 |
| 13 | 4 | Frederic Ledresseur | 223,000 | 89 |
| 13 | 5 | Jamie Vilela | 138,500 | 55 |
| 13 | 6 | Joggie Aucamp | 320,500 | 128 |
| 13 | 7 | Trevor Rees | 79,500 | 32 |
| 13 | 8 | Tim Akinnusi | 191,500 | 77 |
| 14 | 1 | Matt Train | 181,000 | 72 |
| 14 | 2 | Jayson Zulch | 202,000 | 81 |
| 14 | 3 | Robin Moir | 323,000 | 129 |
| 14 | 4 | Ethan Graham | 141,500 | 57 |
| 14 | 5 | Divan Van Wyk | 71,000 | 28 |
| 14 | 6 | Adam Katz | 392,000 | 157 |
| 14 | 7 | Franco Da Matta | 560,000 | 224 |
| 14 | 8 | Ryan Brauer | 90,000 | 36 |
| 15 | 1 | Rohan Conradie | 68,500 | 27 |
| 15 | 2 | Hans van der Hulst | 66,000 | 26 |
| 15 | 3 | Vincent Albert | 221,500 | 89 |
| 15 | 4 | Donovan Langeveldt | 107,500 | 43 |
| 15 | 5 | Benji Berman | 72,500 | 29 |
| 15 | 6 | Michele Lodi-Fe | 629,000 | 252 |
| 15 | 7 | Okkie Fourie | 60,000 | 24 |
| 15 | 8 | Paul Graham | 243,500 | 97 |
Alexander Rizvi from the UK topped the final starting day with a stack of 375,000 followed by Caleb October (358,500), while both Cliton Taliwanth (171,000) and Sugen Singh (174,000) improved on their previous stack sizes and carried over the larger tally into Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
375,000
375,000
|
375,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
358,500
358,500
|
358,500 |
|
|
355,000
355,000
|
355,000 |
|
|
249,500
249,500
|
249,500 |
|
|
222,500
222,500
|
222,500 |
|
|
203,000
203,000
|
203,000 |
|
|
184,500
184,500
|
184,500 |
|
|
175,000
175,000
|
175,000 |
|
|
174,000
174,000
|
174,000 |
|
|
171,000
99,500
|
99,500 |
|
|
166,500
166,500
|
166,500 |
|
|
138,500
138,500
|
138,500 |
|
|
123,000
123,000
|
123,000 |
|
|
122,000
122,000
|
122,000 |
|
|
115,000
115,000
|
115,000 |
|
|
104,500
104,500
|
104,500 |
|
|
92,000 | |
|
|
60,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
|
21,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
Joe-Boy Rahme MonsterStaK Main Event
Day 2 Started