On the river of a A♣7♠6♥K♥A♦ board, Giovanni Zanette bet 12,000 and Jaco Mouton called. Zanette showed a six and Mouton won the pot with K♦J♣ for aces and kings.
Zanette, who had entered not long ago, lost more than half of his stack as a result and was soon after eliminated by Moon Khan.
On the three-way flop of K♥5♥5♠, Giovanni Gaggia checked and Pebus Pelser simply pushed all-in for 38,500 into an already decent pot. Bobonetse Moncho called all-in and Gaggia folded.
Bobonetse Moncho: A♠A♣
Pebus Pelser: A♥Q♥
The 9♣ turn and K♣ river changed nothing and Moncho dóubled to leave Pelser on fumes.
The field has increased to 50 entries of which 47 players remain and another table opened right in front of the live stream set. Among the new arrivals is also Tanith Rothman, who won the Ladies Event here in Pretoria a few days ago.
Banks Solomons bet 2,500 when checked to by Pebus Pelser on the 6♣3♣2♣ flop and earned a call as they headed to the 7♠ on the turn. Pelser check-raised all-in once Solomons bet 6,500 and the latter quickly called with 10♣9♣ for the flopped ten-high flush.
Pelser had the check mark already, though, as he rolled over A♣J♣ for the ace-high flush to make the A♦ river a formality.
On a flop of J♦10♣8♥, Giovanni Gaggia check-called a bet of 2,000 by Eben Lottering and was very adamant to loudly ask for an eight on the turn. He checked when the J♣ came and Lottering bet 6,000.
Gaggia then folded the 8♦4♦ face-up, which apparently another player had called out. He also received a penalty for something that had just happened prior.
In a four-bet pot to the K♠J♣7♣ flop, Rudi Fleischman pushed all-in and Jamie Vilela instantly called with the A♥K♦. Fleischman was well out in front with the A♠A♣ and Vilela joked "don't give me a queen".
The board completed with the 3♣ turn and 10♥ river for Fleischman to double.
Late last year, the biggest live poker event of 2024 in South Africa and in the history of the SunBet Poker Tour came to an end. Saurabh Gulati took down the 504-entry strong 2024 SPT GrandWest Main Event after a three-way deal. Gulati claimed the biggest slice of the ZAR 6,350,400 ($351,395) prize pool and denied a home victory for several fierce local competitors at the GrandWest Casino outside of Cape Town on the southern cusp of the African continent.
“Loved it. It was pressure in the start, but after that it got easier with the chip lead and everything. It got so much easier and I had a ball time,” Gulati said in the winner interview after his victory. He joked that there was no big competitor at the table because he “knew I would take it down,” albeit with a big smirk on his face.
For the first time in history, two women reached the final table. While narrowly missing out on the victory, Ronit Chamani as well as Diane Walker went the furthest any female player on the tour had gone before. They ended up in three-handed play with Gulati, where a deal was cut to continue play for the trophy.
Chamani took home ZAR 900,000 for third place while Walker earned ZAR 800,000. However, it was Gulati who claimed the winner's trophy after an intense and swingy heads-up duel along with the top prize of ZAR 975,280.
On a heads-up flop of J♠4♣3♣, Nic Ioannoy called a bet worth 2,500 by Rudi Fleischman and they then checked down the Q♠ turn as well as the 5♣ river. Ioannoy showed the J♦9♦ and Fleischman mucked his cards with a lot of frustration.
