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THMC Cape Town Million
Day 1cd Completed
2025 THMC Cape Town Million
THMC Cape Town Million
Day: 1cd
Event Info
2025 THMC Cape Town Million
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1cd
Buy-in
8,000 ZAR
Prize Pool
2,378,880 ZAR
Total Entries
354
Level
27
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
60,000
Entries
203
Players Left
26
Players Left 1 / 354
Filter
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
For the second year in a row, The Hendon Mob Championship was visiting Cape Town in cooperation with the SunBet Poker Tour and the ZAR 8,000 buy-in of 2025 The Hendon Mob Championship Cape Town Million at the GrandWest Casino by Sun International once again turned out to be a popular affair among the close-knit local South African poker community.
Yesterday's opening two flights had attracted a total of 150 entries with 20 players punching their ticket for the money stages. However, both figures received a face-lift with the final two starting days garnering a very healthy interest. Day 1c maxed out at 119 entries and the top 15 finishers advanced while Day 1d had reached more than 70 entries at the time of writing to put the overall tally well ahead of last year's 299 entries. With at least 343 entries across the four flights, the ZAR 1.25 million guarantee was smashed and surpassed ZAR 2.3 million near the end of the late registration period.
The largest of the four flights also attracted the biggest turnout and it came as no surprise that the overall leaderboard was shaken up accordingly. Marko Nortje entered prior to the second break and went through the field like a wrecking ball, though all of it was kick-started by a literal gift in level six when he flopped a full house and Hans van der Hulst jammed king-high with zero equity.
Ultimately, Nortje knocked out several opponents and was also responsible for the money bubble to burst on Day 1c when his flopped trips prevailed against Craig Hartland's two pair and flush draw. That propelled Nortje to 635,000 in chips, surpassing Yoni Lipshitz (515,000) and Ariel Mazabow (500,000) at the top of the leaderboard.
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1c
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 1c Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marko Nortje | South Africa | 635,000 | 53 |
| 2 | Yoni Lipshitz | South Africa | 515,000 | 43 |
| 3 | Ariel Mazabow | South Africa | 500,000 | 42 |
| 4 | Eben Lottering | South Africa | 334,000 | 28 |
| 5 | Kevin Boyer | South Africa | 263,000 | 22 |
| 6 | Mark Wright | South Africa | 174,000 | 15 |
| 7 | AB | South Africa | 172,000 | 14 |
| 8 | Franco Da Matta | South Africa | 171,000 | 14 |
| 9 | Chuck Levin | South Africa | 158,000 | 13 |
| 10 | Caleb October | South Africa | 142,000 | 12 |
South African live poker veteran Eben Lottering bagged up a healthy stack of 334,000 along with Mark Wright (174,000), Caleb October (142,000), Imran Bhojani (136,000), and Tanith Rothman (86,000). They have all secured a portion of the cash prize pool but may opt to late register the ongoing final heat in order to run up an even larger stack.
Nortje finished fifth in this very event one year ago and will aim to improve on that final position. Last year's champion Muaaz Gani and runner-up Sugen Singh were unable to bag up chips in the penultimate flight but jumped into the final chance Day 1d thereafter.
Among the other notable casualties on Day 1c were the likes of Norman Cherry, Nic Ioannoy, Cliton Taliwanth, Richard Barnard, Adrian Andritz, Wesley Blom, Stephen Courtney, Harold Brooks, Jaryd Jardien and Dean Hutchison to name all but a few.
Whether or not any of them will make it through to the money stages via Day 1d remains to be seen, as the action of the final heat is expected to conclude beyond 2 a.m. local time. The PokerNews live reporting team will be providing the chip counts and Day 2 seat draw the following morning.
For the final day, the level duration will increase to 40 minutes each and the action recommences at noon local time. The big blinds for the restart will be determined through the average finish time of all four starting days.
Once again, the PokerNews team will be on the floor to provide all of the action until a winner has been crowned. Furthermore, the live stream action is also available on a security delay of 30 minutes with cards-up coverage and commentary available on the SunBet Poker Tour YouTube channel.
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
635,000 | |
|
||
|
515,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
500,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
334,000
59,000
|
59,000 |
|
263,000
67,000
|
67,000 |
|
174,000
49,000
|
49,000 |
|
172,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
171,000
29,000
|
29,000 |
|
158,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
|
142,000
34,000
|
34,000 |
|
136,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
135,000
51,000
|
51,000 |
|
125,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
86,000
134,000
|
134,000 |
|
44,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Ten hands came and went without any major action for the blinds to move up once again during the bubble and the money bubble then burst on the live stream feature table. With the action still coming on the 30-minute security delay, stay tuned for the last showdown of this flight once the stream has caught up.
Full chip counts for Day 1c are to follow once the delayed stream has concluded for the night.
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
In a rare hand without a preflop shove by the stream table chip leader, Marko Nortje made it 25,000 to go with the J♣7♠ and Craig Hartland defended the K♥7♥ in the big blind. Hartland then check-called the K♣J♠J♥ flop for 22,000 and checked the 5♥ on the turn.
Nortje fired a bet of around 60,000 and Hartland had a tough decision with his two pair and flush draw. He counted his stack of around 120,000 before moving all-in with two time banks used, Nortje called.
Hartland needed a king or heart to survive but the 2♦ on the river was a blank to let the Day 1c bubble burst.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
635,000
238,000
|
238,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level: 20
Blinds: 6,000/12,000
Ante: 12,000
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
While Day 1c continues without any major drama on the money bubble, the field for Day 1d has reached 70 entries in level eight with blinds of 400-800 and a big blind ante of 800. There are some 45 players left with Jaco Mouton, Sascha Manns and Jeff Duddy among the big stacks for now.
Also in the mix are Keegan Naidoo, Kinesh Pather, Gareth Duncan, Cliton Taliwanth and Harold Brooks.
Level 19
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
With the tables both on hand-for-hand on the bubble, the live stream action still needs to catch up but nothing major appears to have happened yet.
On the outer table, Franco Da Matta led the 10♥9♥6♦ flop for 13,000 and Yoni Lipshitz called. Da Matta check-called the 2♦ turn for 20,000 and they checked the 9♣ on the river. The Q♦J♦ of Da Matta had a huge draw but Lipshitz won the hand with the 10♥8♥.
Da Matta added more chips soon after when he raised the button and Hanre Retief defended the big blind to then check-fold the 4♣3♠2♥ flop to a large bet.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
475,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
455,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
|
200,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
65,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
Level 20
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Marko Nortje has been terrorising the live stream table with many open jams and the next one came again when he ripped in the 6♥3♥ in the hijack. Caleb October folded the 8♥8♣ in the cutoff, as did Kevin Boyer holding the 5♥5♣ on the button.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
397,000
42,000
|
42,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
330,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
|
176,000
33,000
|
33,000 |
Level: 19
Blinds: 5,000/10,000
Ante: 10,000
