SPT Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2025 SunBet Poker Tour Time Square
SPT Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Top
Chip Counts
Chip Counts
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The first of four starting days for the 2025 SunBet Poker Tour Time Square Main Event has wrapped up with 12 players advanving out of a field of 80 entries at the Time Square Casino in Pretoria, South Africa. Held in cooperation between Sun International - the country's largest Hotel, Gaming and Entertainment Group - and the Monster Jam Poker Tour (MJPT), the partnership has propelled the project to become the richest live poker tour in South Africa.
With a buy-in of ZAR 15,000 ($820), the crown jewel on the schedule carries a ZAR 4 Million guarantee ($217,580) and is dubbed the Nahum Lum Memorial Main Event in memory of the late South African poker player who recently passed away. In 2024, the very same tournament took place two times last year at Time Square Pretoria and one of the two champions finished Day 1a strong, as Harold Brooks bagged up the second-.biggest stack of 503,000.
Only Keenan Pienaar advanced with even more chips after leading the way in the late stages en route to claiming 576,000 to his name. Brooks and third-placed Robin Moir were responsible for the final two eliminations of the night with one dozen hopefuls bagging up chips right after.
Final Chip Counts Day 1a
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds Day 1a |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keenan Pienaar | South Africa | 576,000 | 144 |
| 2 | Harold Brooks | South Africa | 503,000 | 126 |
| 3 | Robin Moir | South Africa | 386,000 | 97 |
| 4 | Braam Van Huyssteen | South Africa | 326,000 | 82 |
| 5 | Greg Tucker | South Africa | 290,000 | 73 |
| 6 | Stefan Van Huyssteen | South Africa | 273,000 | 68 |
| 7 | Benjamin Lingenfelder Jr | South Africa | 245,000 | 61 |
| 8 | Yogesh Jeebaun | Mauritius | 191,000 | 48 |
| 9 | Gilbert Tin Fook | Mauritius | 161,000 | 40 |
| 10 | Rudolf Fourie | South Africa | 154,000 | 39 |
| 11 | Craig Hartland | South Africa | 96,000 | 24 |
| 12 | Norman Cherry | South Africa | 35,000 | 9 |
While the vast majority of the participants are part of the close-knit South African poker community, some poker enthusiasts from nearby countries usually also make their way to many of the annual stops and that includes the island of Mauritius. Two of their compatriots bagged up chips today in Yogesh Jeebaun (191,000) and Gilbert Tin Fook (161,000), while fellow countryman and former Main Event runner-up Patrice Ah-Nien was among the Day 1a casualties.
Teren Ramnundlall hit a royal flush during today's play but ultimately didn't bag up chips. Pienaar got value out of a straight flush towards the end of the night and held the lead for the last several levels.
Among the other notable casualties on Day 1a were Roy Bitton, Giovanni Zanette, Ahmed Karrim, Nic Ioannoy, Cliton Taliwanth, Banks Solomons, and Jaryd jardien. The final two players to exit were Divan Van Wyk and Bradley Moore, the former four-bet jamming pocket eights into the pocket tens of Brooks while Moore's king-queen were bested by the ace-ten of Moir.
All players who failed to make it through have another three chances to try and do better on March 6 and 7, 2025.
While the opening flight of the Main Event was unfolding, the ZAR 50,000 ($2,750) High Roller was also taking place and saw 21 players out of 30 entries return to their seats and the late registration was still open. As a result, the field was boosted to 48 entries and that generated a prize pool of ZAR 2,016,000 ($110,880) of which the top five spots were paid.
Ronit Chamani held the top spot when the action resumed and was responsible for the money bubble to burst on the live stream feature table. She flipped with ace-king against the pocket jacks of Kinesh Pather and hit an ace on the flop to leave Pather empty-handed. Chamani finished the night second in chips behind Marko Nortje.
High Roller Final Day Counts
| *Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | Ronit Chamani | South Africa | 3,110,000 | 78 |
| 2 | Marko Nortje | South Africa | 4,065,000 | 102 |
| 3 | Huawei Sun | South Africa | 2,665,000 | 67 |
| 4 | Max Deveson | South Africa | 2,100,000 | 53 |
| 5 | Rex Hsu | South Africa | 2,615,000 | 65 |
Huawei Sun turned his bigger stack to a chance for more, while Max Deveson was among the shorter stacks and made it through. Taiwan-born and local resident Rex Hsu was the only Day 2 entry to advance as well. The top five will be competing for the following cash prizes as of 11 a.m. local time on March 6, 2025.
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in ZAR) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 800,000 | 44,000 | ||
| 2 | 554,000 | 30,470 | ||
| 3 | 360,400 | 19,822 | ||
| 4 | 201,600 | 11,088 | ||
| 5 | 100,000 | 5,500 |
Stay tuned for more live poker action from right here in South Africa, as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all of the elusive action until a Main Event champion has been crowned.
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
576,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
||
|
503,000 | |
|
386,000 | |
|
326,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
|
290,000
-40,000
|
-40,000 |
|
273,000
33,000
|
33,000 |
|
245,000
-11,000
|
-11,000 |
|
191,000
41,000
|
41,000 |
|
161,000
-64,000
|
-64,000 |
|
154,000
-66,000
|
-66,000 |
|
96,000
-39,000
|
-39,000 |
|
35,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
With back-to-back eliminations within one minute, the field was reduced to the final 12 players and they are bagging up for the night. Day 1a has concluded with 32:22 minutes left in level 13 at blinds of 2,000-4,000 and a big blind ante of 4,000.
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Keenan Pienaar raised to 11,000 and Divan Van Wyk called in the next seat. It folded to Harold Brooks in the big blind and he made it 40,000 to go. Pienaar folded and Van Wyk then pushed for around 150,000 for Brooks to call.
"Ace king?" Van Wyk asked but was instead shown the 10?10?, which had his 8?8? crushed. The K?10?3? flop left Van Wyk in desperate need of running outs and it was all over with the 5? turn, Brooks boated up with the K? river.
Down to 13 players and with 12 to advance, there was no hand-for-hand as the flight didn't play to the money. Ultimately, it wouldn't matter as Bradley Moore and Robin Moir got their chips in preflop.
Moore had previously declared that he was going to get it in for a double, not wanting to bag up a short stack as he was tired already. He did so with the K?Q? this time and was up against Moir's A?10?. Both had a piece of the A?K?9? flop and the 9? turn reduced the outs of Moore. The river was the 7? and that brought an end to this opening flight in Pretoria.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
503,000
188,000
|
188,000 |
|
|
386,000
166,000
|
166,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Chip leader Keenan Pienaar double checked the stack of his table neighbour Divan Van Wyk and then limped in from the small blind, Van Wyk checked to the 8?5?2? flop. Pienaar check-raised from 5,000 to 10,000 and Van Wyk then clicked it back to 16,000 for Pienaar to call.
On the K? turn, Pienaar checked and Van Wyk bet 30,000 to claim the pot without any further resistance.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
573,000
-2,000
|
-2,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
155,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Without any betting action to the 10?8?6?Q?K? river, Gilbert Tin Fook bet 15,000. He earned two folds and Norman Cherry jokingly asked to have his cards back, which he had folded preflop ... including the ace of diamonds. Tin Fook flashed the K? before raking in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
256,000
36,000
|
36,000 |
|
|
225,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
|
150,000
-80,000
|
-80,000 |
|
|
40,000
-55,000
|
-55,000 |
Level: 13
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Level 12
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Only 14 players remain at the end of level 12 on Day 1a and they have been sent into a scheduled 15-minute break. Another three levels are scheduled for tonight or down to the final 12 players, whichever of the two comes first.
Level 12
: Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
There was some action in the last hand of the level on each table and it brought along one elimination.
Greg Tucker bet 75,000 on the 9?7?5?A? turn and Vygandas Simuntis called all-in for less than that with the A?7?. His turned two pair were in rough shape with only two outs, as Tucker had flopped a set with the 7?7?. The river was the 6? and that spelled the end for the Lithuanian.
One table over, Divan Van Wyk bet the A?K?6? flop for 6,000 and Rudolf Fourie was the only caller. Van Wyk bet another 11,000 on the 3? turn for Fourie to call and sigh a "you suck me dry" ahead of the 7? river. Van Wyk had 70,000 behind and jammed, Fourie foldded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
330,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
|
220,000
-29,000
|
-29,000 |
|
|
135,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
Busted |
