Nico du Toit was the big winner at the R600 Turbo #12 at the Cape Town Poker Room on Thursday.
What a day of poker!
85 players showed up at Northgate to enter the special edition of the R600 Turbo.
With 18min blinds and an extra lifeline available, a prize pool of R60400 was up for grabs, including R15 000 for first place.
Considering there were 16 satellite winners and several other players only invested for R600, this offered amazing value on the day.
Our friend from Lions Head Poker Crew Nico took the spotlight, playing his way to the top prize.
Looking back to his journey, two hands were highly influential in his win… the first was a big double-up with Jacks in the big blind against Bentley Louw’s pocket 8s on the button close to the money bubble.
Then a three-way all-in showdown with pocket Aces against Lyle Abrahams (A9 ♠️ suited) and Jupiter Wilde (pocket 4s) in the biggest of the night, over 14 million in chips.
This set him up with an enticing heads-up battle with Theunis Botha.
With no deals made, we saw exciting one-on-one poker. Both players executed some interesting plays, including hero calls with under-pairs to the board and K-high, and both being the correct decision!
The chip lead swung Theunis’ way midway through, but Nico clawed his way back into the contest for a deserved tournament triumph and R15 000 winner’s cheque.
Theunis flew the Wellington flag in second place, bagging R10 000 for his efforts.
Satellite winner Renier Abel put in a sterling campaign to finish in third place. The R8000 prize for bronze will taste sweet considering he won his seat for only R160! He was all in and ahead with 45 on a J45 flop against Theunis who held J10. A dramatic Jack on the River saw the latter score the knockout.
Lyle Abrahams started off his final table campaign very well he was the early chip leader, but two big pot losses saw him fall short in 4th place. He was all in with the short stack with pocket 3s, and the small pair was cracked by Nico’s AQ, which flopped the Queen.
Jupiter Wilde is a regular at the U35s Fry’s Poker Club, which runs their games in Wednesdays at the Cape Town Poker Room. And he represented his crowd proudly with a 5th place finish. He had bad timing when shoving pocket 4s into a K93 flop, which was correctly picked off by Lyle with A9. But both players had bad timing when Nico came over the top with Bullets and held up.
Clint Solomons played his way to 6th place when he shoved Under the Gun with A7. Lyle woke up with 8s in the big blind and held up to bag the elimination.
Reza Slamang made his first appearance at Cape Town Poker Room and finished in 7th place. He shoved with A4 in late position, and ran into Renier with pocket Queens.
Brian Sampson finished in 8th place when he moved all in with AQ ♠️ suited, but he also ran into the ladies as Nico called with pocket Queens. The board brought two spades at the Turn, but the River bricked for Brian.
Tony Smith nearly suffered heartbreak before the money bubble when he made a mistake with A7 ♠️ suited. But he managed to play his way back into the content to make final table and finish in 9th place. He was all in with QJ ♥️ suited, and racing against Lyle’s pocket 2s. The Ace DJ couldn’t connect with the board as he fell against the baby pair.
The Top 12 were paid on the night, which saw Bentley Louw (10th), Werner Wichmann (11th) and Strini Govender (12th) all make the money.
WELL DONE WINNERS!
Thanks to everyone who showed up for the memorable R600 Turbo event. This is a great indication that Cape Town poker is moving in the right direction.
We now set our sights to the Concept Grand Slam live fixture on Sunday, offering an enjoyable grind.
Look out for satellite opportunities tonight and tomorrow.
R600 Turbo #12 results:
1) Nico du Toit
R15000
2) Theunis Botha
R10000
3) Renier Abel
R8000
4) Lyle Abrahams
R6000
5) Jupiter Wilde
R5000
6) Clint Solomons
R4000
7) Reza Slamang
R3000
8) Brian Sampson
R2000
9) Tony Smith
R2000
10) Bentley Louw
R1800
11) Werner Wichmann
R1800
12) Strini Govender
R1600
Prize pool: R60400 (including R200 for the 2023 Player of the Year campaign)