The biggest live poker event of the year in South Africa and in the history of the SunBet Poker Tour (SPT) has come to an end. Mauritius based Saurabh Gulati has taken down the 504-entry strong 2024 SPT GrandWest Main Event after a three-way deal. He took home 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 the face.

For the first time in history, two women reached the final table in the largest live poker tournament of the year in South Africa and they made further history. 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.

Walker had joked prior to the start of Day 2 that there was no article written about her after she had topped the late turbo heat 1d with the largest tally. She was full of confidence heading into the final day and exclaimed “I will reach the final table and you will write about me”, and she certainly showcased her talents on the felt these past few days.

Having been left short early into the final table after a clash with Nic Ioannoy, Walker came back to haunt Ioannoy and made it all the way to heads-up play. 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.

The eventual champion was born in Australia and moved to Mauritius about one and a half years ago, where he jumped back into poker after starting his journey in Sydney more than eight years ago. As has been the case during other SPT stops in 2024, a small crew of Mauritius players made the one way trip from the island and Gulati joined them. Usually, cash games are now his prowess, but the triumph in the largest SunBet Poker Tour Main Event in history so far might have an influence on his preference.

It was a very fitting end to the year for Africa’s Richest Poker Tour with tremendous numbers. All guarantees across the board were smashed during the festival and the attendance figures throughout all events increased by more than thirty percent. The ZAR 15,000 Main Event was no different, beating the 429 entries of last year by a wide margin to showcase the growth of the popular live poker tour, which is held in conjunction between the leading South African gaming and hospitality company Sun International and the Monster Jam Poker Tour.

2024 SPT GrandWest Main Event Final Table Result

*reflects deal agreement between the final three players

Among the finalists were also Colin Horgan from Ireland, three-time champion Nic Ioannoy, Giovanni Zanette and Edgar Antezana. Horgan had won his trip to Cape Town after his runner-up finish in The Hendon Mob Championship during the 2024 Irish Poker Open and stayed longer to take full advantage of the festival. Antezana came fresh off a big score in the 2024 APT Manila Main Event for PHP 13,850,000 ($ 237,864) one month ago.

It has been a stellar year for Zanette, who made a deep run in the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas and finished in 30th place for $300,000. “It’s where I usually finish,” Zanette had said after he had bowed out in the ZRA 75,000 Super High Roller in third place, and he then also cashed in the ZAR 50,000 High Roller before jumping into the Main Event and making it through in one bullet.

Zanette got the ball rolling in the very first hand on the outer table when he left Antezana short, who would bust soon after. The next casualty was Rohan Conradie on the feature table before Horgan jumped back into the top spot by knocking out Wessel Conradie on the outer table with ace-four versus ace-ten.

Once the final table was eventually reached after nearly three full levels, Gulati earned a fortunate double right away. Divan Le Roux then got short and jammed a suited jack into the pocket tens of Diane Walker to become the first casualty. The second all-in showdown ended in a chop before Gareth Fourie doubled with an ace-rag against a baby pair.

Zanette got it in ahead with ace-queen versus king-ten but Gulati hit the ten and king to send Zanette to the rail in eighth place. Hennie Appel got short and busted soon after, while Diane Walker was on the verge of suffering the same fate when she lost a big all-in showdown with queens against the ace-five of Nic Ioannoy. However, Walker doubled two times in quick succession much to the delight of the local rail.

Fourie’s attempt at spinning up his short stack ended with jack-ten suited against the ace-jack of Horgan and he finished sixth in his first ever live poker tournament. While on vacation, he played a satellite and turned that into a final table run. The final hand before the second break of the day brought a clash between Gulati and Ioannoy, with the former taking over the lead.

Back from the break, Walker scored her fourth double-up and came from behind with queen-jack against the king-queen of Ioannoy. The clash left the three-time SunBet Poker Tour Main Event winner with a chip and a chair, he doubled once before heading to the payout desk.

Four-handed play saw two local female contenders up against Horgan from Ireland and Gulati from Australia. The highest finish for a female contender in a SPT Main Event until now had been fifth place, which Chamani and Walker both surpassed and they even embraced during four-handed play while the boys were busy in a hand. Said tense moment saw Gulati hero-call with ace-high on the river and he caught Horgan bluffing, after which both fist-bumped.

It seemed inevitable that both would clash again and it happened soon after with another flip. The pocket sixes of Gulati flopped a set versus ace-ten and Horgan was drawing dead on the turn to reduce the field to the final three.

Chamani had carefully picked her spots on the final table to maintain her stack and then doubled through Gulati with kings versus ace-king. With the stacks more even, first deal discussions came up, but a second round was needed to come to an agreement. Chamani was the first to bust thereafter when her top pair was cracked by Gulati’s flush draw.

The heads-up duel for the trophy was a topsy-turvy affair. Walker doubled into a commanding lead but Gulati struck back to eventually deny a home town victory for the Capetonian, who recorded her second-largest score on the live poker circuit in South Africa.

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