Lingenfelder Takes Overall Lead After Day 1c at the SunBet Poker Tour Time Square Main Event
The late registration for the 2024 SunBet Poker Tour Time Square Main Event has concluded at the Time Square Casino on the outskirts of Pretoria and the marquee event of the live poker series surpassed the ZAR5,000,000 guarantee thanks to the busy two final starting days.
Day 1c gathered the strongest turnout with 155 entries of which 24 players advanced while the turbo heat 1d drew another 85 entries. This boosted the overall field size to 418 total entries in the ZAR15,000 (~$790) buy-in to generate a prize pool of ZAR5,266,800 ($281,989). The top 53 spots will get paid and the money bubble will dominate the early stages of Day 2.
A new overall chip leader has been crowned and further notables punched their seats for the penultimate tournament day, on which the money stages will be reached. The top spot of Benjamin "Guppie" Lingenfelder comes under very unique circumstances, as his father Bennie Lingenfelder - a well-known member of the close-knit South African poker community - passed away just a few days ago on March 5, 2024 while the series was already underway. During the first break of the three Main Event starting days so far, all players observed a minute of silence in his honour.
"My dad would have wanted me to play this event," Lingenfelder had mentioned and he bagged up 614,000 chips. Only Elai Mazor came close to that amount on Day 1c and advanced with 592,000 while Danny Dayani claimed the final spot on the podium for Day 1c with 455,000.
Top 10 Chip Counts Day 1c
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | BB Day 1c |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benjamin Lingenfelder | South Africa | 614,000 | 123 |
| 2 | Elai Mazor | France | 592,000 | 118 |
| 3 | Danny Dayani | South Africa | 455,000 | 91 |
| 4 | Stephen Courtney | South Africa | 450,000 | 90 |
| 5 | SM | South Africa | 438,000 | 88 |
| 6 | Sugen Singh | South Africa | 425,000 | 85 |
| 7 | Menesh Keshav | South Africa | 368,000 | 74 |
| 8 | Gareth Kalil | South Africa | 333,000 | 67 |
| 9 | Marko Nortje | South Africa | 313,000 | 63 |
| 10 | Kinesh Pather | South Africa | 248,000 | 50 |
Besides Mazor, Stephen Courtney finished the live stream table session on a high-note to claim 450,000 to his name while other notables such as Menesh Keshav (368,000) and Kinesh Pather (248,000) also earned top ten stacks. Sugen Singh claimed 425,000 to his name and was responsible for the final elimination of the night on Day 1c when his ace-queen beat the ace-king of Lagen Zackey in a preflop contest.
Zackey's father Warren, who finished 22nd in the 2009 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, was also among the late casualties as well when his short-stacked shove with eight-five suited had zero equity against Pather's big slick as of the flop.
Other notables who came up short in the penultimate starting day were Jon Per Persent, Greg Tucker, Rayhaan Adam, Ronit Chamani and Shannon Elizabeth. The latter was trying to improve upon her 114,000 stack from Day 1a as the bigger stack will be carried forward, but she first lost a big pot on the live stream table to then succumb with a short stack against Mathew Ord-Hume soon after.
Main Event Day 1 Info and Schedule
| Day 1 | Entries | Survivors | Starting Time | Level Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1a | 105 | 16 | March 6, 12.00 p.m. | 50-minute levels |
| Day 1b | 73 | 12 | March 7, 12.00 p.m. | 50-minute levels |
| Day 1c | 155 | 24 | March 8, 11 a.m. | 50-minute levels |
| Day 1d | 85 | 19 | March 8, 8 p.m. | 30/15-minute levels |
All Day 1 survivors will return to their seats in the Time Square Casino at noon local time on Saturday, March 9, 2024 when the chase to the money stages commences. Only the top 53 spots will be paid and some of the remaining hopefuls will leave empty-handed.
The action picks up with 48:14 minutes left in level 13 at blinds of 2,000-4,000 and a big blind ante of 4,000, granting an average of more than 50 big blind. As of Day 2, the level duration increases to 60 minutes each and up to ten levels are scheduled for the penultimate tournament day.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the floor to provide as many of the key hands as possible. Furthermore, the live stream action with cards-up coverage and commentary will also be available via the Monster Jam Poker Tour Twitch and YouTube channels on a security delay of 30 minutes as well.