Emerald gears up for exciting R12.5K Main Event Day 2

African Ace Poker Desk · 2026-09-12

R12.5k Main Event

A solid start to the Main Event at Emerald has seen 87 entries so far as the prize pool is set to surpass the R1M mark today.

A total of 34 players remain after plenty of action on the tables.

There are 4.3M chips in play, an average stack of 127K.

Stephen Courtney leads with 345K, which is 173 big blinds deep and 2.8 times the average.

Imran Bhojani is next on the list with 279K.

Players return to the start of Day 2 on Level 10, with blinds kicking off at 1000-2000-2000.

Two levels remain until late registration; this should see the prize pool surpassing the R1M mark.

What The Counts Mean

19 return with 50 big blinds or more, a very comfortable position.

The top three hold 20% of the chips in play, so the counts are still tightly packed.

14 of the 34 sit at or above the 125,000 average.

The Tables

Table 1 carries 379,500 across 5 seats, an average of 76,000, led by Marc Joseph on 127,500.

Table 2 carries 894,500 across 6 seats, an average of 149,000, led by Theuns Prinsloo on 231,000. It is the seat draw nobody wanted, holding 3 of the eight biggest stacks.

Table 3 carries 544,000 across 6 seats, an average of 91,000, led by Harold Brooks on 227,500.

Table 4 carries 922,500 across 6 seats, an average of 154,000, led by Monica Rosie on 233,500.

Table 5 carries 628,000 across 6 seats, an average of 125,000, led by Imran Bhojani on 279,500.

Table 6 carries 842,500 across 5 seats, an average of 168,000, led by Stephen Courtney on 345,500.

Chip Counts

| # | Player | Chips | Big Blinds | Table | Seat | | ---: | :--- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | | 1 | Stephen Courtney | 345,500 | 173 | 6 | 5 | | 2 | Imran Bhojani | 279,500 | 140 | 5 | 5 | | 3 | Monica Rosie | 233,500 | 117 | 4 | 3 | | 4 | Theuns Prinsloo | 231,000 | 116 | 2 | 4 | | 5 | Harold Brooks | 227,500 | 114 | 3 | 1 | | 6 | AH | 220,000 | 110 | 2 | 2 | | 7 | Jonathan Kalil | 203,000 | 102 | 2 | 5 | | 8 | Muaaz Gani | 200,000 | 100 | 4 | 5 | | 9 | Leoni Du Plessis | 167,000 | 84 | 4 | 1 | | 10 | Wesley Blom | 163,000 | 82 | 6 | 4 | | 11 | Keegan Naidoo | 161,000 | 81 | 6 | 3 | | 12 | Sarie Lloyd | 140,000 | 70 | 6 | 2 | | 13 | JP Le Roux | 135,000 | 69 | 5 | 3 | | 14 | Marc Joseph | 127,500 | 64 | 1 | 6 | | 15 | Rudolf Fourie | 125,000 | 63 | 4 | 4 | | 16 | Gavin Sardini | 124,000 | 62 | 4 | 2 | | 17 | Quintin Heather-Clark | 117,500 | 59 | 1 | 4 | | 18 | Reneka Dayaljee | 117,500 | 59 | 5 | 1 | | 19 | Maryna Vechirska | 115,500 | 58 | 2 | 1 | | 20 | Jaco Mouton | 92,500 | 46 | 3 | 3 | | 21 | Max Deveson | 89,500 | 45 | 3 | 4 | | 22 | Gareth Farquharson | 85,000 | 43 | 5 | 4 | | 23 | Banks Solomons | 82,500 | 41 | 5 | 6 | | 24 | Gregory Mokgoatlheng | 82,500 | 41 | 2 | 6 | | 25 | Karl Myburgh | 75,000 | 38 | 1 | 2 | | 26 | Melissa Kalil | 73,000 | 37 | 4 | 6 | | 27 | Eben Lottering | 57,500 | 29 | 3 | 5 | | 28 | Anthony Van Eeden | 50,000 | 25 | 5 | 2 | | 29 | Madankumar Elagala | 45,500 | 23 | 1 | 5 | | 30 | Okkie Fourie | 45,000 | 23 | 3 | 6 | | 31 | Gareth Duncan | 42,500 | 21 | 2 | 3 | | 32 | Michael Gossayn | 33,000 | 17 | 6 | 6 | | 33 | Timothy Du Plessis | 32,000 | 16 | 3 | 2 | | 34 | Natalja Kulikova | 14,000 | 7 | 1 | 1 |