Royal Swazi Rumble 2010 preview

Ace High Poker’s first tournament for 2010 promises to be a cracker. It looks like it’s going to be a big one,
with 110 poker players expected to descend on the Royal Swazi Spa Valley Hotel from the 19^th to the 21^st
of February 2010.

The tournament organisers are understandably pleased to see a number of new faces joining a large group
of SA's top players for the tournament. This type of turnout is a stark reminder that this sport is still growing
in Southern Africa. Unfortunately not all of the big name players will be there, but a lot of the highest climbers
in the BLUFF SA Player Rankings over the last six months will be, with the Swazi Rumble offering another
opportunity to climb the rankings even further.

Bennie Lingenfelder, Daniel Lamberti, Hennie Appel, Jay Sookoo, Dave Rosenthal and BLUFF SA magazine's
editor, Ryan Dreyer make up the tournament favourites, along with Jared Solomon, Emmanual Kistan, Clinton
Nourse, Gareth Kalil and of course Ray Rahme. With that said, there are a bunch of new players looking to
surprise the old hands and make their name in 2010. There will once again be a strong challenge from the
ladies, with Martie Faber and previous best lady finisher Nadia van der Heever heading up a field of about
eight females, all looking to make their presence felt at the tables this weekend.

The 2010 edition of the Royal Swazi Rumble sees a R12,5000 buy-in, which includes the player's R10,000
tournament entry, two nights accommodation for both player and a partner at the Royal Swazi Spa Valley
Hotel and Lugogo Sun, as well as breakfast, a buffet dinner on Saturday night and snacks and soft drinks
within the poker room. Players and guests start arriving from 14h00 on Friday, with registration starting at
17h00 and play gets underway at 20h00 on Friday night.

The R10,000 tournament entry gets players 30,000 chips, with blinds going up every 45 minutes. This is a
reeze-out tournament, so no re-buys, but to keep players who exit the tourney busy, the Royal Swazi Rumble
is also offering a Second Chance Tournament, which is sure to provide great action in itself. There will be a
R2000 shootout, with each tournament table starting as soon as 10 players have bought-in. Each contestant
starts with 5000 chips and the table then plays down to the final two players. Once the play is heads up the
last two players will have a chip count and will qualify for the final table on that basis. The top two players
from each table will start the final on Sunday morning, with the same stacks they finished their initial heat on.

With players carrying their chip stacks through to the final table means that there’s so much more than just
surviving involved in the shootout, with the opportunity for strong players in the heats to take a good advantage
into the final. Organisers expect to have 10 shootout tables, which would bring the shootout prize pool to R180,000,
with the winner taking home R60,000 - a great return on their investment of a R2000 buy-in.

Following on from the success of this tournament, the Ace High team could look to add another Royal Swazi
Rumble tournament to the SA poker calendar, in addition to the other two tournaments planned for the 19^th -
21^st August and 5^th - 7^th November 2010.

All the weekend's action, including the other planned tournaments will be covered LIVE by BLUFF SA magazine.
So be sure to check out our Twitter feed at twitter.com/BluffMag_SA, as well as our website and Facebook pages,
to ensure you feel like you're right there, checking out all the big names in SA poker in action.

For more information contact Ace High Poker's Matt on 083 457 4119. For bookings call 011 803 7556
or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Royal Swazi Rumble – A look back at 2009

With the first Royal Swazi Rumble almost upon us, BLUFF SA takes a look back at last year's events in
the build-up to the big weekend.

2009 was the first year that Ace High Poker introduced the Royal Swazi Rumble tournament to the
Southern African poker circuit, and since then it has grown from strength to strength.

With the event held at the Royal Swazi Hotel, players are ensured of a spectacular experience. Every
players' buy-in covers all costs, from accommodation for their partner plus themselves, as well as meals
for the weekend and soft drinks within the poker room on the Saturday evening.

The first Royal Swazi Rumble in July 2009 hosted 103 players, making the prize pool R927, 000, which
was divided amongst the last 10 players. The 11^th player received a Samsung LCD TV for being knocked
out on the bubble. The top 3 poker players walked away with a combined R650,000, with Clinton Nourse
taking top honours, walking away with R309 000.
Muaaz Gani was second, winning R209 000 and Nad
Kevajee third, taking home R109 000.

In September the second Royal Swazi Rumble was even bigger, attracting 110 poker players, with a prize
pool of R1 million. The Ace High team once again divided the prize pool amongst the top 10 players with
the 11^th placed player receiving a Samsung LCD TV. Dean Douch won this event, walking away with
R350,000 - a great investment on his R12,500 buy-in. Nahum Lum placed second, winning R200 000
and Ray Rahme third, taking home R150 000.

This tournament was such a success that the Ace High Team decided to add one last Swazi Rumble
ournament to the 2009 schedule. This was to be held once again at the Royal Swazi Hotel in November
where 93 poker players attended, taking the prize pool to R834,000. Gareth Kalil took home first place,
with his 4^th final placing for the year.

The 2010 swing in Swaziland promises to be just as exciting, and you can catch all the action right here
on www.bluffmagazine.co.za with blog posts and twitter updates all weekend long.

Check out tomorrow's post, where we look at the weekend ahead and make some predictions for the tournament.

Countdown to the next R3,500,000 All Africa Poker Tournament Has Begun!

Piggs Peak Casino is proud to announce that they will be hosting the first major poker tournament of 2010, from the
11 – 14 March 2010 at Piggs Peak Hotel and Casino, Swaziland. 

The R3,500,000 All Africa Poker Tournament will start on Thursday, 11 March 2010 at 8pm and there are 120 seats
available. The Main Event prize winner will not only walk away with the prestigious title of All Africa Poker Champion,
but will receive R1 Million cash.

After many of the local players asked for a new structure, we can now confirm that the Buy-in has come down to
R20,000 whilst the starting stack has increased to 10,000 chips. The rebuys and add ons have also increased in
chip amounts, both having been doubled, whilst the cost has remained the same. The R20,000 Buy-in, includes
1 x Main Event AAPT seat, a starting chip stack of 10,000 chips, 3 night’s accommodation at Orion Piggs Peak
Hotel & Casino for the player and one partner, all meals and drinks in the poker room.  

There are unlimited re-buys for the first four hours of the tournament and  one add-on will take place at the end
of the re-buy period. Re-buys are R5,000 for 10,000 chips and the Add-on is R7,500 for 25,000 chips.

The Main Event prize pool is broken down as follows:

Piggs Peak Casino will also be hosting cash games from Thursday evening and through out the Main Event for
all players and partners to take part in. Buy your seat today! For more information contact Victoria on 0800 003 549
or CLICK HERE

Check out the Piggs Peak Tournament of Champions HERE

Check out the Piggs Peak Tournament of Gladiators HERE