In Johannesburg, South Africa, the South African Poker Open kicked off with 175 entrants, who each paid a 25,000 rands (or approximately $3,600) buy-in, building a prize pool of more than $500,000. Raymond Rahme, the third-place finisher in the 2007 World Series of Poker main event, played in the South African Poker Open but failed to make the final table. It was Darren Kramer who won the nearly $141,000 first-place prize. Chris Convery took home just under $96,000 for second place.
