Black Opal 2025 Tournament Rules
 

A. GENERAL
 

1. The Black Opal Baccarat 2025 Tournament (“the Tournament”) is exclusive to qualifying MVG Members, who are at least 18 years of age, who are not excluded from gambling activities or who have not been refused entry to Sun International casinos. Exclusions and refusal of entries imposed during the Tournament will exclude participation.
2. The Tournament will be hosted from 29 January 2025 to 12 May 2025 (“the Tournament Period”). Unit elimination heats will be held from 5 April to 27 APRIL 2025. The Grand Finale will be held from 9-12 May 2025 at Time Square.
3. To be eligible, participants who are MVG Members (“Participants”) must register on the electronic platform for free at each of the participating Sun International entities listed below (‘participating entities”) at the designated VIP or MVG Desks or online for SunBet. Participants may register at multiple participating entities.
4. Participating entities: Boardwalk, Carnival City, GrandWest, Meropa, Sibaya, Sun City, Time Square and SunBet (online).
5. During the Tournament period, players will earn points whilst playing table games in land-based casinos and Live Dealer games on Sunbet.co.za (online) on an accumulative basis across all participating entities where they registered to participate in the tournament. The points earning will commence on the gaming day on 29 January 2025 and terminate at 06h00 SAST on 3 March 2025 (gaming day of 2 March 2025).   
6. After 06h00 SAST on 3 March 2025, the first 3 Players on the group leader board who accumulated the highest table points will each secure a seat at the semi-final table at the group finale.
7. Aside from the 3 group leaderboard players that progress to the group final round, top point earners from the 8 entities will automatically qualify for a seat in the quarter-finals, including the 5 top players from Sunbet.co.za (online), the number of players reflected in the column LB Qualifiers for Sun International casino properties will be selected from each casino’s leaderboard in rank order from highest to lowest to participate in that casino’s unit heats.  
8. Six players will compete in each Sun International casino property heats and the winners thereof as reflected in column Unit Finalists will progress to the Group Finale event at Time Square. TABLE TO BE ADDED
   
   
   
   
9. Seat positions will be allocated by way of a random draw. Seat allocations cannot be changed. Participants/proxies must be present at the draw for seat allocations. 
10. At the quarter-final in the Grand Finale, a player will only be permitted one seat per heat. All other seats held by the player in the same quarter-final heat will be forfeited without the option of a proxy nomination or any form of compensation. 
11. An eligible player will be permitted only one seat in the group semi-finals in the Grand Finale. Where a player obtains more than one seat in the group semi-finals then he/she must relinquish the additional seat(s) without the option of a proxy nomination. Should a Player qualify for a semi-final heat at the Grand Finale and is still to play in a subsequent quarter-final heat in the Grand Finale, the seat held by that Player in the quarter-final heat will be forfeited without the option of a proxy nomination, and that particular quarter-final heat will be conducted without the full quota of players. 
12. Players must be physically present to participate unless they have appointed a valid proxy by completing a proxy form.
13. A proxy will only be permitted to play on behalf of a participant in the instance where a participant has gained a qualifying position on the leaderboards of more than one participating casino which would require him/her to play in the heats at the afore-going casinos on the same day or in instances where the participant is not able to attend for serious reasons, such as ill-health or travelling abroad. The affected participant must notify casino management at least 48 hours in advance of the afore and he/she must sign the tournament proxy nomination form prior to the date of the heat.   
14. Seats are not transferable, and players or proxies must be present at least 15 minutes before the actual start of any heat, semi-final or final where the game rules and relevant protocols will be explained in addition to the written game rules and protocols. Players or their proxies who are not present at least 15 minutes before the actual start of any heat, semi-final or final will forfeit their seats. In such instances, the games concerned will continue without the full quota of players. 
15. At each unit heat, players will be issued with R5 000 tournament chips. At the Grand Finale quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals, players will be issued with R10 000 tournament chips. Tournament chips are not redeemable for any consideration. No re-buys are permitted, and players are not permitted to introduce additional tournament chips at any stage. Any attempts to introduce additional tournament chips will result in immediate disqualification from the Tournament. 
16. Tournament chips must always remain in the designated chip area on the table and in sight of other players. All tournament chips must be returned to the casino after each stage. 
    Coaching of players is not permitted and may result in disqualification at the discretion of the tournament director.
17. Players play for themselves, and no alliances may be formed between Players. Tournament chips cannot be pooled or transferred to other Players.
18. Under no circumstances will any bets be accepted after the dealer has called “No More Bets”
19. No bets will be allowed on perfect pairs.
20. For players to qualify for the winner top-up from Sunbet.co.za, the player must have a registered and active Sunbet.co.za account (to have an active Sunbet.co.za account the player must be fully registered and have made a deposit into this Sunbet.co.za account). 
21. Winning bets over the table limit will be paid out in accordance with the table limit.
22. Sun International reserves the right of admission to the tournament.
23. Sun International reserves the right to terminate the tournament at any stage without prior notification.
24. Tournament chips remain the property of Sun International and prizes are not transferable. 
25. The published or displayed tournament rules are the official rules that are applicable and will supersede any other document containing similar content.  
26. Sun International and the participating entity concerned reserve the right of admission to the tournament and furthermore reserves the right to terminate the tournament at any stage without giving prior notification.
27. The leader board rankings are preliminary outcomes. The ranking displayed at each respective stage will be confirmed by the entity concerned after it has verified the same by 10h00 the following day. In the event of any malfunction of the system used for the automatic ranking on the leader boards, the respective casino will manually rank the participants by relying on the table points earned over the period as recorded by that casino.  
28. Prize money will be paid in line with the advertised prize schedule. Prizes are not transferable. 
29. The tournament calendar and prizes will be advertised through the advertising channels used for this tournament. Dates and times are subject to change without prior notice. Participants must take care to ensure that they are aware of the correct dates and times.
30. By participating in this tournament, it is deemed that participants agree to the tournament rules and furthermore give consent to the casino displaying their personal information on the leaderboards.
31. In the event of any clause, provision, term, or condition in these tournament rules be found not to be enforceable or invalid by any law or is waived by election of Sun International, such clause, provision, term, or condition shall be severed from these rules to the extent that it shall not invalidate the remaining rules. Should Sun International be lenient in applying these rules, it does not mean that Sun International has waived any of its rights.
32. Any indulgence given by the participating entities will not be deemed to be a waiver of any of their rights in terms of these rules.
33. All disputes during the Tournament shall be referred to the respective Tournament Directors at casino and group stages for resolution. The decision of the Tournament Director concerned will be final and binding and no further correspondence will be entered into. In the Western Cape, all gambling-related disputes may be referred to the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board.   

B.  Casino Heats/Elimination Rounds – Game Rules:
 

1. Unit heats will be played with 6 players per table.
2. The players will get R5,000 in Tournament chips to play.
3. The heats will consist of 12 coups.
4. Any bet found to be over the max will only be paid to the table limit.
5. The winners of each heat (highest chip total) will advance to the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final stages. Chips from the previous heat are not carried over.
6. The inspector shall cut the cards.
7. All cards will be dealt face-up in front of the dealer.
8. A rotating marker button will be used to show the betting order, starting from player 1.
9. Each player will be requested to place their bet in a sequential order starting from the player with the marker button.
10. Once a bet has been placed it cannot be changed.
11. Players may not play both player and the banker bets simultaneously.
12. Minimum is R100, maximum R10 000 and all bets must be in multiples of R100 – Tie R100 to R1000.
13. Players must play every coup with a minimum bet on either player or banker. Tie bets can be played only in conjunction with a player or banker bet.
14. The dealer alone will handle the cards during the duration of the tournament.
15. A chip count will be done on the 6th and 11th coups. 
16. In the event of a tie, an extra hand or hands will be dealt until such time that a winner is determined.
17. Pay-outs for both player and banker will be Even Money and Tie bets will be paid at 8 to 1.
18. Players must be physically present to participate. Seats are not transferable and players not present 15 minutes before the actual start of any heat will forfeit their seat. In such instances, the heat will proceed without the full quota of players.
19. Should a player that qualified for the unit heats according to the leader board not be able to attend the unit heat on the set date and time because of exceptional circumstances the player would be allowed to nominate a proxy to play on their behalf. Unit management would need to be informed in writing at least 24 hours prior to the commencement of the unit finals and the appropriate nomination form needs to be completed and submitted to unit management.
     

C. Group finals
 

1. The group finals will be hosted at Time Square in Gauteng Province on the weekend of 9-12 May 2025. The group finals will comprise of the following rounds: quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals.
2. The respective winners from each heat in the unit finals qualify to play in an elimination format tournament with quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals stages at the group finals weekend.
3. Sunbet.co.za qualifiers will qualify to play in the quarter finals at the group tournament.
4. The top player with the highest chip count at the end of the determined number of coups from each heat will advance to the next stage of the tournament as per the structure proposed below.
   
   
   
   
5. The tournament structures below illustrate how the grand finale tournament will be conducted utilising 3 tables. Take note of the various player participant structures in the various stages of the final tournament.
6. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals will be conducted using the same mechanics and format as the unit heats with changes to the following rules:
   • Players will compete in the Quarter-final heats. These will be played over 18 hands (coups) with chip count on the 6th and 17th coups.
   •  A total of 9 players will progress to the semi-finals and the 3-group auto-qualifiers, totalling 12 players that will play in this round. A total of 4 players per table on 3 tables.  
   • Semi-finals will be played over 21 hands (coups), with a chip count on the 7th and 20th coups. 
   • The final 6 on the finale table will be made up of the top 2 from each table in the semi-final round. The finals will be played over 18 hands (coups) with chip counts on the 6th, 12th, and 17th coups. 
   • In the finals, there will be no maximum bet limit for the last 3 hands. 
   • The players will each get R10 000 in Tournament chips to play in the various stages.
7. There will be a heat and seat draw for each of the quarter-finals and semi-final rounds.
8. Should 2 or more finalists exit the final table on the same coup the relevant prize money applicable to those finishing positions will be added together and divided equally. 
9. The 54 players that are eliminated during the quarter-final round will each receive R3 000 non-neg chips and R2 500 Sunbet.co.za voucher, as consolation prize.
10. The 6 players eliminated from the semi-final round will each receive R7 500 non-neg chips and R5 000 Sunbet.co.za voucher as a consolation prize. 
    The 6 finalists will each receive a R10 000 Sunbet.co.za voucher and their associated prize money.
     

D. Main Prize Pool  
 

1. The total main prize pool for the tournament is valued at R2.5milllion and will be distributed as per below: 
   
   
   
   

E. Travel arrangements
 

1. Travel arrangements for the respective players and their partners to travel to Time Square must be finalised within the deadlines set by Sun International, a failing which the players and their partners will be liable for their own travel costs.
2. Players will be liable for costs incurred for any changes made to travel and accommodation bookings, where applicable.
3. Players and their partners will be liable for all costs in respect of goods or services that are not included in the travel and accommodation bookings.