Black Opal 2025 Tournament Rules
 

A. GENERAL
 

1. The Black Opal Baccarat 2026 Tournament (“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 excluded from any participating Sun International casinos and Sunbet. Exclusions and refusal of entries imposed during the Tournament will exclude participation.
2. The Tournament will be hosted from 23 January 2026 to 12 April 2026  (“Tournament Period”). The earning period will commence on the gaming day of 23 January 2025 and will terminate at 06:00 on calendar day of 16 February 2026 (i.e. gaming day of 15 February 2026). Unit elimination heats will be held from 6 March to 23 March 2026. The Grand Finale will be held from 10-12 April 2026 at Sibaya Casino in KwaZulu-Natal.
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.
   
   Participating entities: Boardwalk Casino, Carnival City Casino, GrandWest Casino, Meropa Casino, Sibaya Casino, Sun City Casino, Time Square Casino and SunBet (online).
   
   
4. During the Tournament Period Participants will earn baccarat tables points whilst playing baccarat games in land-based casinos and Live Dealer baccarat games on SunBet (online) on an accumulative basis across all participating entities where they registered to participate in the Tournament. To qualify to participate in the tournament, a participant must earn a minimum of 100 Baccarat Tables points during the Tournament Period.
5. After 06h00 on 16 February 2026 (calendar day), and following internal verifications, the first 3 Participants 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.
6. Aside from the top 3 group leader board participants who will progress to the group final round, the on each unit leaderboard of the 8 participating entities will automatically qualify for a seat at the quarter-finals, including the top 5 Baccarat Points earners from SunBet (online), the number of Participants  reflected in the column LB Qualifiers for Sun International casino properties will be selected from each casino’s leader board in rank order from highest to lowest to participate in that casino’s unit heats.
7. Six Participants will compete in the respective casino property heats and the winners thereof as reflected in column Unit Finalists will progress to the Group Finale event at Sibaya Casino.
   
   



8. Seat positions will be allocated by way of a random draw. Seat allocations cannot be changed. Participants must be present at the draw for seat allocations.
9. At the quarter final in the Grand Finale a Participant will only be permitted one seat per heat. All other seats held by that Participant in the same quarter final heat will be forfeited without the option of a proxy nomination or any form of compensation.
10. An eligible Participant will be permitted only one seat in the group semi-finals in the Grand Finale. Where a Participant 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 Participant 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 Participant 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.
11. Participants must be physically present to participate.
12. Seats are not transferable, and Participants 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/tournament rules and protocols. Participants 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 Participants.
13. At each unit heat, Participants 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 in tournament chips. Tournament chips are not redeemable for any consideration. No re-buys are permitted, and Participants are not permitted to introduce additional tournaments chips at any stage. Any attempts to introduce additional tournament chips will result in immediate disqualification from the Tournament.
14. 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.
15. Coaching of players is not permitted and may result in disqualification at the discretion of the tournament director.
16. Participants play for themselves, and no alliances may be formed between Participants. Tournament chips cannot be pooled or transferred to other Participants.
17. Under no circumstances will any bets be accepted after the dealer has called “No More Bets”.
18. No bets will be allowed on Perfect Pairs.
19. For Participants to qualify for the Sunbet top up prize, the respective Participant must have a registered and active Sunbet account (to have an active Sunbet account the Participant must be fully registered and have made a deposit into this Sunbet account).
20. Winning bets over the table limit will be paid out in accordance with the table limit.
21. Sun International (South Africa) Limited or the participating entities (collectively “Sun International”) reserves the right of admission to the Tournament.
22. Sun International reserves the right to terminate the Tournament at any stage without prior notification and without compensation.
23. Tournament chips remain the property of Sun International.
24. The published or displayed Tournament rules are the official rules that are applicable and will supersede any other document containing similar content.
25. 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 affected participating entity will manually rank the Participants by relying on the tables points earned over the period as recorded by that participating entity. 
26. Prizes will be paid in line with the advertised prize schedule. Prizes are not transferable.
27. The tournament calendar and prizes will be advertised through the adverting 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.
28. By participating in this tournament, it is deemed that Participants agree to the tournament rules and furthermore give consent to the participating entities to displaying their personal information on the leader boards.
29. 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.
30. 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.
31. 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.
32. Travel arrangements for the respective Players and their partners to travel to Sibaya Casino must be finalized within the deadlines set by Sun International, failing which affected Participants and their partners will be liable for their own travel costs.
33. Participants and their partners will be liable for costs incurred for any changes made to travel and accommodation bookings, where applicable. Also, the afore-going persons will be liable for all costs in respect of goods or services that are not included in the travel and accommodation bookings.

B. UNIT HEATS/ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT
 

1. Unit heats will be played with 6 players per table.
2. Participants will be issued 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 which will be used to show the betting order, starting from Participant in “player 1” position.
9. Each Participant will be requested to place their bet in a sequential order starting from the Participant with the marker button.
10. Once a bet has been placed it cannot be changed.
11. Participants 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. Participants 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. Save for the cutting of the cards by the Inspector, the dealer alone will handle the cards during the duration of the tournament.
15. A chip count will be done during the 6th and 11th coups.
16. On the final coup and before the commencement placing bets, each Participant will be allowed a secret bet consisting of a capped bet of R2000 on either the Player or the Banker. The Participant will record and sign for their bet in secret and away from the table but must pay for the bet in front of the other Participants. The Dealer will check that the Participant has advanced the correct amount for the bet and will hand the secret bet to the Inspector. The secret bets will be opened and placed by the dealer on completion of the coup.
17. In the event of a tie, an extra hand or hands will be dealt until such time that a winner is determined.
18. Pay-outs for both Player and Banker will be Even Money and Tie bets will be paid at 8 to 1.
19. Participants must be physically present to participate. Seats are not transferable and Participants who are 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.

C. GROUP FINALS
 

1. The group finals will be hosted at Sibaya Casino in KwaZulu-Natal Province on the weekend of 10-12 April 2026. 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 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 Take note of the various 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:
   1. 63 Participants will compete in the Quarter final heats. These will be played over 12 hands (coups) with chip count on the 6^th and 11^th
   2. Participants will each get R10,000 in Tournament chips to play in the various stages.
   3. A total of 9 Participants will progress to the semi-finals and the 3-group auto-qualifiers, totaling 12 Participants that will play in this round. A total of 4 Participants per table on 3 tables.
   4. Semi-finals will be played over12 hands (coups), with a chip count on the 6^th and 11^th
   5. 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 12hands (coups) with chip counts on the 6^thand 11^th,
   6. In the finals, there will be no maximum bet limit for the last 3 hands.
   7. On the final coup and before the commencement placing bets, each Participant will be allowed a secret bet consisting of a capped bet of R2,000 on either the Player or the Banker. The Participant will record and sign for their bet in secret and away from the table but must pay for the bet in front of the other Participants. The Dealer will check that the Participant concerned has advanced the correct amount for the bet and will hand the secret bet to the Inspector. The secret bets will be opened and placed by the dealer on completion of the coup.
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 Participants who are eliminated during the quarter-final round will each receive R3,000 non-neg chips and , 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 voucher as a consolation prize.
11. The 6 finalists will each receive a R10,000 Sunbet voucher and their associated prize money.

D. MAIN PRIZE POOL
 

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