Excitement is building for the second edition of The Asunción Times Grand Poker Tournament, scheduled for Sunday, 8 February, 2026, starting at 15:00 at the prestigious Casino de Asunción. Open to beginners and seasoned Texas Hold’ em players alike, the buy-in is Gs. 500,000 (with Gs. 400,000 going to the prize pool and Gs. 100,000 covering expenses).
The inaugural tournament, held in December 2025 at the Casino de Asunción, marked a thrilling debut. The event drew 40 participants from across the globe, representing four continents. South African Theo Knoetze emerged victorious, claiming the top prize of Gs. 11,700,000 (approximately US$1,700). The Asunción Times sat down with Knoetze for a chat about his tournament experience.
Strong ties to Paraguay
Theo Knoetze lives in Mexico with his partner Wanda, but has strong ties to Paraguay, having secured residence in September 2025. Originally from South Africa, he never played poker in a casino before, and had not touched the game seriously in a very long time.
“I had not played any poker for the last 15 year,” Knoetze recalles smiling. He entered the tournament primarily for networking after a friend mentioned the event. “I thought ‘that is a good way to meet other people’, and actually did not really think much of the poker.”
A challenging start
His first hand set a challenging tone: On the button with pocket queens, he slow-played, only to lose to a flopped set of twos. “My very first opening hand, I was not even quite ready, still chatting away… I slow-played the hand, playing it completely wrong.”
Despite this early setback, Knoetze adopted a conservative strategy amid small stacks and frequent rebuys at his table. He survived to level nine without rebuys, reaching the break with around 40,000 chips, then used the add-on for extra chips. “I played a real conservative game. I definitely did bluff here and there, but my stack did not really grow much.”
Messaging his partner Wanda
Short-stacked near the final table, he messaged Wanda to come see him play: “She had never seen a final table, and she had never seen me play poker before either. The casino put caps out on the table for the final nine players. That was really cool.”
In the end stage of the tournament, being already into the top six paid places, Koetze changed his style: “When we were down to three players, I really started playing more aggressively. Everybody was scared.”
Heads-up for the title
Heads-up with Krzysztof Wojciechowski from Poland, the two players traded chips in a back-and-forth battle, but Knoetze ultimately prevailed with a pair of 4’s over his opponent’s King-Queen, securing the championship title and the first-place prize of Gs. 11,700,000. Wo walked away with Gs. 8.800.000.
Knoetze’s win completed his visit to Paraguay. He enjoyed every minute of the tournament experience. “I thought really it was going to be just a social event with meeting a bunch of people. But it was a great, well-run event.”
Second edition coming up!
The second edition of the The Asunción Times Grand Poker Tournament is scheduled for Sunday, 8 February, 2026, starting at 15:00 at Casino de Asunción. Buy-in on arrival, follow in Knoetze’s footsteps, and become the next poker champion of Asunción!
