![South Africa [ZAF]](/assets/images/flags/1x1/za.svg "South Africa [ZAF]"){kind=small}
When South Africa hosted its first-ever live poker tournament in 2006, power player Marc Joseph quickly became enticed. He got significantly involved in the poker scene in 2009, bringing South African poker on the up and up.
In only three years of playing poker, Joseph had already made a name for himself, claiming the victorious top title in the Royal Swazi Rumble’s ZAR 10,000 No-Limit Hold’em event and cashing out at ZAR 300,000 (USD 38,661).
He played the Royal Swazi Rumble two more times before his big break in 2015 when he co-created a poker phenomenon-The Monster Jam Poker Tour, in collaboration with Sun International. This tour, which now hosts approximately five major events in various Sun International casinos, has been a resounding success, with prize pools ranging from nine to 20 million rands (up to USD 1,200,000). It has since become Africa’s richest poker tournament.
As for his own career on the felt, Joseph made his best live cash at WPT National Johannesburg that same year, winning ZAR 772,125 (USD 63,874) in the No-Limit Hold’em Event #6. He then focused heavily on MJPT for the next three years and made his American debut in 2019, playing in the DeepStack Championship Poker Series and WSOP 2019.
While Joseph saw some success during his US trips, he remained at the top of his game in South Africa, dominating the SunBet Poker Tour in 2023. He kicked off the 2024 poker season with big wins at the WPT Cambodia championship, collecting a total of USD 86,478.
*Profile by Zoe Alcazaren
Chaar-Lee is the Editor-in-Chief and Technical Architect of SoMuchPoker. With over 20 years across poker media, television production, and enterprise software development — including WorldSkills and EuroSkills recognition as a mentor and expert — he brings rare depth to every editorial and technical decision on this platform. He works exclusively on international poker and iGaming markets.
