Joby Plunkett was one of many partypoker players who thoroughly enjoyed the recent APAT World Championship Of Amateur Poker (WCOAP). Topping the WCOAP Mini leaderboard is just one of the reasons for Joby’s enjoyment. The structure of our tournaments was another major factor, as you’re about to find out.
Joby lives in Cambridgeshire with his fiancee, Karen, and their one-year-old daughter. Joby is a musician by trade but the COVID-19 pandemic has changed this dramatically.
“I am now mostly on father duties and try to play as much poker as possible.”
Like many poker players, TV shows like Late Night Poker introduced him to the game of poker.
“I first heard about poker through watching old poker TV shows like Late Night Poker and the partypoker Premier League. I started playing home games with friends and at work during my lunch break, then gradually started to venture out to the odd casino tournament, but because we live so far from any casino, I gravitated to playing mostly online poker.”
Hooked On APAT Since 2016
Despite playing predominately online, Joby is a regular feature in APAT live events and has been for the past four or five years. What is it that makes APAT so special to Joby?
“Ever since going along to our first APAT event in 2016 my fiancee Karen and I have been hooked. The welcoming atmosphere and camaraderie between the players is unmatched. As well as being professionally run with great structures and affordable buy-ins, it makes for an experience we don’t want to miss. The WCOAP is also a big draw as it’s run like a mini WSOP with bracelets for every even and I’m a sucker for a trophy.”
Joby shone brightly in the recent WCOAP Mini events, which mirrored the WCOAP events but featured a buy-in one-tenth of the size.
APAT WCOAP Mini Series Standings
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joby Plunkett | 485.02 |
| 2 | Gustav Warn | 481.35 |
| 3 | Jens Heggelmann | 463.14 |
| 4 | Igor Zheleznikov | 446.02 |
| 5 | Oleg Bobyr | 415.21 |
| 6 | Alexey Gryaznov | 399.39 |
| 7 | Eryck Soares Lopes Rabelo | 386.13 |
| 8 | Roman Feshenko | 352.70 |
| 9 | Michael Reilly | 345.10 |
| 10 | Petri Juikikkala | 338.28 |
“It feels great to top the mini WCOAP leaderboard. After a couple of big field back-to-back third-places and some other cashes, I managed to cling onto that top spot by a few points, even after not cashing in the Main Event.”
“The structures were spot on. There was so much play in the low events that they pretty much mirrored the structures of the higher buy-ins, plus there was a decent mix of variants to suit everyone.”
A Free Shot at the MILLIONS Online Mini Main Event
Less than four points separated Joby and runner-up Gustav Warn, meaning Joby got his hands on a free $1,100 entry to the MILLIONS Online Mini Main Event. Joby opted to play on Day 1B but, sadly, failed to progress to Day 2.
“The MILLIONS Mini Main Event was a great experience. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite make Day 2, finishing 205th with 106 progressing. Along the way, I managed to eliminate a WSOP Europe Main Event champion, and at one stage when I checked the chip counts, I was between Fedor Holz and Christoph Vogelsang, which was quite a surreal moment. Thanks to partypoker and APAT for the opportunity.”
Poker How It Should Be Played
Joby mentioned the amazing structures of the APAT WCOAP tournaments, but he’s also a big fan of the changes we’ve made to our Daily Legends events where everything is geared towards levelling the playing field.
“I really like the idea of limited re-entry or just full freezeout tournaments as I feel it’s the way poker should be played. I understand why re-entries are popular for people that have travelled a long way to play a live tournament, but online and especially for Championship events, it can only help to bring new players into the game if re-entry is limited. I think knowing that you won’t have to knock the same player out multiple times just because they can afford to re-enter makes it a much more level playing field.”
After getting a taste for higher buy-in tournaments, what poker-related plans does Joby have for the rest of 2021?
“My poker goals were to play more live tournaments but that has been put on hold by the current situation, but hopefully those days will return soon. IN the meantime, after playing the MILLIONS Online Mini Main Event, it has definitely given me the drive to try and qualify and play some more of those higher buy-in events and battle with the elite of the tournament world.”
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