WCOAP All*Stars - Top 20

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We are counting down the top 21 players at WCOAP events of all time.  Follow the countdown by liking the APAT facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/APATPoker/

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Coming in at #21 with 25 ranking points is Yorkshire warrior, Wayne Parker.



Wayne nearly made back to back WCOAP main event final tables when he followed his bronze medal finish in 2010, with a tenth place finish in 2011 - in fields of 425 players and 422 players respectively. Parker hasn"t scored ranking points since his bubble in 2011, but that might change with the series moving to the North of England this season.

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At #20 in our WCOAP All*Stars countdown is John Black, with 25 ranking points.



John has impressed in winning a side event bracelet and two silver medals during the past two WCOAP festivals. He won his bracelet in the 2015 Cash Championship, winning a Silver medal in the Shootout on the same day. Black returned last year to win another Silver medal, this time in the Open Face Chinese event. With a record like that, there seems every chance that the Milton Keynes player will be a serial challenger when the WCOAP rolls into Manchester in April. #apat #wcoap #staker

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Coming in at #19 in our countdown of the WCOAP"s most successful players is Simon Lawlor, with 25 ranking points.



The popular Nottingham man is a mixed games specialist who has cashed at each of the last four World Championship of Amateur Poker festivals. Simon took Silver in the 2013 Razz Championship, returning 12 months later to claim Bronze in the same event. In 2015, he switched his focus to the Mixed Games Championship, exiting in 8th, before claiming a Silver in the same event last year. With 3 mixed game medals and 4 final tables, we wouldn"t bet against Lawlor landing his maiden bracelet in Manchester. #apat #wcoap #staker

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With 5 cashes in the past 4 seasons, Kevin O"Hanlon is ranked #18 on our World Championship of Amateur Poker All*Stars list.



O"Hanlon; a fixture in the Ireland team for some years now, is unique in achieving his cashes in 5 different tournament formats. He first tasted success in 2013, taking a Bronze medal in the Heads Up Championship, which was quickly followed by a 5th place finish in the HORSE Championship. The London based Irishman drew a blank in 2014, but went on to take a Silver medal as part of the runner-up Ireland team in the 2015 World Amateur Team Championship. Last season brought another two final tables for the unassuming Dundalk fan. A 7th place finish in the Turbo Championship and another Silver medal, this time in the Stud Championship. O"Hanlon has proven himself capable in numerous WCOAP formats and looks certain to grind his way to further final tables in Manchester. But can he win an elusive WCOAP bracelet? Watch this space come April. #apat #wcoap #staker

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We continue our countdown of APAT's top 21 ranked players at the World Championship of Amateur Poker.

Coming in at #17 is Jon Seal with 26 ranking points - earned through four series cashes, three of them medal finishes.



Seal won the first of two Silver medals when he was runner-up in the HORSE Championship in 2010. He returned in 2011 to go one better, claiming Gold and the WCOAP title in the Stud Championship. Jon had to wait until 2013 for his next cash, the result of a run to 30th of 449 players in the Main Event. Seal scored another cash in 2014, this time finishing runner-up in the Omaha Hi-Lo Championship. The Barrow in Furness man is a fierce competitor who many will fancy to add to his cashes record when WCOAP 2017 kicks off in Manchester in a little over a month. Reserve your seat at www.apat.com. #apat #wcoap #staker

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Coming in at #16 in our countdown of APAT's top 20 World Championship of Amateur Poker ranked players is Paul McGuinness.



McGuinness captained a legendary Welsh team to back to back World Amateur Team victories in 2010 and 2011 to cement his place in APAT folklore. While excelling in the team format, the Rhyl man"s first of five WCOAP cashes came in the 2010 HORSE Championship, where he finished fourth. He followed that up by winning the same event in 2011 - to capture his third WCOAP title. A magnificent feat which has only been surpassed by one other player in WCOAP history. Paul"s last WCOAP cash came in 2014, when completing a hat-trick of HORSE final tables, this time finishing fifth. With the close proximity of this years WCOAP series to his North Wales base, let"s hope Paul is able to take a run at the HORSE and 8 Game Championship bracelets. It would be hard to imagine a more popular winner. Reserve your seat for WCOAP 2017 at www.apat.com. #apat #wcoap #staker

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Coming in at #15 in our countdown of the top 20 players in World Championship of Amateur Poker history is Tristan Chaplin, with 26 ranking points.



Tristan had the first of his five WCOAP cashes finishing 17th of 176 players in the 2014 Six Max Championship. The Halstead man reached the top of the WCOAP mountain a couple of days later, when he scooped Gold and the coveted Main Event title, beating 331 opponents to APAT's richest prize. He reached two final tables the following year, finishing 7th in the High Roller and 9th in the Six Max. Chaplin showed his consistency in the short seat format when cashing his third consecutive Six Max Championship last year, this time finishing 7th. It"s no coincidence that Tristan is the highest ranked WCOAP Main Event champ of all time. He"s a big hearted competitor and one who we expect to challenge for Player of the Series honours when the WCOAP hits Manchester in April. Reserve your seat at www.apat.com. #apat #wcoap #staker.

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At #14 in our countdown of the top 20 ranked players at the WCOAP is Joey Craig, with 27 ranking points.



Craig first came to our attention when he final tabled the High Roller Championship in 2015, finishing 8th. He topped this a couple of days later, beating a field of 148 runners to take the Six Max title and bracelet. But that wasn"t to be the last we heard of the Kensington player at the 2015 series. He entered the Main Event as one of 397 hopefuls, going on to make his third final table of the week, finishing 8th. To add icing to the cake, Joe"s incredible run of form powered him to the 2015 WCOAP Player of the Series title. Twickenham born Joe had a quieter World Championship of Amateur Poker in 2016, but was still able to add his fourth overall cash when repeat final tabling the Six Max, finishing 5th. A personable guy on and off the table, Joe Craig won"t be short of backers should he choose to enter the big field NLHE events in Manchester. Reserve your WCOAP seat at www.apat.com. #apat #wcoap #staker.

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27 points are enough to see Michael Perry secure 13th position on our list of the top 20 players of all time at the World Championship of Amateur Poker.



The Southampton man has cashed five times since 2013, winning two medals. Perry"s first cash brought his biggest result, when he took the bracelet and Omaha Championship title in 2013. Proving the result was no fluke, he returned in 2014 to cash a further three times. His first cash of that series saw him get to heads up in defense of his Omaha title, finishing 2nd on this occasion. The Omaha specialist would go on to finish 9th in the Hi-Lo Championship and 5th in the Stud Championship later that week. Michael showed his four card prowess again in 2015, when finishing 5th in what was fast becoming known as "Perry"s Omaha Championship". With that level of consistency, it"s no stretch to suggest that Michael Perry is one of the finest Omaha players within APAT and he can be expected to run deep should he choose to compete in Manchester. Reserve your seat at the WCOAP at www.apat.com. #apat #wcoap #staker.

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Phil Ip comes in at #12 on our overall ranking of the top 20 players at the World Championship of Amateur Poker.



The young German player has made quite a splash, with 6 cashes and 29 ranking points in his first two WCOAP series. Phil came to prominence in 2015 when he arrived as part of the German team, who would go on to win Bronze in the World Amateur Team Championship. Shortly afterwards, he cashed again, this time finishing 6th in the Omaha Hi-Lo Championship. The Hamburg player kept his best to last however, capping his first APAT experience with the bracelet and title in the Heads Up Championship. He returned last year and achieved an almost identical set of results. He repeated his Bronze medal winning performance with Germany in the Team Championship and went on to finish joint 5th in his defence of the Heads Up title. Most impressively, he repeated his bracelet winning performance of the previous year, this time winning the Omaha Championship, where he outlasted a field of 96 runners. There will be high expectations for player of the series honours when the Hamburg man competes in Manchester next month. He'll need to continue his rich vein of form to achieve that award, but we're certainly not betting against it. Reserve your WCOAP seat via www.apat.com. #apat #wcoap #staker.

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Continuing our build up to the World Championship of Amateur Poker and coming in at #11 in our all time WCOAP rankings is Carl Pilgrim.



What can you say about a man who has achieved it all with APAT over the years? A multiple National Championship winner, a member of the World Championship winning England team in 2013, an APAT Award winner and above all, a competitor with the heart of a lion and the on and off table demeanour of a gentleman.
On top of his phenomenal APAT record, Carl's WCOAP history does not disappoint, with 8 cashes achieved in 6 of the last 7 seasons.
He made his first WCOAP final table in 2010, finishing 5th in the Omaha Championship. He cashed the same event in 2011, this time finishing 11th of 121 runners. He won his only WCOAP Bracelet as a member of the victorious England team in 2013 and followed this up a few days later with a deep run in the Main Event, finishing 41st of 449 runners. He final tabled the Antes Only Championship in 2014, taking Bronze.
The Ipswich man returned in 2015, adding a further two final tables to his honours roll. He took another Bronze medal, this time in the Shootout Championship, before finishing 5th in the Omaha Hi Lo. Carl would have another deep run in the 2016 Main Event, finishing 38th of 393 runners to secure a total of 29 WCOAP ranking points.
Carl will marry the lovely Emma in Las Vegas in June, during APAT's much heralded visit to Sin City. As a result it's unlikely that he will compete in Manchester over Easter and the series will be worse for his absence. He will however be everyone's early favourite for the APAT North American Championship being played downtown at the Golden Nugget in June.
Reserve your WCOAP seat at www.apat.com. #apat #wcoap #staker

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We're back on the trail of the top 20 players at the World Championship of Amateur Poker. Coming in at #10 is Tony Ross with 31 ranking points.



The Ilfracombe man has achieved a top ten ranking on the back of three World Championship cashes, the first two of which were at WCOAP #1 in 2008!
The Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London was the venue for APAT's first World Championship, which featured Stud, Omaha and Razz events, in addition to the two day Main Event. Tony's festival got off to a great start when he final tabled the Omaha Championship, bubbling the medals to finish 4th.
He would fair better in the 206 runner inaugural Main Event, taking the Silver medal as runner up to Nick Jenkins in a highly charged final.
It would be 2014 before Ross would cash again, this time repeating his Silver medal performance in the Cash Championship.
He's one of the nicest guys on the tour and it would be no surprise if Tony Ross extended his WCOAP cashes duration from 2008 to 2017 in Manchester.
Go to www.apat.com to reserve your seat at the World Championship of Amateur Poker. #apat #wcoap #staker

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Coming in at #9 in our all time ranking of the top 20 players at the World Championship of Amateur Poker is Mark Lassman.



The Irish international has cashed four times at the WCOAP, claiming two medals and 32 ranking points.

Mark first tasted success in 2010 when he final tabled the Main Event, finishing 4th of 425 runners.

He had to wait until 2013 for his next cash, taking the Bronze medal in the Razz Championship.

Lassman followed that up with a final table in the Omaha Hi Lo Championship in 2014, finishing 7th.

The Penguin enthusiast locked up a third consecutive cash in 2015, taking his second medal; again a Bronze, in the Crazy Pineapple Championship.

Mark Lassman is one of APAT's great competitors and there's no question he is capable of making further deep runs when the WCOAP rolls into Manchester from April 8th.

We also wish the keen cyclist well in his upcoming two wheeled endeavours. Members can find out more via Mark's blog. http://bit.ly/lassman.

To reserve your WCOAP seat, see www.apat.com. #apat #wcoap #staker

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We are in the final stages of our countdown of the top 20 players at the World Championship of Amateur Poker.

Today, we've reached the #8 ranked player, Gabriel Dory Iemmito.



Fiery Italian Iemmito has cashed five times since opening his WCOAP account in 2013, scoring 32 ranking points. Most significantly, he is the all-time WCOAP record bracelet holder, with 4 side event titles to his name.

The Casinó Campione d'Italia poker dealer won a Silver medal as a member of the Italian team that was runner up to the all-conquering England team in the 2013 World Amateur Team Championship.

He would follow that up with an extraordinary series in 2015, which yielded a record single series haul of three bracelets.

Gabriel struck Gold first in event #4 Open Face Chinese, beating Paresh Doshi heads up.

The following day, he struck Gold again, this time beating Adam Watkins heads up in event #5 Mix Max Championship.

It seemed inevitable that his hat-trick of Bracelets would arrive a few days later in the World Amateur Team Championship. And it duly did, when the Italian team, captained by Luca Cannella, won event #11, beating Ireland into Silver and Germany into the Bronze medal positions.

Gabriel returned in 2016 as the hottest of favourites to add to his three Bracelets and he did not disappoint, repeating his Open Face Chinese Championship win of the previous year.

To top another great series, the Lanzo d'Intelvi player saw his partner Dorina win her first WCOAP bracelet in the Shootout Championship.

With his place in the Italian team confirmed for the 2017 series, it'll be extremely interesting to see whether Iemmito can keep up the incredible standard that he's set to date. While his bracelet wins have largely come in smaller field events, there's no doubting that he's an incredible finisher, who should thrive in Manchester's mixed event fields.

Reserve your WCOAP seat at www.apat.com. #apat #wcoap #staker