Toby Boas marching to his own beat at WPT bestbet Scramble

Paul Oresteen
Posted on: November 13, 2023 04:06 PST

Toby Boas returned as one of the 17 final players on Day 3 of the $5,000 World Poker Tour bestbet Scramble. The Jacksonville card room is where Boas cut his teeth learning the game and growing into one of the most feared cash game regulars on property.

Boas returned as an average stack and was upbeat at the start of the day. “I feel good,” he said. “I feel nervously excited.” Boas isn’t just a cash game player, he has $1.5 million on his Hendon Mob profile and seven WPT cashes to his credit.

Finding a new path

Recently, Boas and his wife relocated to North Carolina. “My wife and I moved to the mountains to get away a little bit,” he said. “Our families are still here and I lived in Florida my whole life; but I wanted to pick up and carve our own path.”

WPT bestbet Scramble

Boas’ path is more eccentric than most, wearing wolf tie dye shirts and an Afghan sweater. “My wife Angel plays poker too and she picked up crocheting during the pandemic,” he said. “She was going to make another one for somebody else, but I told her she has to make me another one first because they’re so cool.”

A homecoming at bestbet

Playing the tournament this week was a no-brainer for Boas. “I always love coming back here,” he said. “I love playing here – it’s my favorite place to play. The people and staff are just the best here. They are the most fun to play cash games with and they get great fields for tournaments too.”

The schedule for today’s play calls for the field to play down to the final six players. “My goal is to just make the next day and try to play well,” Boas said. “I feel like I misplayed a couple of hands last night, calling off with king queen suited was bad. Then I tried to make a big bluff on the chip leader which went bad.”

“I was lucky to get back to a million,” he continued. “I try to hold myself to a high standard and not try to beat myself up too much, but it still hurts when you make a mistake like that.”