In 2012, Naoya Kihara turned the primary Japanese participant in historical past to win a World Sequence of Poker bracelet. During the last 14 years, 9 different Japanese gamers joined him in annals of poker historical past as bracelet winners, most notably two-time champions Ryutaro Suzuki and Shiina Okamoto.
Kihara, now 44 years previous, lastly stands alongside Suzuki and Okamoto as a newly minted two-time WSOP bracelet winner. He received the 2026 WSOP $10,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven championship, defeating a talent-laden closing desk that really included Suzuki, together with a WSOP foremost occasion champion, and a two-time WSOP participant of the yr, amongst others. Kihara earned a first-place payday of $428,923 for the win. This was the third largest reside money of his match profession.
The largest payday on Kihara’s résumé got here in 2022, when he managed a powerful triumvirate of ultimate desk appearances. Alongside along with his third-place end within the 2022 WSOP Poker Gamers Championship for $639,257, Kihara additionally made the ultimate desk of each the $1,500 and $10,000 buy-in sellers selection occasions that summer time.
Outdoors of his summer time of 2022, and his preliminary bracelet win, reside success had been elusive for Kihara over lengthy stretches of his profession. A lot so, in actual fact, that Kihara had critically contemplated stepping away from main reside match occasions.
“I’m now 44, virtually retired from poker,” Kihara advised PokerNews’ Josh Noy. “However I got here again and hopefully I strive for yet another bracelet from now. In any other case, I used to be eager about quitting the match poker, however with this win, I made a decision no less than two to a few extra years for tournaments.”
A Steep Climb To Victory
Within the moments after his victory, Kihara mentioned the truth that he was all the way down to a single small blind on day 1 of the match. His stack recovered to a sure diploma by the shut of the primary day, and Kihara was certainly one of 56 gamers out of 136 whole entries to bag chips.
Registration for the $10,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven championship remained open via the primary stage of day 2, and the full discipline swelled to 198 for a complete prize pool of $1,841,400.
By the tip of day 2, simply 13 gamers remained within the combine. Suzuki held the chip lead, adopted carefully by Shaun Deeb. Kihara sat in third place, with Phil Hellmuth, Alex Foxen, John Monnette, 2018 WSOP foremost occasion champion John Cynn, Chad Eveslage, and Dan Shak among the many contenders.
Jason Daly, who already received his third profession bracelet earlier this summer time, was the primary participant to fall. Deeb took over the chip lead when his jack-low fended off Daly’s draw, sending Daly out in thirteenth place.
Eveslage, a four-time bracelet winner, ran head-first into Suzuki’s dealt 7-6 low, and went out in twelfth place. Foxen’s hopes of his personal fourth bracelet had been additionally dashed by a 7-6, this one belonging to David Lin, and his run resulted in eleventh place.
By the point the primary break had hit, Kihara was in final place among the many closing 10 gamers.
Climbing Again Into It
Monnette, a five-time bracelet winner, went head-to-head with Deeb, and each gamers had been drawing one card to an eight low. Each picked up face playing cards, however Deeb’s jack bested Monnette’s king, knocking Monnette out tenth place. Hellmuth’s goals of an 18th bracelet had been placed on ice when his draw at an 8-6 low didn’t hit towards Robert French’s J-7 low.
Phil Hellmuth
Hellmuth’s previous couple of chips ended up in Kihara’s stack when Kihara drew two playing cards to a 7-5-3 and made a J-10, leaving Hellmuth’s draw at a queen a fruitless endeavor. His second top-10 end ended with Hellmuth out in ninth place ($41,656).
Virtually 4 hours elapsed in real-time earlier than the subsequent elimination from the match. French lastly drew the quick straw on the official closing desk bubble, pairing his 9 on a 9-8 low draw to lose a battle of quick stacks towards Lin.
The ultimate seven gamers went to a dinner break within the midst of it, however there have been greater than four-and-a-half hours in actual time till the subsequent elimination. Per Hildebrand had a one-card draw at an 8-7 towards a two-card draw for Kihara at a 7-5 low. Kihara drew nicely, making a 10-8 low, and Hildebrand squeezed out a king, sending the Swedish participant to the rail in seventh place ($54,467).
At that time, the dam burst. Kihara picked up one more elimination when he and Shak battled with competing one-card seven attracts. Kihara’s jack was sufficient, as Shak picked up a king, and Shak’s lengthy seek for a primary WSOP bracelet continued, as this run resulted in sixth place ($72,834).
Successful The Marathon
Deeb, who had been chip chief at a number of factors within the day, fell quickly after Shak. Each he and Cynn patted, declining to attract any playing cards, and Cynn’s dealt 8-7 dwarfed Deeb’s 10-6. The 2-time WSOP POY winner settled for fifth place ($99,557). When four-handed play started, it seemed to be a two-horse race with Kihara and Cynn nicely out forward of Lin and Suzuki.
Lin doubled again into rivalry, although, when he was dealt a 7-6 towards Suzuki. Lin then took the remainder of Suzuki’s chips with an unlikely winner, drawing an ace to match his Ok-Q draw. However a short-stacked Suzuki, who was drawing at a 9-7 low, paired the 9, and went out in fourth place ($139,038).
Lin doubled once more in a large pot, on the expense of Cynn. Lin drew one card at an 8-7 low and needed to beat Cynn’s pat J-8 low. He peeled a six, making his eight low, and Cynn was left on a precariously quick stack. Cynn obtained all in drawing lifeless towards Lin, and the 2018 WSOP foremost occasion champion’s first bracelet occasion closing desk since that victory resulted in third place ($198,302).
Kihara started heads-up play with the chip lead, however Lin briefly pulled forward. They’d ultimately play one of many greatest pots of the match, and Kihara wanted to finish one closing draw to safe his second bracelet. After four-betting all in, Lin, tabled a 10-8-5-4-2 low. Kihara confirmed a 6-5-3-2, and drew one card. He wanted a seven, an eight, a 9, or a ten to win the pot, and Kihara discovered his very best card as a seven made him a champion.
Kihara’s victory earned him 840 Card Participant Participant of the Yr factors, his first qualifying money in the direction of the 2026 leaderboard introduced by CoinPoker. The $10,000 buy-in occasion additionally certified for PokerGO Tour factors, and Kihara banked 429 in the direction of these season-long standings, good for a spot within the high 25.
Ultimate Desk Outcomes
Place
Participant
Payout
Factors
PGT Factors
1
Naoya Kihara
$428,923
840
429
2
David Lin
$288,711
700
289
3
John Cynn
$198,302
560
198
4
Ryutaro Suzuki
$139,038
490
139
5
Shaun Deeb
$99,557
420
100
6
Dan Shak
$72,834
350
73
7
Per Hildebrand
$54,467
280
54
Picture credit score: WSOP / Alicia Skillman and Miguel Cortes
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