In 2012, Naoya Kihara grew to become the primary Japanese participant in historical past to win a World Series of Poker bracelet. Over the final 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 ultimate desk that truly included Suzuki, together with a WSOP most important 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 dwell money of his event profession.
The largest payday on Kihara’s résumé got here in 2022, when he managed a formidable triumvirate of ultimate desk appearances. Along along with his third-place end within the 2022 WSOP Poker Players 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.
Outside of his summer time of 2022, and his preliminary bracelet win, dwell success had been elusive for Kihara over lengthy stretches of his profession. So a lot so, the truth is, that Kihara had severely contemplated stepping away from main dwell event occasions.
“I’m now 44, almost retired from poker,” Kihara informed PokerInformation’ Josh Noy. “But I came back and hopefully I try for one more bracelet from now. Otherwise, I was thinking about quitting the tournament poker, but with this win, I decided at least two to three more years for tournaments.”
A Steep Climb To Victory
In 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 event. His stack recovered to a sure diploma by the shut of the primary day, and Kihara was one of 56 gamers out of 136 complete entries to bag chips.
Registration for the $10,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven championship remained open by way of the primary degree of day 2, and the whole area 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 intently by Shaun Deeb. Kihara sat in third place, with Phil Hellmuth, Alex Foxen, John Monnette, 2018 WSOP most important 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 have been additionally dashed by a 7-6, this one belonging to David Lin, and his run resulted in eleventh place.
By the time the primary break had hit, Kihara was in final place among the many ultimate 10 gamers.
Climbing Back Into It
Monnette, a five-time bracelet winner, went head-to-head with Deeb, and each gamers have been drawing one card to an eight low. Both picked up face playing cards, however Deeb’s jack bested Monnette’s king, knocking Monnette out tenth place. Hellmuth’s desires of an 18th bracelet have been placed on ice when his draw at an 8-6 low did not hit in opposition to 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).
Almost 4 hours elapsed in real-time earlier than the following elimination from the event. French lastly drew the quick straw on the official ultimate desk bubble, pairing his 9 on a 9-8 low draw to lose a battle of quick stacks in opposition to 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 following elimination. Per Hildebrand had a one-card draw at an 8-7 in opposition to a two-card draw for Kihara at a 7-5 low. Kihara drew properly, 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 yet 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).
Winning The Marathon
Deeb, who had been chip chief at a number of factors within the day, fell quickly after Shak. Both he and Cynn patted, declining to attract any playing cards, and Cynn’s dealt 8-7 dwarfed Deeb’s 10-6. The two-time WSOP POY winner settled for fifth place ($99,557). When four-handed play started, it gave the impression to be a two-horse race with Kihara and Cynn properly out forward of Lin and Suzuki.
Lin doubled again into competition, although, when he was dealt a 7-6 in opposition to Suzuki. Lin then took the remainder of Suzuki’s chips with an unlikely winner, drawing an ace to match his Ok-Q draw. But 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 an enormous 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 in opposition to Lin, and the 2018 WSOP most important occasion champion’s first bracelet occasion ultimate 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 the most important pots of the event, and Kihara wanted to finish one ultimate 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 absolute best card as a seven made him a champion.
Kihara’s victory earned him 840 Card Player Player of the Year factors, his first qualifying money in 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 direction of those season-long standings, good for a spot within the high 25.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | Points | PGT Points |
| 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 |
Photo credit score: WSOP / Alicia Skillman and Miguel Cortes
