About WSOP – World Series of Poker Tournament.
Poker is a very popular card game. More than 100 million people play it around the world. There are a lot of people who play poker, and quite a few Japanese do as well.
Here is a list of some of the most famous Japanese poker players who have won titles and big prizes at poker tournaments all over the world. If you’ve never played poker or don’t know what it is, please take a look!
Mr. Naoya Kihara
As a student at the University of Tokyo, he became hooked on backgammon. While playing shogi and mahjong, he learned about poker. He is without a doubt the best poker player in Japan.
In 2012, he became the first Japanese person to win the “Pot Limit Omaha Six Handed” event at the World Series of Poker. In 2015, he was on the TBS show “Crazy Journey,” where he told people that there are people who make a living by playing poker. Based on the most recent ranking of prize money, he is the seventh best Japanese player.He has a great record among WSOP 2022 日本 人 .In WSOP 2022 Event #4: $1,500 Dealers Choice 6-Handed, he finished third and won $52,282 in prize money.
Mr. Takashi Ogura
Mr. Ogura is a professional mahjong player and also belongs to the Japan Professional Mahjong Association. He can get the “Jakuryu rank” in his first year as a professional mahjong player. In March 2018, the “APPT Macau” tournament was held, and he won a prize worth about 37 million Japanese yen.
His total prize money is more than $1 million, and he is always one of the best poker players in Japan. He seems to be very aware of himself as a professional poker player because he lives in Macau, where he can play against professionals from all over the world at any time.
Mr. Masato Yokosawa
He is a popular YouTuber who talks about what it’s like to be a poker player every day. After dropping out of college and starting an online advertising company, he turned to poker as a career when he was 21. In the same year, he won the WPT Korea, becoming the first Japanese player and the youngest player in the world to do so.
He became known as a star who came out of nowhere. He is not only the company’s representative in a number of European countries, but he is also busy in Las Vegas. The YouTube channel where you can see what poker pros do all day is very interesting and you should definitely check it out.
Among WSOP 2021 日本 人 he has a great record. He came in first at the $ 1,700 No Limit Hold’em – Deepstack Purple Chip Bounty event at the WSOP 2021. By winning that event, he got $44,925 as a prize.
Yuri Ishida
Most professional poker players in Japan are men, so it’s unusual to see a woman, but there are some active Japanese women players. After graduating from a university called a high school for young ladies,
Mr. Ishida attended Japan’s first casino dealer training school. She has won more than 50 million yen in prizes, which is the most money and best performance of any Japanese woman. We think she will do well in the future because she is ranked 17th among Japanese players.
Mr. Kazuki Ikeuchi
A famous プロ ポーカー プレイヤー who goes by the nickname Hyahou . His 2013 bulletin board post “I participated in the poker world tournament, so I’ll upload a photo” received a lot of response and popularity.
Having started playing poker in 2003, he has won 9 times at the world’s highest poker tournament, the WSOP. His most recent win was runner-up at the WSOP in June 2019. 160,000 yen is the participation fee, so it’s a dream.
Tsugu-nii
He has been active as a poker professional since 2010, and has won the championship five times, the most for any Japanese player. He signed the first official contract with a Japanese professional by a Japanese company in January 2020.
In the world of Japanese poker, he has earned more than 250 million yen, the biggest prize for a player. Having won the EPT Prague 2019 twice in one week, he will continue to compete against the world’s best.
Mr. Kazuhiko Yoshitsuka
In 2019, Mr. Shika, who runs a real estate company in Kumamoto Prefecture, suddenly jumped to second place in Japan. He used to play backgammon and has won tournaments as a backgammon player. He is very smart. In 2018, he won almost 35 million yen at the “EPT Barcelona” tournament. As a professional poker player, he still plays in tournaments and has won several awards.
Conclusion
Some of you may have thought, “I want to be like those famous Japanese poker players!” when you saw them.
Aside from gambling, where your cards depend on luck, poker requires skills like knowing the odds of winning, guessing your opponent’s hand, and staying calm. It is very hard to become a professional poker player who can win prizes at the world tournaments , and only a small number of poker players are sponsored.
So, the chances are about the same. If you want to see how good you are at poker before going to a big tournament, you could play a “satellite match” on an online poker site. You can join for as little as a few dollars, but you have to win a lot of games.
