Naoya Kihara Goes Back-to-Back In WSOP Championship Events

Naoya Kihara was on the verge of stepping away from tournament poker before traveling to Las Vegas for the 2026 World Series of Poker. The 44-year-old player made history as the first Japanese player to ever win a WSOP gold bracelet, but had found the success he’d hoped for in recent years. But, sometimes after a drought comes the deluge.

He started his summer off with a win in the $10,000 deuce-to-seven single-draw lowball championship, breaking a 14-year winless streak at the series to earn his second career bracelet. Then, in the very next $10,000 buy-in championship on the schedule, Kihara topped a stacked field and final table to go back-to-back. He beat out 130 entries in the prestigious seven-card stud tournament to earn $301,970 and his third bracelet.

In addition to becoming the first three-time bracelet winner from Japan, Kihara also extended a 26-year streak of at least one player winning multiple bracelets every summer at the WSOP. Chris Ferguson got the ball rolling in 2000, with victories in both the $2,500 stud event and the main event.

“Poker is a mix of luck and skill,” he told PokerNews live reporters after closing out this win. “I’m pretty sure I have enough skill, but I need luck also to win the tournament. For a few days, I’m really lucky.”

Kihara had plenty of tough competition to contend with down the stretch, including runner-up James Cheung, who would have also kept the streak alive as he’d already taken down a $1,500 stud event this year. Four multi-time bracelet winners joined Kihara at the final table, with 18 wins at the series between them.

In the end, Kihara secured the hardware, the top payout, and 660 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion. With 1,500 total points, he has climbed inside the top 150 in the 2026 POY standings presented by CoinPoker. He also locked up 302 PokerGO Tour points with this triumph, climbing to 11th in that high-stakes points race in the process.

Setting The Stage

The $1,209,000 prize pool for this event was split amongst the top 20 finishers, with notables like Robert Mizrachi (20th), David Benyamine (19th), Ryutaro Suzuki (17th), Paul Volpe (14th), Eli Elezra (13th), and Patrick Leonard (12th) making the money late only to be sent to the rail late on day 2.

The third and final day began with 11 players remaining and defending WSOP main event champion Michael Mizrachi leading the pack. Jason Kluska bagged up just a single big bet at the end of day 2, but an early double-up on day 3 allowed him to outlast 2023 WPT World Championship winner Daniel Sepiol (11th – $24,181). Sepiol, who was looking for his second bracelet, ran into queens up for recent $1,500 stud event winner James Cheung and was unable to hit his gutshot straight draw on seventh street to keep those hopes alive.

Kluska soon found another double, rivering a nine-high straight to best the six-high straight of Cheung. He won another hefty pot with the same straight, further bouncing back. In the meantime, bracelet winner Maksim Pisarenko (10th – $24,181) was sent packing, with his tens up bested by the aces up of Kihara.

Cheung then scored another knockout with aces-up, sending Brad Ruben to the rail in ninth place ($28,179). Ruben’s buried pair of eights never improved after his last chips went in. The five-time bracelet winner now has nearly $3.1 million in career cashes after this latest deep run at the series.

Despite the strong start to the day, Kluska was ultimately the next to fall. He got the last of his stack in after the deal and was called in two spots. Cheung bet Kihara out on seventh and revealed a pair of aces. Kluska had a pair of fours and was looking to hit another pair or trips on the end, but instead drew up a brick in the J♥ to finish eighth for $33,974. This was the second final-table finish for the Pennsylvania resident, having also placed eighth in a $500 online event a couple of years earlier.

More Heavy-Hitters Head To The Rail

Ryan Miller bowed out in seventh place. He got all-in after the deal and wound up with a final board of (A♣4♥)K♣5♣8♠Q♠(K♦) for a pair of kings. Jeremy Ausmus showed the (A♠A♦)3♠7♦10♦6♣(J♦) for a winning pair of aces to claim the pot, sending miller to the rail with $42,333. The two-time bracelet winner now has more than $1.8 million in recorded tournament scores.

Mizrachi will have to wait for another day to earn his ninth career bracelet. The four-time $50,000 Poker Players Championship winner and Poker Hall of Famer started his final hand with pocket aces in the hole leading the split threes of Chris Brewer, but when both players caught threes on sixth, Brewer improved to trips to take a decisive lead. The chips went in before seventh street, and Mizrachi found himself in need of an ace. He drew up a ten instead and headed to the payout desk to collect $54,458 for his sixth-place showing.

Brewer ended up as the next to be eliminated. He slid to the bottom of the counts as five-handed play continued, and eventually committed the last of his stack with four to a flush by fifth street. His (Q♣4♣)3♣9♣5♦ was up against (J♦6♥)J♣2♥Q♥ for Ausmus. While Brewer hit the 8♥ on sixth and 6♣ on the end to make his club draw, Ausmus caught the Q♦ and Q♠ for queens full of jacks to win the pot. Brewer, a two-time bracelet winner, was awarded $72,254 for his fifth-place finish. The former collegiate distance runner now has more than $30.4 million in recorded cashes to his name.

Ausmus And Kessler Fall Just Short

Ausmus, a six-time bracelet winner and CoinPoker ambassador, was left on fumes after losing two hefty pots to Kihara during four-handed action. Cheung then swooped in for the last of his stack, making a broadway straight to send Ausmus packing in fourth place ($98,782). The poker vlogger now has nearly $29.7 million in lifetime tournament cashes under his belt, with roughly $11.9 million of that coming from his successes at the series. This was Ausmus’ 14th PGT-qualified score of 20226 already. As a result, he moved into 8th place on the PGT’s season-long leaderboard.

With Ausmus’ exit, Allen Kessler was left to square off with Kihara and Cheung. Kessler, who has five WSOP Circuit rings to his name, has been a regular at the series for a quarter century now. He has come close to earning his first bracelet several times, including four runner-up finishes in bracelet events. He placed second in the stud eight-or-better championship in 2010 for a career-best score of $276,485. After briefly overtaking the lead, Kessler lost a big pot with aces up against the six-high straight of Cheung to slide back down the leaderboard. He then ran into a full house for Kihara to fall further back from the pack.

Kessler’s final hand saw him get all-in with (8♠8♥)6♥K♥2♠ against the (Q♥Q♣)A♣3♠J♥ of Kihara. The A♠ on sixth street gave Kihara aces up and a huge lead in the pot, but the 3♥ saw Kessler pick up a flush draw. Kessler wound up with eights up thanks to the 6♠ on seventh street, while Kihara improved to queens full with the Q♠. Kessler earned $139,036 as the third-place finisher. This was his fourth-largest score yet on the circuit.

Heads-Up To See Who’d Continue The Streak

Kihara held roughly a 3:2 chip lead over Cheung when heads-up play got underway. He was able to expand that advantage as the battle wore on.

After winning a sizable pot with a spade flush, Cheung was left with just five big bets. That amount dwindled even further when Kihara showed him aces up in another hefty clash.

In the final deal of the day, Cheung completed and then three-bet all-in after Kihara raised. The final board for the two contenders were as follows:

Kihara – (J♣10♣)5♣10♥2♦K♠(J♠)
Cheung – (K♥5♥)7♣9♣4♣8♥(9♠)

Kihara’s jacks and tens were good for the pot and the title. Cheung was awarded $201,308 as the runner-up, the largest payday yet for the UK resident.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: WSOP/ Travis Ball, Lennart Hennig.