Naoya Kihara could become the first two-time bracelet winner of the 2026 WSOP when he returns to play the final day of the $10K Seven Card Stud Championship on Sunday.
There are a few things you might not know about Kihara.
- He was the first Japanese player to win a WSOP bracelet, back in 2012. In just his third recorded cash on his Hendon Mob, Kihara won the $5K PLO 6-Handed for $512,029. Since then, he’s notched a string of near misses, including five WSOP final tables. The most prestigious of these was his third-place finish in the $50K Poker Players Championship in 2022, finishing behind Yuri Dzivielevski and winner Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates.
- He always wears a collared shirt at the table.
- He was a backgammon professional before switching to poker.
- He came back from a single big blind to win the $10K 2-7 last week, ending his 14-year WSOP drought. In an article on Medium from back in 2015, he said, “One of the traits of Japanese people is their ability to be patient. This attribute can give you the upper hand in poker.”
- Even his patience has limits, though. He said he was on the verge of quitting tournaments before he won the $10K 2-7 NL Championship last week. Following his bracelet win, he said that he was now planning to play all the big mixed events this summer, including the $50K Poker Players Championship. That’s great news for everyone who drafted him for $1 in the Fantasy Freeroll and ODB Fantasy games (including this writer – thanks, Naoya!).
And he’s taken his run good into the $10K Seven Card Stud Championship.
Kessler hangs tough
Kihara dominated much of Day 2 and held a stack nearly double that of fourth-placed Ryutaro Suzuki at the dinner break.
Suzuki trended down from this point, eventually busting in 17th.
Earlier, Robert Mizrachi was the first player to cash in 20th. Brother Michael was doing better, still with a middling stack. Patrick Leonard was top six, perhaps guilted into playing by the fact he’s the highest owned player in ODB Fantasy.
Allen Kessler was also holding on. He’d been short for most of the day, but that’s his comfort zone. He was still finding time to moan, too, so it was turning into a vintage performance.
By the last break of the night, Kessler was eighth, Mizrachi was trending up, Kihara was third, Leonard was near the bottom, and Chris Brewer was on top.
Paul Volpe and old-school legend Eli Elezra departed in 14th and 13th, the latter slamming the table after missing on seventh street, before smiling and wishing the table good luck.
Leonard hit the rail in 12th.
Mizrachi on top after late surge
Kihara stuck it out, ending the night in fifth. But there are some killers lurking above and below him.
Mizrachi put on a late surge to bag the biggest stack among the remaining 11 players. The reigning WSOP Main Event and Poker Players Championship champion will start the final day as the favorite.
Chris Brewer is second. Qibang Cheung ended with the third-biggest stack and could also become the summer's first two-time bracelet winner – and double stud champ – after he took down Event #6, the $1,500 Seven Card Stud.
Jeremy Ausmus is tied for fifth with Kihara, putting down an instant marker after missing the first 10 days of the series. Daniel Sepiol bagged in ninth.
11 players will return tomorrow to play down to a winner and it's shaping up to be a classic. Could we have our first two-time bracelet winner of the summer? Or will The Grinder win his ninth bracelet and first of the summer?
Play resumes at 1pm Vegas time on Sunday.
$10K Seven Card Stud Championship stacks
- Michael Mizrachi (USA) – 1.4M
- Chris Brewer (USA) – 1.3M
- Qibang Cheung (UK) – 1.2M
- Ryan Miller (USA) – 845K
- Naoya Kihara (Japan) – 702K
- Jeremy Ausmus (USA) – 702K
- Allen Kessler (USA) – 582K
- Maksim Pisarenko (Russia) – 499K
- Daniel Sepiol (USA) – 187K
- Brad Ruben (USA) – 132K
- Jason Kluska (USA) – 59K
