She’s already completed one of the most impressive feats in World Series of Poker history, winning back-to-back Ladies Championships (following a runner-up finish in 2023), and now Shiina Okamoto is looking to build on another streak. Okamoto cashed in her first two WSOP Main Events following her previous Ladies Championship runs of 1060th in 2023 for $17,500 and 1407th in 2024 for $15,000.
We caught up with the Japanese crusher recently to ask her how she’s approaching this year’s Main Event, as her name in the poker world continues to grow following her historic Ladies Championship accomplishments.
“During the early stages (of previous years), up to Day 2 or Day 3, I noticed that many players knew who I was, and they assumed I was capable of bluffing, so (this year) I will make a conscious decision to avoid bluffing too much in those spots. But as the tournament moves into Day 4 or Day 5, the field naturally gets tougher with stronger players remaining.”
Along with that strategy, she knows that the Main Event is a completely different tournament from the Ladies Championships that she’s dominated for the last three years.
“Even though I won back-to-back titles, they were in ladies events, and to be honest, ladies fields are generally considered to be less competitive compared to open events, so I think there are still many players who don’t see me as a serious threat. Because of that, I’m not really focusing on how others perceive me until the later stages. I just want to play my game as usual.”
Okamoto joined the Main Event field this afternoon late in Level 1, so not much had happened with her stack in her first half an hour or so. She did give us an update on what her Day 1 strategy could look like now that she’s sat down, saying that she’s been recognized and congratulated by many of the players at her first table of the day.
“Many people know me. We have deep stacks, and here it’s not so tough yet, so I have to wait for good hands and try to get more value than making bluffs.”
We’ll have much more with the two-time WSOP Ladies champion as our own Craig Tapscott sat down for an exclusive, extended interview with her that will be available early next week, so keep your eyes peeled for that!
