Shiina Okamoto on Fame, Friendliness, and the Challenge of Women's High Rollers
Table Of Contents
Japanese poker player Shiina Okamoto is in London for the second time, but this trip is very different from her first visit 13 years ago.
She's playing at the PokerStars Women's Summer Festival fresh off winning back-to-back WSOP Ladies championships, and unsurprisingly, Okamoto is here to compete.
Jumping into the Women's Summer Festival High Roller, Okamoto navigated her way to third-place, taking home £4,840 behind Nan Min and eventual winner Bernadette Daley. PokerNews caught up with Okamoto to talk about what she's been up to since Vegas and how she feels sitting back down at the tables.
Extra Pressure on Okamoto's Shoulders
Okamoto has become a familiar face on the international poker scene thanks to her historic Ladies Championship runs, and says that her record-breaking title defense has only added to her reputation at the tables.
"Even before this year, some players knew me because of my second-place finish and then my win in 2024," she told PokerNews. "So there's not so much difference. But after the second win, even more people know me!
"When I sit down at the table, some ladies talk about me and say they're worried about me or they fear me!"
Anyone who knows Okamoto or who has seen her at the tables knows that she's far from a scary person.
"But when I'm playing..." Okamoto joked.
Balancing Competition and Atmosphere
That being said, Okamoto says she doesn’t want her presence to make other players uncomfortable. She says that despite her limited English, she always tries to build good relationships at the table and to help contribute to the type of atmosphere that she enjoys playing in.
" I want to play in ladies events where there's a casual atmosphere."
"I try not to make people feel nervous. I do feel some expectation [to perform well], but personally, I want to play in ladies events where there's a casual atmosphere."
The vast majority of Okamoto's recent cashes have come in the United States, so it's no surprise that Vegas is her favourite place to play. However, with multiple cashes on the European Poker Tour over recent years, she's also a big fan of Europe and its poker players.
"European players are just very professional, and their way of playing is very polite," she said. "When I go to EPTs, players don't talk that much. I think that's because they're just here to play poker. So I do like casual atmospheres, but I also like the serious atmosphere as well."
The Emergence of Ladies High Rollers
Okamoto’s recent schedule has seen her play in three Women's High Rollers: two in Las Vegas, at the Wynn and the Venetian, as well as the PokerStars Women's Festival High Roller this week. She says that the fields can be much tougher than "regular" ladies events.
"Usually, not many professional ladies come to play ladies tournaments. But when there are High Rollers, the difficulty is so much higher. Many professionals come and play, so they're never easy and quite a challenge."
