button in SafariNaoya Kihara Comes Back From Single Chip to End 14-Year WSOP Drought
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Late on Day 1 of Event #17: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship, Naoya Kihara played a pivotal hand and left one chip behind as he bluffed with a pair of fives. The bluff was called, leaving Kihara with just a single small blind in front of him. Just over 50 hours later, he had all of the chips to mark an improbable comeback at the 2026 World Series of Poker.
The final day lasted almost 14 hours at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, but it ended in celebration for Kihara after defeating David Lin in heads-up play to earn his second career WSOP bracelet and the largest share of the $1,841,400 prize pool.
The victory not only completed his unlikely comeback, but also ended a drought of 14 years after taking down Event 34: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - Six-Handed at the 2012 WSOP in Las Vegas to become Japan's first-ever bracelet winner. This time, he outlasted a field fo 198 entries to secure a long-awaited repeat triumph that almost didn't happen.
Kihara recalled his opening day bluff in an interview with PokerNews after his win, and the ensuing run that saw him chip up from 1,000 to 96,000 by day’s end.
“I called a three-bet from Benny [Glaser], and he patted. I paired my five, and he checked, so I put one yellow chip out and then bluffed out, and he called.”
“I tripled up, doubled up, tripled up, and came back, and I won the tournament. You hear about chip and a chair in the poker world, right? I really have never seen that. It's happened to me, but it's really amazing.”
Event #17: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naoya Kihara | Japan | $428,923 |
| 2 | David Lin | United States | $288,711 |
| 3 | John Cynn | United States | $198,302 |
| 4 | Ryutaro Suzuki | Japan | $139,038 |
| 5 | Shaun Deeb | United States | $99,557 |
| 6 | Dan Shak | United States | $72,834 |
| 7 | Per Hildebrand | Sweden | $54,467 |
Tough Final Day Field
The final day saw 13 contenders return to battle for the $428,923 top prize, including many notable names. The first five eliminations were all previous WSOP bracelet winners, including all-time leader Phil Hellmuth, narrowly missing out on extending his record for official WSOP final table appearances.
Hellmith watched Kihara draw two and make the best hand to end his run in ninth place. From there, Kihara used his experience in this celebrated poker variant to navigate his way through the tough field.
"I'm, I really studied in this game, actually. I think almost no player played hands as much as me in this game. So I had really big confidence about playing this game, especially heads-up."
Once the official final table of seven was reached, more big names stood in Kihara's path to victory. It took more than three hours to lose the next player before Kihara took out Dan Shak in sixth place. He then watched as 2018 WSOP Main Event champion John Cynn eliminated eight-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb in fifth.
Cynn would later fall in third place, leaving Kihara with a slight chip lead to begin heads-up play. By that point, Kihara and Lin had played almost 13 hours on the final day, but Kihara explained that fatigue was not a factor for him.
"Even if I get tired, my play is the same; it doesn't change anything. So just play the same way, and then I'm proud I had confidence to do that."
The final hand saw Kihara draw a seven to send Lin out in the runner-up spot, denying the American a first WSOP title.
Kihara also made Team Banana very happy in 25K Fantasy, as he was drafted for just $1 and put a win on the board.
Change of Plans
Kihara's win was not only unlikely during Day 1 action, but the Japanese poker veteran almost walked away from tournaments entirely after going so long without a win in Las Vegas.
“I'm now 44, almost retired from poker, but I came back and hopefully I try for one more bracelet from now. Otherwise, I was thinking about quitting the tournament poker, but with this win, I decided to at least give it two to three more years.”
The victory will also see his plans change in the coming weeks, as opponents can expect to see Kihara at the tables in other high roller mixed game events.
"I was not sure whether to play PPC or 25K H.O.R.S.E. or maybe some other 25K. But now, I'm 100% sure I play PPC and also the 25K H.O.R.S.E."
That concludes our coverage of this exciting event, but be sure to catch the rest of live reporting from the 2026 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
