Naoya Kihara

Naoya Kihara is a Japanese poker player with three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets. As of June 2026, Kihara had won $2.4 million in live poker tournaments.

Kihara became Japan's first bracelet winner in 2012, winning the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event for $512,029. That remained the Japanese grinder's best score for a decade, though he did enjoy some impressive results in the interim.

At the 2022 WSOP, Kihara finished third in the $1,500 Dealer's Choice event for $52,282 and fifth in the $10,000 Dealer's Choice for another $73,453. Kihara rounded off an impressive hat trick of mixed game cashes that summer by finishing third in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship for a new career-high $639,257.

Although Kihara had come close to securing a second bracelet, he just couldn't seem to get his hands on one. That was until the 2026 WSOP, where he came back from having a solitary chip in his stack to become the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship champion. In addition to his second bracelet, Kihara also reeled in $428,923.

Only three days after winning his second bracelet, Kihara triumphed in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship for his third bracelet and another $428,923 in prize money.