Eiji Kimura won the first-ever WPT Japan on Sunday. He defeated a field of 460 entries to win the $10,000 WPT Multi-Passport top prize.
An Unique Event
WPT President Adam Pliska attended the event and got proceedings underway, after especially pleasing local players by announcing how special WPT Japan was personally to him, given that his wife is from Okayama.
With cash prizes considered “forbidden” in the country, WPT Japan winners received exclusive packages applicable to future WPT events.
Qualifiers to Day 1 came from over 30 poker clubs throughout Japan in the cities and surroundings of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. There were over 5,000 entries throughout major cities in Japan attempting to qualify for the Main Event, and eventually a total of 469 players entered it.
Ourgame’s ambassadors Raymond Wu and Nicky Jin Tao, WPT Champions Club members Daniel Weinman and Sam Panzica were among the participants.
Eiji Kimura victorious
A total of 14 players made it to the final day of the Main Event, including OurGame qualifier Pei Zhen and International DBI player Andrew Shin from Canada. When nine players remained, Eiji Kimura was the standout chip leader with over 2.4 million in chips, exceeding a quarter of the chips in play.
Eiji Kimura never gave up the chiplead, dominating play on the final table and moving to heads up with a 9:1 chip advantage. Heads up play lasted just one hand to enable the inaugural WPT Japan Champion to be crowned.
Eiji Kimura came home with the $10,000 WPT Multi-Passport top prize and the first ever WPT Japan Trophy.
Main Event Final Table Results:
1st: Eiji Kimura–$10,000 WPT Multi-Passport
2nd: Ryo Omori–$4,000 WPT Multi-Passport
3rd: Makoto Yokoyama–$2,000 WPT Multi-Passport
4th: Takayuki Zushi–$2,000 WPT Multi-Passport
5th: Kazuhiko Yotsushika–$1,500 WPT Multi-Passport
6th: Fumihiro Yasoshima–$1,500 WPT Multi-Passport
7th: Junya Yamada–$1,000 WPT Multi-Passport
8th: Keigo Fujimoto–$1,000 WPT Multi-Passport
9th: Youbeen Lee–$1,000 WPT Multi-Passport
Side events
WPT 200 Entries: 63
1st: KONO MASAYOSHI – $4,000 multi passport
2nd: OKADA KEN – $2,500 multi passport
3rd: OKUDA AKITOSHI – $1,500 multi passport
4th: TOMITA MASAHARU – $1,100 multi passport
WPT Night Turbo Entries: 44
1st: ISHIDA KUNIHIRO – $1,500 multi passport
2nd: OKADA TATSUHIKO – 2nd place $500 multi passport
WPT 100 Entries: 68
1st: MOCHIZUKI HIROYUKI – $4,000 multi passport
2nd: STRICKLAND BRANDON – $2,500 multi passport
3rd: ISHIDA KUNIHIRO – $1,500 multi passport
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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