Takuya Yamashita - SOMUCHPOKER

Takuya Yamashita is a Japanese poker player who has only recently gained prominence in the live arena. His first cash came in early 2014, but it was another seven months before he would add his second. That second cash came in the Macau Poker Cup, and proved to be a pivotal moment, as he took home USD$84,900 for 3rd place in the Red Dragon event. Early 2015 saw a couple of small cashes at the Aussie Millions, before Yamashita returned to Macau for the Macau Poker Cup in March. He once again excelled, taking 5th place in the Red Dragon event for USD$49,502. His first cash at the WSOP followed in June, but he remained most active on the Asian tour, where he picked up another USD$64,955 for winning an ACOP Macau NLH event in November 2015.

With total cashes comfortably into six figures, Yamashita is slowly rising through Japan’s all time money list. The start of his career has been admirable, with several strong results in a fairly small time frame. While players such as Naoya Kihara and Iori Yogo are held in great regard within the Japanese poker community, it is worth noting that players like Takuya Yamashita are also bright prospects who have an interesting future ahead of them.

Photo Kenneth Lim Courtesy of PokerStars