Naoya Kihara

Naoya Kihara is a Japanese professional poker player born in Nayoro, Japan, who previously worked as a private school teacher before turning to poker full-time. He has accumulated $2,398,940 in total live tournament earnings per The Hendon Mob. At the 2012 World Series of Poker, Kihara won Event #34: $5,000 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Hold'em for $512,029, becoming the first player from Japan in WSOP history to win a bracelet. Following his victory, he was signed as a PokerStars Team Pro.