Kihara is Japan's first WSOP bracelet winner

Naoya Kihara made history on Wednesday night, becoming the first World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner in the 43-year history of the tournament series from the nation of Japan.

Kihara won the $5,000 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha title, played at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. He topped a field of 419 players from more than 25 different countries to collect $512,029 in prize money. But what seemed to matter most to the new poker champion was the realization that he'd done what no other Japanese player had ever done -- win a WSOP title.

Not bad, for a guy who says pot-limit Omaha isn't even his best game.

"I think I’m not so good at pot-limit Omaha," said Kihara. "It’s not my best game. Because of that, I tried to play ABC style. And then -- especially yesterday -- I really got lucky and lucky and lucky again. Every flip I won, so because of that, I ran so nice. And then I got the bracelet."

Incredibly, prior to this day, no Japanese player had ever won poker’s most prestigious prize -- although Maeda Azusa came very close last year. As part of WSOP Europe, Azusa finished second in the first gold bracelet event played at Cannes, France, which took place in 2011. Alas, despite Japan's sizable population, affluence, and high standard of living, the Asian nation remains behind much of the rest of the world when it comes to taking an active a role in the global poker boom.

With Kihara's victory however, a great deal could change. He hopes not only to lock up a sponsorship deal with one of the major online poker sites, he also wants to become a poker ambassador in his home country, as well as throughout Asia.

He's off to a great start as a promoter of the game. While playing at the final table, which took place on the third and final day of competition, Kihara was swarmed with hundreds of text messages and calls from 10,000 miles away. The relatively small poker market in Japan seemed to follow his every move on a live stream broadcast. No doubt, when Kihara dragged the final pot of the tournament, the small but fiercely-dedicated poker enthusiasts back in Japan erupted in an ultimate moment of celebration in what could potentially go down as his nation's "Chris Moneymaker moment."

Kihara is a 30-year-old professional poker player. He mostly plays online, although he now hopes to travel around the world and play in more live tournaments with this victory. Prior to playing full-time, Kihara was a private school teacher.

The runner up was Chris DeMaci of San Jose, Calif. DeMaci put up a good fight, but was no match for what can only be described as destiny. He claimed $316,308 for second place.

Last year, Kihara played in the Main Event Championship, and cashed in 653rd place. Not bad at all, Mr. Kihara -- cashing in the Main Event the first year and winning a gold bracelet in the second.

So, what's next?

The answer to that is -- plenty of celebration in Japan, at least for now.

Daniel Hindin of Danbury, Conn., was third to win $203,369, while Hans Winzeler of Miami, Fla., was fourth for $134,857. David Kitai of Huntington, Mass., was fifth, while Tommy Le of Tustin, Calif., was sixth.

The top-42 players finished in-the-money; notable players who cashed but did not make the final table included: Jason DeWitt (eighth), Joseph Cheong (ninth), David Benyamine (14th), Adam Junglen (20th), Tom Marchese (23rd), Daniel Shak (26th), Shaun Deeb (27th), Ryan Lenaghan (30th), and Padraig Parkinson (35th).

Modified from tournament notes provided by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla.