Naoya Kihara Becomes the First Two-Time WSOP Champion of 2026

Author

Juan David Vargas Quiceno, aka Vargoso

Published

6/11/2026

Updated

6/11/2026

The 2026 World Series of Poker is still in its early stages, with less than a quarter of the schedule completed, yet one player has already secured two titles. Japanese player Naoya Kihara won the Lowball and Stud Championship events. In the history of the series, only six players have won such tournaments in a row. Now, Naoya decided to postpone his retirement from poker.

Naoya Kihara Wins Event 23 Seven Card Stud Championship Wsop 2026

Leading specialist in rare poker games

Only 30 of the 100 World Series tournaments reached their conclusion, but that didn't stop one player from achieving a double victory.

Japanese Naoya Kihara won bracelets in:

Event #17: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship
Event #23: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship

It should be noted that both tournaments had relatively small fields (198 and 130 entries), but the level of competition was extremely high, with many well-known pro players at the tables. Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Shaun Deeb, Michael Mizrachi, Patrick Leonard, and Eli Elezra cashed in both events.

Naoya Kihara Wsop Plo Event 2012

Kihara has been competing in live tournaments since 2010. Fourteen years ago, he made history by becoming the first Japanese player to win a WSOP bracelet, and he has been regularly playing in Las Vegas ever since. In 2022 alone, he reached three WSOP final tables within a single month, but failed to finish higher than third place.

Now 44 years old, Kihara has previously revealed that he was seriously considering retirement from professional poker. However, his plans have changed dramatically following his recent success. After capturing two bracelets at the 2026 WSOP, he stated that his next goal is to win another bracelet.

Kihara has already secured his place in history as the first player to win multiple events at the 2026 World Series of Poker. He also became just the sixth player in WSOP history to claim two consecutive Championship Events.

Interestingly, regardless of the outcome of the heads-up match in the Seven Card Stud tournament, the first two-time WSOP champion would have emerged in 2026. Kihara faced Event #6: $1,500 Seven Card Stud champion James Chang in heads-up.

With ten more Championship events in rare poker games remaining on the series schedule, Naoya Kihara will play in several of them, so there's a chance the Japanese player could win another bracelet.

As a reminder, in 2025, only one player managed to win more than one bracelet at the entire World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Benny Glaser took first place in three mixed-game events.