The Japanese poker community is growing. this time even in their own country they are setting a new record.
Earlier this month, the Japan Open Poker Tour (JOPT) concluded its most recent live series. Held at Port Hall in Takeshiba, Tokyo.
The event attracted 5,989 entries across all events.
The event schedule combined two events that had been previously postponed due to the pandemic.
The JOPT Season 19 Grand Final and JOPT Season 20 were combined as one big event.
The schedule contained two Main Events and 31 side events including No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha, but also mixed games such as H.O.R.S.E., a Badugi / 2-7 Triple Draw Mix, and more.
Poker in Japan
Real money prize pools for poker are not legal in Japan.
Poker players compete for prizes and for this round it is a contract offer from the JOPT, which allows tournament winners to participate in overseas tournaments such as the WSOP.
Poker has been growing in Japan due to social media making it easier to learn poker.
Japanese players are actually a very welcome group in any event. Most of the time they would be coming in a big group. They would help each other out and share information on basic stuff like hotels and places to eat, They would also assist in money exchange and even giving tips on how to win.
Organizers are fighting to get a strong relationship with Japanese players.
However, due to the pandemic, Japanese poker players have no choice but to play in domestic tournaments and unfortunately, other live events across Asia have not yet fully resumed.
But once the pandemic is over, the Japanese players are the target of any poker organizers to fill in the number of their events.
JOPT Winners
Both of the Main Event fields required players to qualify either through live satellites at poker rooms across Japan or online satellite qualifiers through GGPoker, who announced their sponsorship with the JOPT last month.
Yuta Aikawa bested a field of 396 entries to become the Season 19: Grand Final champion, taking home a player contract valued at $21,860. As for the Season 20 Main Event, Toshiya Ishikawa topped a field of 507 players and won a player contract worth $31,020, the largest prize of the series.
Notable side event victories include that of Kimura Keisuke who overcame the largest player field of the series in the NLH Megastack event on May 5th. The Poker Players Championship was held on May 3rd, and Shinobu-san emerged as the champion, winning a player contract for $7,960. Hiroki (20) was the youngest tournament winner of the series, taking down one of the nightly NLH Hypers.
Poker in Japan
Real money prize pools for poker are not legal in Japan.
Poker players compete for prizes and for this round it is a contract offer from the JOPT, which allows tournament winners to participate in overseas tournaments such as the WSOP.
Poker has been growing in Japan due to social media making it easier to learn poker.
Japanese players are actually a very welcome group in any event. Most of the time they would be coming in a big group. They would help each other out and share information on basic stuff like hotels and places to eat, They would also assist in money exchange and even giving tips on how to win.
Organizers are fighting to get a strong relationship with Japanese players.
However, due to the pandemic, Japanese poker players have no choice but to play in domestic tournaments and unfortunately, other live events across Asia have not yet fully resumed.
But once the pandemic is over, the Japanese players are the target of any poker organizers to fill in the number of their events.
