WSOP 2026 Underway: Japan's Shiina Okamoto Chases Unprecedented Third Straight Ladies Championship
At the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP), which kicked off on May 26, Japan's Shiina Okamoto is chasing a feat without precedent. Having won the WSOP $1,000 Ladies Championship in both 2024 and 2025 to become the event's first-ever back-to-back champion, a victory this year would give her an unheard-of three-peat. With the WSOP running in Las Vegas through July 15, the Ladies Championship has become one of the most closely watched events for the Japanese poker scene.
From Investment Banking to Poker Pro
Okamoto's path is an unusual one. A graduate of Kyoto University with an engineering degree, she worked in investment banking and architecture before discovering poker through a friend in her board game circle, where she was an avid Catan player. Her interest in strategy games carried over immediately, and in 2023 she left her banking job to turn professional. Her first major title came at the 2022 TPC Season 4 Main Event in Japan, worth roughly 10 million yen. Her adaptation was remarkably fast — she won her first WSOP bracelet within just 18 months of going pro.
Three Straight Final Tables, a First-Ever Back-to-Back
Okamoto's run in the Ladies Championship is a drama in itself. In 2023 she made her name with a runner-up finish ($118,768) in a 1,295-entry field. In 2024 she went one better, defeating Jamie Kerstetter heads-up out of a 1,245-entry field to claim her first bracelet ($171,732). Then in 2025, she started the final table as chip leader in a record 1,368-entry field and defended her title by beating Heather Alcorn heads-up — the first time anyone had won the Ladies Championship in consecutive years. On the final hand in 2025, her pocket nines held against Alcorn's ace-deuce to seal the victory.
Records on Records, Past $1 Million in Earnings
Okamoto's lifetime live tournament earnings now stand at roughly $1.21 million (per The Hendon Mob). Beyond her two WSOP bracelets, she won the Women's Event at EPT Barcelona in August 2025 to add a PokerStars spade to her collection. That same month, she joined GTO Wizard as a Team Pro, and she also serves as an official partner of JOPT, Japan's largest tour. In Japan, her success is seen as more than a personal achievement — it has become a symbol inspiring more women to take up the game. Okamoto herself has stressed the importance of mentorship for newcomers, noting that most people don't learn poker alone but from someone, and that choosing that person matters.
Why It Matters: The Face of Japan's Poker Boom
Okamoto's three-peat bid draws attention because she is a symbolic figure of Japan's poker boom. For a Japanese player — emerging from an amusement-poker environment where cash prizes are prohibited — to win the same event three years running at the world's biggest stage would elevate the standing of Japan's poker scene another notch. This year's WSOP is also a stage where Asian poker's presence is greater than ever, with Asia's largest regular tour, the APT (Asian Poker Tour), joining as an official livestream partner for the first time. As the Ladies Championship typically falls in the middle of the WSOP schedule, whether Okamoto can write history once more in Las Vegas stands as one of the summer's biggest storylines for Japanese and Asian poker fans alike.
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