One year ago this week, Shiina Okamoto finished as the runner-up in the 2023 World Series of Poker Ladies Championship. An architect from Japan, the $118,768 payout was far and away the largest live result of her career.
She sent out a Tweet that remains pinned to the top of her account to this day. Translated from Japanese, it reads, “I may never again in my life be so lucky as to get this far in a tournament with such high variance. I felt that I lacked the skills, including in terms of mental control, but I believe that this is a path that everyone must go through at some point, so I would like to study more, gain more experience and return to this stage again.”
On Monday, Okamoto fulfilled that desire with immediacy, besting her 2023 performance by one spot to capture the 2024 WSOP Ladies Championship for $171,732 and her first career bracelet.
According to The Hendon Mob, Okamoto is the 10th player from Japan to win a WSOP gold bracelet, and the first woman from Japan to capture such an honor.
Okamoto defeated WPT Global Ambassador Jamie Kerstetter heads-up for the title, fighting back from a significant chip disadvantage to avoid back-to-back second place finishes. The heads-up match swung in Okamoto’s favor for good when a river bluff from Kerstetter, who had a missed straight draw, ran head-first into a full house for Okamoto.
On the final hand, Okamoto turned two pair against Kerstetter’s flopped top pair of aces and the money got in on that street. A blank on the river sealed Okamoto’s victory. Both Okamoto and Kerstetter drew significant crowds of supporters on the rail who offered their vocal support throughout the heads-up contest, with a large contingent of Japanese players joining Okamoto on stage to celebrate her victory and join her for some winner’s photos.
Outside of her back-to-back performances, Okamoto has results in a handful of other major events, including the 2023 WSOP Main Event and WPT Australia in September 2023.
Kerstetter is now a two-time runner-up in WSOP bracelet events. At the 2022 WSOP, Kerstetter teamed up with Corey Paggeot and finished second to eventual champions Espen Jorstad and Patrick Leonard.
Other notables who made deep runs in this year’s WSOP Ladies Championship include Marle Spragg (11th), Cherish Andrews (16th), Nadya Magnus (19th) and Jennifer Shahade (29th).