Naoya “nkyeno” Kihara is one of those names you might notice on the weekend tournament results we post every Monday. He’s a regular grinder, scoring results week on week, and writes eloquently as a member of Team Online. He’s also a bracelet winner, and one of the rising stars of the game. So perhaps we shouldn’t be all that surprised.
Actually, his name was conspicuous in its absence in this week’s results pages, which we published a short while ago. No sign of “nkeyno” anywhere. But his reasons were good ones. He had a PCA Main Event to think about and the prospects of another long day in the Imperial Ballroom. He’d already secured a first ever cash in the Main Event, and was now setting his sights on Day 5.
Naoya “nkeyno” Kihara in action yesterday
But the first level of the day had not gone well, as he commented at the break.
“Not good. Down,” he said, pointing to the floor. Having started the day with 500,000 he had slipped to 190,000, or 19 big blinds when the level restarts. “But still in,” he added smiling, brushing away any hint of self-doubt.
He was equally pragmatic on twitter a short while ago.
On fist break. Down to 190k, 19bbs. It is resteal time! I need luck! Im now on featured table. Please come ans see me! #PCAmain
— ‘nkeyno’ 木原 直哉 (@key_poker) January 12, 2015
Re-steal time indeed. Watch Kihara in action now on EPTLive.
Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.
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