Japan's Takahiro Nakai Wins 2015 WSOP $1k NLHE For $399,039

Japan has just won its first gold bracelet of this year’s World Series of Poker, after 36 year-old Takahiro Nakai overcame a field of 2,497 players at Event #57: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em to claim the title, as well as its $399,039 first place prize. Takahiro Nakai’s victory comes three year’s after Naoya Kihara won the country’s first ever WSOP bracelet by taking down the 2012 WSOP $5k six-max pot-limit Omaha event for $512,029.
Turnout was huge at this year’s WSOP $1k NLHE event and the prize pool worth $2,247,300 meant 270 players would see a return on their buy-ins. This included such notable pros as Sean Getzwiller in 244th ($1,820), Konstantin Puchkov in 184th ($2,022), Calvin Anderson in 156th ($2,247), Martin Jacobson in 111th ($2,516), Andre Akkari in 100th ($2,516), Ralph Porter in 94th ($2,854), Men Nguyen in 59th ($5,258), Leo Wolpert in 44t ($7,595), and Matt Waxman in 27th ($11,416).
The final table of nine was then reached on the third day of the competition, and eventually Takahiro Nakai would progress all the way through to heads-ups against WSOP bracelet winner Mel Weiner holding a 3 to 2 chip advantage. The pair subsequently played on until Nakai lead his last remaining opponent by 11,170,000 chips to 1,315,000, at which stage an overnight break was called.
On the fourth day, the very last hand of play then saw Weiner all-in preflop holding A-J to Nakai’s Q-7, and with the dealer laying out a J-6-Q-K-9 board, Mel Weiner walked away with a runner-up prize worth $248,034, while Takahiro Nakai claimed the winner’s bracelet for Japan.
Final Table Results:
1 Takahiro Nakai $399,039
2 Mel Weiner $248,034
3 Paul Vas Nunes $175,559
4 Glenn LaFaye $126,612
5 Jonas Lauck $92,453
6 Robert Piltz $68,317
7 David Martinezcano $51,103
8 Frederico Dabus $38,676
9 Barry Schultz $29,619