The Japan Open Poker Tour (JOPT) Season 20: Grand Final took place at Takeshiba Port Hall, in Tokyo from July 21st - July 25th. The tournament series accumulated nearly 3,500 entries across 10 events, demonstrating that the surge in popularity in Japan’s poker scene may be here to stay.
Despite Tokyo 2020 beginning just as the Season 20: Grand Final kicked off, any concerns that the poker series would be affected by the Olympics were quickly dispelled as the tournaments were well-attended by Japanese players from all over the country.
The Season 20: Grand Final Main Event awarded player contracts approaching $150,000 with Kuroda Yosuke taking home a player contract worth about $42,000. Winners of JOPT events are able to take the player contract they receive and buy into many other live tournament series located outside Japan, and Kuroda will be applying his player contract to the upcoming World Series of Poker 2021.
Pot Limit Omaha and mixed games continue to be received well by the players, with more and more players taking advantage of the JOPT’s free mixed game training course and trying their hand at underappreciated formats such as Triple Draw and Badugi. Season 20: Grand Final also included a unique NLH format where 3 flights were held on consecutive days, and the winners of each of the 3 flights moved on to finish out the rest of the tournament on GGPoker.
The JOPT will continue to explore new ideas for tournament formats and is considering adding more future tournaments that integrate live and online play, including awarding online players with entries into their Main Events and trophies for the bigger online events just like their live events.
JOPT’s next series is Season 21: Tokyo, and will take place on October 22-24 at the Ariake Tokyo Conference Center. More details about the next event can be found by clicking here.
