Pro Ohyama Joins the 888 Poker Team

The eastward expansion of online poker industry continues.

Competitive Signing

Only a few months after leading iPoker room PokerStars signed Kosei Ichinose and Yuiko Matsukawa as brand representatives, the company's second biggest iPoker room 888poker has answered with the signing of budding online poker superstar Akira Ohyama of Japan.

Ohyama originally discovered poker while studying at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, USA. Black Friday and the ensuing economic plunge drove the fortune-hunting Ohyama back to Japan where he began playing the game on a full-time basis. To date, the budding superstar, a.k.a. screen name “Clutch Hero,” has already amassed $1,790,877 in online winnings as well as a further $126,840 playing tournaments in the live arena.

On the new deal with 888poker, Ohyama had this to say:

“I am honored to become a part of Team 888poker, and I am excited to help poker and the 888 brand grow in my country. I will continue working hard both on and off the tables to play to the best of my ability and show results while representing my favorite site, 888poker.”

The Club

Ohyama is not the first big name in the 888poker ambassador stable. He joined an increasingly elite group that includes pros such as Australia’s Jackie Glazier, Brazils' Nicolau-Villa LLobos, Bruno Kawauti, Bruno Politano, and Sweden’s Sofia Lövgren.

According to PokerScout, 888poker currently enjoys status as the second biggest poker operator in the world, boasting an average of 2,200 cash game players over a seven-day period, and as much as 3,403 players at peak times. In the emerging online US poker market, 888poker has already established a major presence in the three regulated states of Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey.

In Japan, 888 is following the trajectory of PokerStars in a market 127 million consumers strong, into which with US companies are looking to expand in the near future as well.