With 201 people still alive on the earth Series of Poker $1,500 HORSE event, a survivor may well be forgiven for not knowing everyone on the table. There have been nearly 800 people within the field, and things get blurry when one is cycling through five games. Just one day of play has passed so far, and there's a great distance to move before the cash bubble breaks. Regardless, if you happen to or someone are still alive within the HORSE event, do yourself a favor and make yourself familiar with Naoya Kihara.

Kihara is quiet and unassuming, a gentleman from Japan with a grin that goes on for days. He'll also happily eviscerate you and keep smiling while stacking your chips. The member of Team PokerStars Pro Online may look the a part of a very easy target, but he's anything but.

It's been four years since Kihara announced himself on the WSOP with a half-million-dollar win within the six-handed PLO event. While that may be his "only" bracelet, Kihara has 15 cashes in his WSOP career and in world-wide rankings is Japan's second-biggest earner in history. Don't let that smile fool you. 

Naoya Kihara

After at some point of play within the HORSE event, Kihara leads the rest field of 201 players with 85,900. He'll be coming back to 1,200-2,400 blinds when play re-starts later today. He'll even have another member of the red spade brigade within the field with him. 

Andre Akkari currently sits in 29th place with a comfortable 50,300, although he discovered yesterday that his eyes could be getting a little bit old for stud games. (Having recently experience this phenomenon myself, I'VE nothing but sympathy for the person from Sao Paulo. Sorry, Andre.)

Andre Akkari

The HORSE event will re-start at noon PST today and is scheduled to hit the cash before finishing the day. 

Meanwhile, we have to offer our sincere congratudolences to Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein who finished in ninth place last night within the $1,500 2-7 Lowball event. While good for a $5,781 cash, it came with the edge of being within a couple of places of winning his fourth WSOP bracelet. 

Barry Greenstein

Today need to be a fun one on the Rio. The $1,500 crowd gets a six-handed NLHE event, while the $10,000 rollers get the super-fun $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship. 

In the meantime, good luck to Kihara and Akkari as they work on getting that $1,500 HORSE bracelet. 

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging. Follow him on Twitter: @BradWillis. WSOP photos by PokerPhotoArchive.com

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