Poker Growth in Action: GTO Wizard’s Breakthrough in Japan
GTO Wizard is a driving force in the global progression of poker, consistently expanding its influence and strengthening the poker community worldwide. Japan, a vibrant and evolving market, is a key part of our journey. We are proud to be actively involved in fostering poker’s growth in Japan. Not only are we dedicated to driving innovation in how the game is studied, but also to the growth and evolution of the poker industry as a whole. This dedication was exemplified in our recent activities in Japan.
POKER FORUM
In 2024, GTO Wizard Japan launched Poker Forum, bringing poker enthusiasts from all over Japan to one place. For just $35, participants got to witness interactive poker seminars and panel discussions. Poker Forum 2024 also welcomed 2022 WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jørstad, now a regular in the world’s highest-stakes games. He spoke with attendees, answered questions, and engaged in thoughtful discussions with people from across the industry. Following the sold-out success of the inaugural 2024 Poker Forum at Tokyo Port City Takeshiba, we returned in 2025 with a bigger and bolder vision.
For a look back, watch our 2024 highlights aftermovie:
In June 2025, GTO Wizard Japan hosted POKER FORUM 2025 at the Chunichi Building in Nagoya, one of the most exclusive venues in one of Japan’s most culturally significant hubs. With over 140 participants tuning in both in-person and online, this year’s forum built on the success of our 2024 debut, deepening the conversation around poker as a mindsport, with discussions around poker theory and solver technology incorporated.
The event featured expert presentations from leading voices in the Japanese poker community:
Amu (GTO Wizard JP Coach & Ambassador) – MTT LIFE with GTO Wizard
- How ICM study has evolved with new solver tools and where many players still misstep
Wataru (GTO Wizard AI Expert) – The Progress and Future of GTO Wizard AI
- A deep dive into QRE, ICM advancements, population-level analysis, and upcoming features
Zaki – 20 Years of Poker Strategy
- A historical tour of how preflop and c-bet strategies have evolved across eras
Yogo – The Future of Solvers
- What comes after solvers: adapting to player pools, field-level strategies, and real-world application
The event closed with a panel discussion and live Q&A, offering attendees the rare opportunity to speak directly with GTO Wizard’s engineers, researchers, and top strategists.
Would it really be a GTO Wizard event if we didn’t end it with a game of poker? Of course not. After a full day of sharp theory, deep panels, and lively discussion, attendees made their way to a separate venue for a catered networking lounge and an Ultra Poker–hosted tournament. The post-forum event attracted 160 entries, solidifying the forum’s transition from a knowledge summit to a true poker festival. It brought our vision full circle: connect, study, compete.
Two years, two cities, one collective goal: Advancing the mindsport of poker in Japan.
Catch the 2025 highlights over on the GTO Wizard Japan X page
The GTO Wizard Lounge: A Heartbeat for Poker Innovation and Collaboration
Located in the prestigious district of Akasaka, the GTO Wizard Lounge remains the beating heart of our efforts in Japan. Known for its blend of sophistication, business, and culture, Akasaka provides the perfect backdrop for a space built around collaboration, learning, and elite-level poker discussion…
The lounge serves multiple purposes:
- A seminar venue for GTO Wizard workshops and AI walkthroughs
- A private meeting space for our partners and poker professionals
- A production hub for content creators in the Japanese poker community
The 2024 grand opening was attended by poker legend Tom Dwan and 2023 WSOP Main Event Champion Espen Jørstad. Their presence underscored the lounge’s significance as a focal point for education, collaboration, and high-stakes competition, embodying GTO Wizard’s commitment to advancing the game of poker.
Collaborating with The Best of Japanese Poker
GTO Wizard’s growth in Japan has been formed by strategic relationships with local talent. Masato “World Wide” Yokosawa, with over 1 million YouTube subscribers, is the most-watched poker creator in the world, and a proud GTO Wizard Japan Ambassador. He has been on the biggest stages in world poker, whether it’s running deep in the European Poker Tour (EPT), World Series of Poker (WSOP) or playing high-stakes cash games on High Stakes Poker and other TV shows and streams.
Alongside Masato is Amu, a respected GTO Wizard JP coach and one of Japan’s top educators. His work translating advanced solver concepts into actionable lessons has helped thousands of players deepen their understanding and results. Hand in hand, Amu has helped us grow the game in Japan by positioning poker as a mind sport.
Today, we have 18 partnered poker rooms across Japan where players can experience GTO Wizard hands-on. These rooms are supported by on-site staff trained in GTO Wizard and offer exclusive seminars, training events, and product support.
From the GTO Wizard Cup, which saw over 150 players compete, to national Japanese poker staples like the Japan Poker Festival and the Hyakka Ryouran Tournament, GTO Wizard is proud to support Japan’s most impactful and prestigious events. These initiatives and campaigns help connect strategic poker study to live competition, which draws thousands and reinforces our commitment to building a smarter, stronger, and more accepted poker ecology across Japan.
In 2025, we proudly welcomed Shiina Okamoto to Team GTO Wizard. Shiina has put together an extraordinary three-year run in the WSOP Ladies Championship, finishing runner-up in 2023, then winning the title back-to-back in 2024 and 2025. Her consistency and dominance on one of poker’s biggest stages make her a perfect fit for GTO Wizard’s mission to elevate the game through mastery, discipline, and innovation.
Expanding Our Reach: GTO Wizard’s Digital Presence in Japan
GTO Wizard Japan now has over 5,700 X (formerly Twitter) followers, and our most engaging posts have reached audiences of 100,000+. This momentum continues to grow as we launched the GTO Wizard Japan YouTube channel, which features translated videos, community spotlights, and original tutorials for Japanese players.
From solver innovation to real-world tournaments, GTO Wizard is proud to support the continued growth of poker in Japan. We believe that strategy, education, and community are the keys to building a sustainable future for the game, and we’re just getting started.
Stay connected. Join the movement. Build the next evolution of poker with us.
Interested in Partnering or Hosting Events?
We’re actively looking for more collaborators, whether you’re a poker room, content creator, or event organizer. If you’d like to bring GTO Wizard to your local club or co-host a strategy event, we’d love to hear from you.
Contact us at [email protected] or connect with us on LINE.
We Are Hiring
We are looking for remarkable individuals to join us in our quest to build the next-generation poker training ecosystem. If you are passionate, dedicated, and driven to excel, we want to hear from you. Join us in redefining how poker is being studied.
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In this series, we have looked at factors that can influence ranges in otherwise identical…
How to Leverage GTO Wizard’s EV Comparison Tool
With the advent of solvers, some troubling new turns of phrase have entered the poker…
Should You Ever Cold Call a 3-Bet?
When there’s been a raise and re-raise before the action is on you, you will…
When ICM Breaks Down
If you have read my previous GTO Wizard articles and my books, you’ll know I…
When Is It Correct To Fold AA Preflop?
One of the criticisms of ICM is that it is boring and robotic. In my…
OOP C-betting vs Loose Cold-callers
In a previous GTO Wizard article, I asserted that “Playing against an in-position cold-caller is…
Short-Stacked Play in MTTs
Playing a short stack well is an essential tournament skill. It is extremely rare to…
When To Ladder in Tournaments
In my last two articles, I wrote about the effect field size and payout structure…
How Payout Structures Impact ICM
Last time we discussed the ICM considerations in game selection, we looked at field size,…
C-Betting IP in 3-Bet Pots
When you three-bet before the flop and the original raiser calls from out of position,…
C-Betting OOP in 3-Bet Pots
Continuation betting from out of position can be a dicey proposition in single-raised pots. Cold…
Dynamic Sizing: A GTO Breakthrough
Dynamic Sizing is a revolutionary new poker algorithm that automatically simplifies your strategy with the…
Dynamic Sizing Benchmarks
Dynamic Sizing is a revolutionary new poker algorithm that automatically simplifies your strategy with the…
Understanding The Impact Of Field Size On ICM In Poker
When people talk about game selection in multi-table tournaments (MTTs), they invariably talk about the…
Defending vs BB Check-Raise on Paired Flops
This is a companion piece to Attacking Paired Flops from the BB; you will get…
Mastering PKO Final Tables
Final tables can be the most exciting and rewarding phase of a tournament, and being…
Attacking Paired Flops From the BB
Paired flops present unique challenges to both a preflop raiser and a BB caller. The…
KK vs QQ vs JJ at WSOP Main Event
With only fourteen players remaining in the 2023 WSOP Main Event and blinds of 400K/800K/800K,…
Responding to BB Squeezes
You open raise, someone calls, and the BB squeezes. How should you construct your strategy?…
Crushing a Top HUNL Poker Bot
In 2022, Philippe Beardsell and Marc-Antoine Provost, a team of Canadian programmers from Quebec, developed…
GTO Wizard AI Explained
We are excited to introduce GTO Wizard AI, formerly known as Ruse, the world’s best…
GTO Wizard AI Benchmarks
GTO Wizard has combined the power of artificial intelligence with traditional solving methods to bring…
Table Management in PKOs
Perhaps the most important strategic consideration in Progressive Knockout Tournaments (PKOs) is making sure you…
Overcalling From the BB
In poker, overcalling refers to calling a bet or raise after another player has also…
Understanding Which Mistakes Cost You the Most Money
I am fortunate enough to have worked for many years with the mental game coach…
Overbetting The Flop in Cash Games
Although most commonly analyzed on turns and rivers, flop overbetting can be a devastating weapon…
Using New Skills at the Poker Table
How many times has it happened to you that you make a mistake only to…
Flatting Ace-X Hands Shortstacked
Playing out of position is tricky, but it’s an essential part of tournament play. With…
Playing Limped Pots as the BB in MTTs
Success as the BB in limped pots begins before the flop. The BB’s equilibrium strategy…
The Absurd Game Theory of Chopped Boards
A “chopped board” in poker is one where the community cards make up the best…
Playing Limped Pots as the SB in MTTs
MTT confrontations between the small blind and big blind force no-limit players into uncomfortable situations,…
The Art of Learning Poker
In his book The Art of Learning, chess and Push Hands champion Josh Waitzkin describes…
Is Donk Betting for Donkeys?
“Donk betting”, or betting from out of position into the player who was the aggressor…
Delayed C-Betting
This is a companion piece to Probe Betting. It stands on its own, but understanding…
Probe Betting
As far as rules of thumb go in poker, “check to the raiser” is a…
ICM and Blind Battles: The Big Blind
This is a companion piece to this article on the SB’s strategy for blind vs…
ICM and Blind Battles: The Small Blind
ICM incentivizes more conservative play, which means that at stages of the tournament where risk…
The Initial Bettor’s Advantage
The mathematics of poker holds a little-known secret: the first bettor enjoys better bluffing odds…
Mastering the Chiplead: The Scalpel and the Sledgehammer
When you have a lot of chips at a final table or in another situation…
Flop Heuristics: IP C-Betting in Cash Games
Our never-ending quest for money and fame leads us to the flop. We open the…
How ICM Impacts Restealing From The Blinds
When I first started working with preflop solves, one of the features I found most…
The ICM Benefits of Late Registration in Poker Tournaments
Why do so many professional poker players register late for tournaments when they clearly would…
Flop Heuristics: OOP C-Betting in MTTs
Playing against an in-position cold-caller is dramatically different–and dramatically more difficult–than playing against a caller…
Counterintuitive Calls
Solver outputs such as those provided by GTO Wizard are models of no-limit hold ‘em,…
How To Negotiate Final Table Deals
Most people’s first introduction to the Independent Chip Model (ICM) is not from studying bubble…
How Does ICM Impact PKO Strategy?
If you have read The Theory of Progressive Knockout Tournaments you already know why we…
Understanding Blockers in Poker
Often when looking through a solver’s meticulously crafted grid of deception, one of the following…
Flop Heuristics: IP Cold-Caller in MTTs
A Cold-call refers to the act of calling a preflop raise when you don’t close…
Flop Heuristics: IP C-Betting in MTTs
In the world of poker, the flop is a crucial stage of the game that…
Flop Heuristics for Defending the Blinds in MTTs
The field of Game Theoretically Optimal poker is extensive, and thus, to simplify our strategy,…
Multiway strategy in Progressive Knockout Tournaments
Progressive Knockout (PKO) tournaments are much more complex than traditional MTTs. The fact that players…
How To Calculate Raises In Poker
One of the most frequently asked questions in poker is how to calculate the size…
Principles of River Play
The river offers the least complicated strategy of any betting street. With no further cards…
Exploitative Dynamics
GTO solutions are designed to be unexploitable, performing reasonably well no matter how your opponents…
How ICM Impacts Postflop Strategy
Most players understand how the Independent Chip Model (ICM) in poker impacts their strategy preflop,…
10 Tips for Multiway Pots in Poker
While lots of work has been placed into research and explanation of heads-up pot strategy,…
What is the Bubble Factor in poker tournaments?
The Independent Chip Model (ICM) shows us the real money implications of tournament chip decisions.…
The Theory of Progressive Knockout Tournaments
In poker, a PKO (Progressive Knockout) tournament is a type of tournament where a portion…
How To Analyze Turn Textures In Poker
Master the art of turn analysis in poker. Understand how the turn card changes the…
Principles of Turn Strategy
Learn the principles of turn strategy in poker and discover what makes the turn unique.…
Poker Strategies: Tournaments vs. Cash Games
Tournament poker is not as different from cash game poker as people sometimes assume. Most…
How Solvers Work
A Game Theory Optimal solver is an algorithm that calculates the best possible poker strategy.…
The Most Powerful Play in Poker
The central strategic implication of stack depth is the question of how much equity a…
When does ICM become significant in MTTs?
The Independent Chip Model (ICM) was invented in 1987 by M. Malmuth and is one…
How To Study GTO Solutions
Tools like GTO Wizard and other solvers should not be used to memorize specific strategies.…
Principles of GTO
Game theory, or GTO (for Game Theoretically Optimal), is best understood not as a rigid…
Interpreting Equity Distributions
GTO Wizard’s range vs range equity distribution graphs are an excellent tool for visualizing which…
What is Leverage in poker?
Leverage refers to the risk of future betting. When you call a bet on the…
Reasons for value betting in poker
You’re probably accustomed to thinking of bets as either value or bluff. In this taxonomy,…
The Science of Poker Performance
Poker is a game of small edges and big swings. Every hand is an investment…
What is Valor in poker?
Can a poker hand be courageous? How does your ability to value bet future streets…
Pot Geometry
“Pot Geometry” refers to betting an equal fraction of the pot on each street, such…
A Beginner’s Guide to Poker Combinatorics
Combinatorics is a fancy term for evaluating the number of possible “combinations” (combos) of any…
Stack-to-pot ratio
Stack-to-pot ratio, or SPR, is a way of measuring how deep the effective stack is…
Equity Realization
In poker jargon, equity expresses how much of the pot a hand will win, on…
Variance and Bankroll Management
Variance and Bankroll Management. Vital Soft Skills for Every Poker Player.
How to Become a GTO Wizard
Welcome to the wonderful world of game theory optimal poker! This article will serve as…
The Three Laws of Indifference
Indifference in poker is one of the most misunderstood concepts. The word “indifference” means that…
Poker subsets and abstractions
An “abstraction” is a way to simplify the game of poker. This game is so…
Mathematical Misconceptions in Poker
Pot Odds and MDF are foundational mathematical formulas in poker.
How to solve toy games
Poker is a complicated game. It’s impossible to calculate GTO strategies on the fly. By…
The Value of Fold Equity – Experiment
The term “fold equity” is ambiguous in the poker community. Firstly, it’s an EV equation,…
MDF & Alpha
MDF & Alpha. Minimum Defense Frequency and Alpha are metrics on poker that determine how…
What are Pot Odds in poker?
Pot odds are a fundamental calculation in poker. In the simplest terms, pot odds tell…
Does your range affect your strategy?
Advanced players will often tell you that your range affects your strategy.
Visualizing implied odds
Implied odds are the value you expect to gain over and above your raw equity.…
ICM Basics
As a tournament player, you may have heard about the concept of “ICM”, but what…
What is Equity in Poker?
The term “Equity” is ubiquitous throughout poker theory. Equity refers to your chances of winning…
Range Morphology
“Morphology” is the study of form or structure. You’ve probably heard terms thrown around such…
What is Expected Value in Poker?
Expected value (EV) is the most fundamental metric in poker. Every decision you make is…
Why doesn’t my solution match GTO Wizard?
So, you’ve got your own solutions to some spot, compared it to GTO Wizard, and…
Understanding Nash Distance
Understanding Nash Distance. One of the most common questions when studying with solvers is “Why…
Combinatorics Poker Puzzle
Today we have a special puzzle for you that will test your intuition as a…
The 10 Most Important Concepts for New Poker Players
The 10 Most Important Concepts for New Poker Players. Fundamentals are one of the most…
What is GTO in Poker?
The meaning of GTO in poker is Game Theory Optimal. Game theory is a study…
What does GTO aim to achieve?
So what exactly is a GTO strategy? What makes it “unexploitable”? What does it try…