Masato ‘World Wide’ Yokosawa is one of the most successful poker vloggers in the world. The Japanese professional player’s YouTube channel has 945,000 subscribers, with pages full of videos about the 32-year-old’s life on the circuit with many sporting view counts in the millions.
Yokosawa has found plenty of success on the felt along the way, including winning the World Poker Tour Korea main event title back in 2013. The Tokyo resident’s latest triumph saw him come out on top in the third event of the 2025 PokerGO Tour Kickoff series festival. Yokosawa beat a field of 112 entries in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em tournament to earn $142,800 and his first PGT trophy.
Thanks to this victory, Yokosawa has surpassed $1.7 million in recorded tournament earnings. His largest payout yet came back in 2023, when he finished 45th in the World Series of Poker main event for $188,400.
The 480 Card Player Player of the Year points that came with this win were enough to move Yokosawa into 70th place in the 2025 POY standings presented by Global Poker. He also secured 286 PGT points, enough to move into second place in the early season-long standings.
The top 16 finishers earned a piece of the $560,000 prize pool in this event, with nine players busting inside the money before the end of day 1 action. Just seven players returned to the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas for day 2, with Yokosawa leading the way.
Pocket aces featured prominently throughout this final table. Yokosawa picked up A
A
against the Q
Q of two-time bracelet winner Justin Saliba to score the first knockout of the day. Then, after eliminating Michael Vanier (6th – $28,000), Neil Warren coolered Yokosawa right back, with A
A besting KK.
The Ultimate Cooler for Masato Yokosawa! Aces vs. Kings at PGT Kickoff!
: https://t.co/34Dxw3w9PM pic.twitter.com/ZkYREgtDsr
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) January 23, 2025
Ten-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel’s run in this event came to an end when his pocket sixes were unable to outrun the Q-7 suited of Blake Vogdes. Seidel earned $36,400 as the fifth-place finisher. The Poker Hall of Fame member now has more than $48.4 million in lifetime cashes under his belt.
Despite scoring that knockout, Vogdes was the next to fall. He lost a classic preflop race with Q10 against the 33 of Warren to head home with $50,400.
Yokosawa won the next key pot with the hand of the day: pocket aces. He limped from the small blind for 250,000 total with AA and called a raise to 700,000 from Nicholas Seward, who held K10. The flop came down 1032 and Yokosawa check-called 325,000 with his overpair. The 2 paired the board and Yokosawa check-called again, this time for 825,000. The 5 on the end saw Yokosawa move all-in. Seward made the quick call with tens up and was eliminated in third place ($64,400).
Heads-up play began with 8,600,000 for Yokosawa and 5,400,000 for Warren. That gap grew ahead of the final hand. Warren shoved for 3,325,000 from the button with A6 and Yokosawa called with A2. The board came down 54242 and deuces full of fours gave Yokosawa the pot and the title. Warren walked away with $89,600 as the runner-up.
Masato Yokosawa takes down his first Las Vegas victory for $142,800 at PGT Kickoff! pic.twitter.com/MvTi7hRAKq
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) January 24, 2025
Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Masato Yokosawa | $142,800 | 480 | 286 |
| 2 | Neil Warren | $89,600 | 400 | 179 |
| 3 | Nicholas Seward | $64,400 | 320 | 129 |
| 4 | Blake Vogdes | $50,400 | 240 | 101 |
| 5 | Erik Seidel | $36,400 | 200 | 73 |
| 6 | Mike Vanier | $28,000 | 160 | 56 |
| 7 | Justin Saliba | $22,400 | 120 | 45 |
Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.