『Produced by GACKT! POKER×POKER 〜Industry One-on-One Tournament』is a regular broadcast program on AbemaTV’s AbemaSPECIAL channel that airs every Friday at midnight. The 4 representatives from their various industries that will be taking part in the July tournament have been announced.

『Produced by GACKT! POKER×POKER 〜Industry One-on-One Tournament』is a poker program that is produced by GACKT, who possesses such a level of skill that he has even taken part in international poker tournaments. Geared towards poker beginners, it is conducted in a style where GACKT himself will explain the rules and commentate on the players’ psychological state, and there will also be telop explanations of the roles and terminologies by the character Daiya-chan, voiced by voice actress Kakuma Ai, creating content that can be fully enjoyed by poker beginners as well.

During the tournaments that were broadcast in May and June, as the program title, 4 guests representing various industries challenge each other in poker with their industries on the line. In May’s tournament, Golden Bomber’s vocalist Kiryuuin Sho from the visual world, Max Murai from the YouTuber world, Yaguchi Mari from the idol world, and Tsukamoto Takashi from the actors world took part. Yaguchi shone, becoming the first champion. Next, in June, a fiery battle is unfolding between Kobayashi Kamui from the motorsports world, rock band DIR EN GREY’s drummer Shinya from the Visual-Kei world, Kameda Daiki from fistiana, and Asuka Kirara from the sexy actresses world.

And this time, the 4 contestants who will represent their industries for the July tournament will be announced. The first person is Aizawa Emiri from the hostess world who is currently active as a model on the magazine「Koakuma ageha」, while showing her ability as an entrepreneur in establishing her own brand「EmiriaWiz」. The second person is Ooi Takaharu, a professional mahjong player from the mahjong world. The third person taking part is tarento Ryucheru from the reader model world. And finally, the fourth person has been confirmed to be K-1’s first ever triple class champion and the existing K-1 WORLD GP Super Featherweight champion, Takeru from the K-1 world.

In addition,「SUPERCHOICE」will be used in conjunction with the program for viewers to guess who will win. Those who guess correctly will have the chance to be picked to win luxurious prizes, so while reading the spirited comments from the guests, do try guessing who the winner of the July tournament will be.

※SUPERCHOICE is a prediction poll service managed by CyberAgent, Inc.. This is a service that can be used by anyone on their smartphones or PCs for free.

While it can be expected that turbulent battles will be fought, who will be the one who stands stop these 4 contestants? The fiery clashes between this 3rd group of guests from completely different industries will begin broadcast on 6 July.

■Hostess world representative – Aizawa Emiri
――Having tried playing poker, what do you think of it?

It was fun!!

――Have you had experience in poker before this?

This was the first time! But it was fun, very fun. It makes your heart race too. I’m kind of bad at thinking so I did think of wanting to study it more.

――I’d think that judgement is important in your work as a hostess and as a business manager, but with regards to that?

Decision making, that was troubling〜. The more you know about poker, the more you’d worry… Though, maybe I really do lack decisivness (lol). Whenever I’m not sure, I’d often ask or discuss things with someone before deciding, so it’s difficult on my own.

――Would you play more poker following this?

I want to, I’d like to! I’m hooked! It’s fun!

――Which part of it was fun?

It’s not completely based on luck, but there is a little bit of luck in play too. It’s also not completely based on what you do, like don’t you think that you’d require luck for the first 2 cards you get? Those things are kinda interesting.

■Mahjong world representative – Ooi Takeru
――Experience in poker?

None at all. Today’s the first time.

――What are your thoughts towards today’s filming?

Although I have a game brain, I’m confident in myself, so I thought that I’d be able to remember while I play. It was a first fight where I was learning the pushing and pulling while playing, so there were many different instances where I’d figure out that at a certain point doing a certain thing would work. There were times when I’d observe and read a person more, or attack more where I can, and there were also times when things got tough. What bothered me the most was, I suppose, you’d call it the pride of the mahjong world, like things that would make someone think “Are Mahjong pros idiots?”, I really didn’t want to put forth an embarrassing play though, yes. Honestly, it was difficult going up against a female opponent. Instead of thinking “let’s compete!” I ended up spacing out (lol), I got caught up in her pace.

――What are the similarities and differences to mahjong?

There are quite a lot of similarities! Since I’m a poker beginner, it might be presumptuous for me to say something like this but the similarities are there.

People will tend to call it a game of luck but there’s a lot of room to edge in skills, your resourcefulness, your human observational abilities, and as expected your human nature will come out as well, that’s the kind of game it is. If you don’t go in when you need to, you’d lose too. In terms of mahjong, even if you get a good hand at the start, you won’t be able to win with just those and drawing cards yourself, and in poker I think that you won’t be able to win with just the two cards in your hand, so be it the way you spread your chips, the push timing, the pull timing, things like that, there are similarities in all of that. I feel that I can get stronger at this, the more I play it.

――Would you play more poker following this?

I’ve gained a lot of interest in this. I think that the game instinct that poker cultivates can be brought back to mahjong too, and not only that, I do think that this can be a bridge that brings together viewers from「Mahjong Channel」to this program「 POKER×POKER 〜 Industry One-on-One Tournament」and vice-versa too, it would be nice if both sides could get excited over this.

■Reader model industry representative – Ryucheru
――Having tried playing poker, what do you think of it?

It feels very addictive! It felt like it was something that I can really get into!!

――Which portions of it made you feel the enjoyment of poker?

In the beginning, I thought that this was a game that adult men play but contrary to that, it’s a game that anyone can enjoy with rules that anyone can understand. Luck may play a part in it, but as I played, I came to understand the strategies, and that’s something that’s very similar to sports, which makes me think that it would be nice if one day, everyone can play poker like how widespread sports is now.

――Have you found it suitable for your personality?

The more I played, I came to think that these kinds of people exist, while those kinds exist too, and even if it seems like it’s might not be possible, I don’t know anything so I was able to enjoy it a lot. Since this is a game that beginners can enjoy as well, I do hope that everyone will give it a go.

――Finally, please share a highlight with the viewers

GACKT-san was exceptionally kind, and what was perplexing to me was the rather unfamiliar sights for GACKT-san’s fans (lol).

■K-1 world representative – Takeru
――Experience in poker?

This is my first time. I’ve never played anything in relation to this Texas Hold’em poker before.

――What are your thoughts after your first battle?

I thought that this was a challenge of luck. However, I’ve come to understand that ability, the strength of your determination, and skills are involved too, and when it’s like that, there are parts that make it similar to martial arts. Like how aggressive you should go. Even in martial arts, you can say that your opponent is in a better position, and even if your opponent has better technique/power/speed, what really brings in the win is your「feelings」. For me, my fight style is to win with my feelings if I can, regardless of the opponent, so that really communicated well with poker, so it was interesting.

――Where was a continuous string of situations where you were under intense pressure, but how did you find that?

Heart racing, tension, there was a thrill that was similar to martial arts. It wasn’t an immediate turn of tables but looking back, there was also the possibility of a bluff, so there was also the possibility that I could’ve won if I swung around with all I had. It really gave me the kind of feeling that I’d get when fighting in the ring.

――Would you play more poker following this?

I’d want to play, be it just a casual game or going all out at it. I want to take part in this tournament again!

Source: ABEMATIMES.COM

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA