Hello! I’m on the PR team at CLOViZ Inc.
Today, we’re joined by Ao, a female poker player who competes in international tournaments and is also active as a poker influencer.
She shared a lot with us, including how she chose poker as a career, how she studies away from the table, and the free-spirited love of the game behind her calm, analytical mindset.
1. A Female Player Who Turned What She Loves Into a Career
—First, could you introduce yourself?
Ao：
My name is Ao. I’m 24, and I work as a freelance web professional. I’ve been playing poker for about three and a half years. I started because I happened to discover it with friends, and now I play a lot of tournaments both in Japan and overseas. As for results, I won a daily tournament at Caesars Palace during last year’s WSOP, and I finished runner-up at APT Manila.
—Can you tell us more about what got you into poker?
Ao：
It really started when a friend randomly took me to an amusement poker venue. I’ve always liked things like board games and Werewolf, so I thought poker would probably be fun too. I didn’t get super into cash games at first, but the second time I went, I jumped into a tournament and ran really deep. It was only about 30 players, but I finished around second place, and I mistakenly thought, “I’m actually good at poker.” That made it fun, and I got completely hooked.
—You’re also doing influencer activities now. What was the turning point that boosted your visibility?
Ao：
I think it started with ABEMA’s Queen Of Poker.
—Got it. I watched it too. How did you feel back then?
Ao：
It connects to my web work, but I’ve been freelancing in web since I was about 19, and my company has been incorporated for about four years now. At one point it grew to a pretty large scale, but I started feeling kind of empty about it. I began completely on my own without a clear goal. The business was probably going well, but I started thinking, “What’s next?”
At the time, poker was purely a hobby. But I decided to change how I thought about work, and I wanted to make what I love into my job. That’s when I started thinking I wanted to work in poker.
When I asked myself what I could do to make poker my career, going pro in cash games was one option. But I love tournaments, and I also wanted to help grow poker. So I thought, “I should be more public-facing,” and I strengthened my influencer efforts. Right then, I got an offer for Queen Of Poker and was able to appear. After that, more people evaluated my poker ability, and I started getting invited to more media opportunities.
—How did people around you react once you became more well-known?
Ao：
My bluffs stopped working as much, honestly. Before, because of how I look, they worked pretty often, and I could use that. But not anymore.
—That also means people respect your skill now.
Ao：
Yeah. So I’m happy about it.
2. Over 30 Coaching Sessions With Top Players in Three Years
—What was your thinking like when you first started playing?
Ao：
I started thinking I had natural talent, but by my third tournament or so, I was losing a lot. That’s normal, but it shocked me because I thought I was good. So I figured something had to be wrong and started watching poker videos.
At first, I was just extremely aggressive. I kept thinking, “If I can make them fold, that’s profitable.” And I couldn’t stand not trying new ideas, so I’d do things like 5-bet jam everything, thinking they’d fold.
—If you did that to me, I’d want to fold QQ.
Ao：
Right? If you can make someone fold QQ, that’s insanely profitable.
—And you were also using your image well.
Ao：
Exactly. But I’d do it two or three times a day, so of course I’d get picked off. Then I’d think, “Why am I getting caught?” or “Maybe there’s a better hand selection.” I kept testing things in my head and then entering tournaments.
But I was still just too bad, so I started paying for coaching. I think about 80% of the players I know have taken coaching at least once.
—Really? Within three years?
Ao：
Yeah, I took a lot. Souzirou, Misawa, euro, and others. The best part of coaching is being able to ask about the exact things you’re unsure about.
—There are different coaching styles. What worked best for you?
Ao：
I especially like Misawa’s coaching. I think I’ve taken it about 30 times.
—30 times? That’s incredible.
Ao：
I took a ton over three years, yeah.
As for the process, we often start from the very first hand. What’s great about Misawa’s coaching is that even with a one-street hand, he points out missing concepts. When you play, you’re convinced your line is correct, so you have a reason for it. When I explain, “I thought this, so I did this,” he’ll tell me, “That’s wrong.”
Then we dig into what’s wrong, like:
- Equity estimation
- Opponent ranges
- Planning future streets
- Pot math
- Outs calculation
- Implied odds
If implied odds are the issue, for example, he’ll say, “So what are implied odds?” and we’ll go into a lesson from there. That might be my favorite type of coaching. But I’ve tried all kinds, lecture-style and practical play-style.
—From the beginning, did you see losing as a skill issue rather than just bad luck?
Ao：
Yes. I have a strong belief about this: there’s no point arguing about luck. What matters is whether you made the best play in that spot. As a beginner, you take each result too seriously, like “I called and lost.” But for that one hand, it’s a mistake. You face hands you didn’t expect, you can’t fold when you should, your bluffs get called. I saw those as my mistakes.
—If you already think that way, it makes sense you’d quickly decide you should study off the table.
3. Always Throwing “Pin” in Rock-Paper-Scissors: Studying GTO
—Poker study is often divided into equilibrium understanding and exploitative play. How did you balance the two?
Ao：
Overwhelmingly, I focus on equilibrium understanding. I’m not that good at exploiting, and I don’t think I’m strong at it.
—Why is that?
Ao：
It’s hard to explain, but I want to seriously enjoy poker as a game. And I genuinely like studying equilibrium. I don’t think I study only to get better. I study because I enjoy understanding equilibrium itself.
—So you enjoy the process of working toward understanding equilibrium.
Ao：
Yes. Also, there’s a GTO analogy that really stuck with me. People say GTO is like trying to throw rock, paper, and scissors evenly. Someone once told me, “Ao, you keep throwing ‘pin.’” Like there’s a fourth option called “pin.”
—How does “pin” work?
Ao：
It beats paper, but it loses in a tie. So it’s negative EV no matter what. That’s why you first need to be able to throw rock, paper, and scissors properly. And for that, you study GTO.
—That makes sense. In poker, because hands have different strengths, there are clearly negative-EV plays.
Ao：
Exactly. And I think exploiting is something you do after you can already throw rock, paper, and scissors evenly.
—So for you, the main reason GTO matters is to avoid making “pin” plays against anyone.
Ao：
Yes. Of course, I do exploit sometimes too.
4. Putting Her Entire Bankroll on the Table in Las Vegas: Calm Mental Game
—Next, I’d like to ask about mental game. How much experience do you have playing live cash games overseas?
Ao：
I think I played about 100 hours last year, mostly 5.
—Do you feel emotional swings while playing?
Ao：
I do have emotional swings, but I don’t think I feel them much about money. Maybe I just can’t really process the amounts. I understand feeling down because “the pot was big,” but I’ve never thought, “Because the dollar amount was big.”
—Interesting. Do you tilt?
Ao：
I tilt a lot.
—Really? When does it happen?
Ao：
Almost always when I misplay. If someone sucks out on the river, I don’t really feel anything. For example, I was playing 5 in Las Vegas and lost a massive bomb pot. Someone kept calling with a draw that didn’t have the right odds, and they got there at the end. But I remember thinking, “It’s so good that they’re calling like this.”
—Even after they hit?
Ao：
Yes. And because I thought it was so good, I put my entire bankroll for the trip on the table.
—That’s wild.
Ao：
I’m not that attached to money, and I simply enjoy maximizing my chip stack. I also love no-money poker.
—A lot of people tilt from getting sucked out on. Why can you stay so calm?
Ao：
That’s the game. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you get hit. What matters is making the best decision. And I genuinely trust poker as a game. I believe skill shows over time, and probability behaves like probability. So I don’t believe in ideas like “That guy always gets there.”
—In Japan, games like mahjong have been popular for a long time, and people often bring in ideas like “flow” or “luck.” Poker might change too if more people study.
Ao：
Yes. I truly think studying is fun, so I want everyone to try it at least once.
—It would be great if more people did.
Ao：
That’s actually one of my goals as an influencer. I want poker to feel more like a sport. I want it to be highly competitive.
—Like a poker version of M-League?
Ao：
Yes, exactly. That’s what I want to create. That was also the goal with Queen Of Poker. Poker is cool, it’s fair, and it’s not gambling. I want to spread that message.
5. Studying Even on a Deserted Island: Committing to a Life in Poker
—What are your future goals in poker?
Ao：
I want to win a bigger title and become more well-known.
—So it’s more about the title itself than prize money?
Ao：
Yes. It’s an honor, and it’s a goal. But even if I win one big title, I’ll probably challenge higher buy-in tournaments, so I think I’ll just keep playing poker forever.
—How do you think about work going forward? Do you see a path to going full-time in poker?
Ao：
Yes. I want to go full-time. But not only as someone who lives off cash games. I want to be full-time in poker including influencer work, marketing, and things like that.
—Have you learned any life lessons through poker?
Ao：
That’s hard… I guess I learned to think in terms of expected value. That helps in business too. But honestly, poker is my life now. Poker is the main thing.
—So maybe what you gained from poker is deciding to live in the poker world.
Ao：
That might be true. I never thought my life would become this fun after finding poker.
—You really love poker.
Ao：
I do. I’m pretty confident about that. I also often say, “If I could bring one thing to a deserted island, it would be a deck of cards.”
—That’s intense. But you’d still want opponents, right?
Ao：
I might just study by myself.
6. A Message for Everyone
—What would you say to people who just started poker, or are about to start?
Ao：
First, I want to say, “You’re lucky you found poker.”
—So just discovering it is a kind of happiness.
Ao：
Yes. And if you want to study, there are so many options now. You can watch YouTube, use tools like Wizard, and also things like PokerQ’z. If you study with those, you’ll discover a different kind of fun.
—Any final words for our readers?
Ao：
I really want to become stronger and better at poker, and I’d be happy if everyone enjoyed poker in their own way. That’s why I truly hate real-money home games. I want people to stop gambling in Japan. I want us to protect poker and build it up together.
—If gambling spreads, it can lead to regulation and hurt the entire poker scene.
Ao：
Exactly. I want people to enjoy poker purely as a game. Poker is interesting enough to be enjoyed that way. I want a culture where you can admire the winner as cool, and even if you get sucked out and lose a pot, you stay composed and walk away calmly. I want to be that kind of player too.
