By every metric you care to consider, the Asian Poker Tour is booming right now.
This well established live poker tour — 2026 marks its 20th anniversary — has continually been breaking records for attendance and prizepools since a high-profile relaunch (the start of the ‘New Era’) in 2023.
As the tour’s CEO Fred Leung told PokerOrg in August, “Asia is the last gold mine, per se, in terms of poker. Everyone's looking for this next rush or whatever; I'm telling you, it's happening. It's happening right now, and the rest of the world just doesn't realize.”
The next chapter of that boom begins in just two weeks, when the APT returns to Jeju, South Korea for the second time this year.
The first visit, early in 2026, saw more new records set and massive prizes awarded to both established pros and less familiar faces.
If you haven’t yet been on a poker trip to Jeju Island, there’s never been a better time.
Here’s all you need to know before you go.
When?
APT Jeju runs from September 25 to October 7.
The first event on the schedule is the Korea National Cup, from 11am on day one of the series. This multi-flight tournament costs around $150 to play and has a guaranteed prizepool of $150,000.
The Main Event has four starting flights, daily from September 27-29. These not only offer different start times but also a choice of speed, with Day 1A (10 x 60-minute levels), Day 1B (6 x 45-minute and 4 x 60-minute levels), and Days 1C and 1D (6 x 30-minute and 4 x 45-minute levels) offering slightly different experiences.
Days 2-5 of the Main Event run from September 30 to October 3.
The series ends with a selection of turbo tournaments on the final day, Wednesday October 7.
Why?
Over the past few years Jeju has quickly become one of the world’s peak poker destinations.
It regularly plays home to super high roller series such as Triton Poker, but only a small percentage of poker players would ever consider ponying up the buy-ins needed to play those.
APT Jeju, on the other hand, gives you the chance to play tournaments in this major poker destination for buy-ins as low as $150, or as high as $27K.
And while it’s a great destination for recreational poker players, you’ll also be rubbing shoulders with some elite players. The last time the APT visited Jeju it attracted battlers such as Joseph Cheong and Ren ‘Tony’ Lin (above) — the latter winning back-to-back titles for almost $600K in winnings.
Because while the buy-ins are not always huge, the prizepools definitely trend that way. The first APT in Jeju this year broke the record for the richest Korean poker festival of all-time.
The biggest prizes this time around are likely to be found in the $2K Main Event, where a minimum of $1.6 million will be awarded, but other juicy guarantees are in place too. All events are either single-day or two-day tourneys, with the exception of the Main Event which will run for five days.
There will also be 12 seats given out across the festival to the upcoming APT Championship Main Event in Taipei this November. That $10K freezeout is guaranteeing $5 million in payouts; last year’s winner banked over a million dollars.
Cash games will also be running, with blinds ranging from approx. $4/$8 to $40/$80.
Where?
The full series takes place at the LES A Casino on Jeju Island.
Find it on the map by searching LES A Casino, 38 Sinhwayeoksa-ro, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea (click here to view now on Google Maps).
The casino is located within Jeju Shinhwa World, a huge resort complex that includes four hotels — Marriott, Somerset, Shinhwa and Landing, plus luxury condos at Shinhwa Villas — as well as a water park, zoo and theme park.
Plenty of restaurants, cafes and bars can be found on-site too, in addition to a cinema, health spas, a golf academy, gaming zones and an entire shopping district.
Jeju Shinhwa World is located on Jeju, South Korea’s largest island some 30 miles off the country’s southern coast. A volcanic island, Jeju has a subtropical climate — expect warm temperatures — and contains a natural World Heritage Site.
Hallasan volcano on Jeju is Korea’s highest mountain, and the island also features over 300 smaller extinct volcanoes. Together with its extensive natural forests, the setting is a striking and memorable one to explore.
What?
Despite the many distractions available, poker is obviously the main attraction for those heading to APT Jeju. And you won’t be disappointed: the variety for which the tour is renowned will be very much on show.
With 135 different events on the schedule, there is room for all sorts. Many variants you may have only heard about, or played in private games, are spread in tournament formats. This gives the tour a unique position as an ideal destination for mixed games players.
The likes of hold’em, pot-limit Omaha, 2-7 triple draw and stud are well represented, but then so too are less common games such as super stud, drawmaha and Big O.
And then there are the new variants invented on the tour itself, such as Red River Hold’em, Cry Me A River and Atomic Pineapple (see here for more on the APT’s more unusual variants).
There are 11 women’s events, including a heads-up tourney, a main event and a high roller, and a huge variety in buy-ins and formats.
The $1.6M GTD Main Event (September 27 to October 3) is obviously the star attraction for most, but there is also a $1.1K Mini Main Event (Oct 2-3) and a $550 Micro Main Event (October 5-6).
At the $3K+ buy-in level there are 14 different high roller events, at the $1K and under level there are dozens and dozens. Team events, heads-up tourneys, satellites, hyper-turbos, freezeouts, re-entries… whatever you’re looking for, you’ll surely find it.
You can read our curated pick of the upcoming events here, or check out the full APT Jeju schedule.
How?
Flights to Jeju from the Korean capital city Seoul operate at an almost staggering frequency. In fact, it is considered to be the busiest air route in the world, often with over 130 direct departures per day from Seoul Gimpo.
It’s said a flight leaves more frequently than every 10 minutes.
The flight from the Korean mainland to Jeju takes around an hour, and once on the island the 18-mile journey from the airport to Jeju Shinhwa World takes around 30-40 minutes in a cab. Expect to pay less than USD $30 for a standard taxi.
A shuttle bus also operates a regular route from the airport to the various hotels in the resort.
Speaking of which, with four hotels plus private villas on-site you have a wide choice when it comes to accomodation. For prices and room availability, click here.
One last thing
Did we mention the APT has the coolest trophies around?
PokerOrg will be reporting from the tournament floor at APT Jeju, and we hope to see you there (hopefully holding one of these).
APT Jeju takes place September 25 to October 7 in Jeju, Korea. Stick with PokerOrg for full coverage from the LES A Casino.
For more on the upcoming Jeju series, the APT Championship in November, or to read more news from the Asian Poker Tour, head to our dedicated APT news section.
Note that all dollar amounts mentioned in this article have been converted from Korean won, are approximate and correct at time of writing.
Images courtesy of the APT/Jeju Shinhwa World/Sgroey.
