Tournament poker in Japan exists in a legal area all of its own, with operators such as the Japan Open Poker Tour (JOPT) unable to award cash prizes for winning players.
Instead, prizes often take the form of what are known as ‘player contracts’ — effectively tournament credits which can be used for travel, accommodation and buy-ins for a range of international tournaments.
And alongside the announcement of the JOPT’s Tokyo Series, running July 16-20 at the Bella Salle Takadanobaba Event Venue in Shinjuku City, Tokyo, comes confirmation that JOPT player contracts can be used to play events on the Asian Poker Tour (APT).
Additionally, a new online poker app from the JOPT offers the chance to qualify for WSOP events — see below for more.
APT sweetens the deal for two JOPT events
JOPT 2026 Tokyo will offer events in various poker formats, with buy-ins ranging from around $60 to $3,000 — the latter the NLH Platinum Sponsored by APT.
Players in this and the other APT-sponsored event on the schedule — the $1,850 NLH Crown — will be eligible to win APT vouchers worth up to $1.5K in addition to any other prizes available.
The winners of these two events will also receive the new APT Challenge Trophy.
Visit the APT booth at JOPT Tokyo for a complimentary deck of APT cards and to be entered into a free prize draw.
New app opens more doors
On June 17 the JOPT launched a new mobile app, JOPT Games, which aims to make it easier to qualify for major international live poker events.
The app features satellites, with winners able to qualify for events at the JOPT, APT, Sengoku Poker Tour and even the World Series of Poker.
The app operates on a subscription model, with entry tickets awarded as a subscriber benefit and available for purchase online.
While the legality of online and live poker varies across the world, Japan’s situation is particularly complex. Here's hoping this slightly lengthy workaround results in more Japanese players winning the opportunity to travel further afield to locations where tournaments award more traditional cash prizes.
The next APT series in the calendar is coming up soon, when the tour returns to Incheon in South Korea from August 7-16.
Images courtesy of JOPT/APT.
