The Jeju Poker Festival will run 123 trophy events across 15 days this autumn, from October 28 to November 11 at LES A Casino inside Jeju Shinhwa World, with KRW 3.88 billion (roughly USD 2.72 million) guaranteed across its three headline tournaments alone. That is 36 more trophies and three more days than the 2025 edition, which drew players from 38 countries and paid out more than KRW 13.1 billion.
The festival is a joint production: the Red Dragon Poker Tour and KPC Poker each bring their own schedule and share the floor, now in its third year as a combined event. Between them they have built what is effectively Korea’s biggest non-Triton poker fortnight, and it lands immediately after APT Jeju wraps on October 7 — giving the island two heavyweight festivals inside six weeks.
Three Main Events, Three Price Points
The schedule is deliberately tiered rather than built around a single flagship. KPC Poker opens the top end with its Main Event at a KRW 1.3 million buy-in and KRW 880 million guaranteed. The Red Dragon Classic Main Event sits in the middle at KRW 2.5 million with KRW 1.2 billion behind it. The largest guarantee belongs to the Red Dragon Plus Championship: KRW 4 million to enter, KRW 1.8 billion guaranteed, and the biggest single prize pool commitment either tour has made in Jeju.
Beneath the three headliners sit the festival’s recognisable side attractions — the JPF 3rd Anniversary Event, the low-buy-in Baby Dragon, and the Dragon Egg Mystery Bounty. The whole thing opens with an invite-only appreciation freeroll: no entry fee, KRW 50 million in the pool, and 168 seats reserved for qualified players from both tours.
RDPT Plus, and a KPC Rebrand
The Plus Championship is not just a bigger buy-in. RDPT is using the event to introduce its “RDPT PLUS” concept, marketed as “Poker Elevated” and built on deeper starting stacks and longer levels — structure aimed at players who resent being shoved into 15-big-blind decisions by day two. Whether the extra runway justifies the KRW 4 million ticket will depend on how well the field holds up late, but it is a clear attempt to court the regs who normally skip regional mains for high rollers.
KPC Poker arrives with new branding too, having swapped to a black-and-gold identity following its merger with King Poker Cup. The consolidation matters more than the colour scheme: two competing Korean-market brands running one schedule means fewer clashing start times and a deeper shared player pool.
Early Bird Pricing Closes October 10
Six travel packages are on offer, ranging from about KRW 4.36 million at the entry level to KRW 13 million plus USD 12,000 for the high roller bundle. Accommodation-inclusive options start around KRW 6.83 million at the Landing Hotel and KRW 7 million at the Marriott, both inside the integrated resort and both a short walk from the tournament floor. Early bird rates hold until October 10.
For players flying in from Southeast Asia, the resort setup is a large part of the appeal — restaurants, the Shinhwa Water Park and the casino sit in one complex, which keeps the non-poker hours cheap and simple. Jeju’s visa-free entry for most regional passports has done the rest of the work in turning the island into Korea’s default destination stop, and a 123-event schedule is the clearest signal yet that the organisers expect the field to keep growing.
Sources: PokerNews, SoMuchPoker.