The Asian Poker Tour runs five festivals in 2026 — two on Jeju, two in Taipei and one in Incheon — and every one of them sits in either South Korea or Taiwan. It is the tour’s 20th year, and the season closes with the APT Championship in Taipei from November 13–29, where a USD 10,000 freezeout Main Event carries a USD 5,000,000 guarantee. For players based in Asia, that makes APT the cheapest route to a seven-figure prize pool that does not involve a long-haul flight.
Five stops, two countries: the 2026 calendar
APT has quietly narrowed its footprint. Where the tour once bounced between Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Macau, the published 2026 calendar keeps everything inside two jurisdictions with reliable casino licensing and easy visa-free entry for most of the region:
- APT Jeju Classic — January 30 to February 8, Jeju Shinhwa World. Main Event buy-in KRW 2.3M (about USD 1,600) with a KRW 2.2 billion guarantee (~USD 1.5M); KRW 4.9 billion (~USD 3.4M) guaranteed across the festival.
- APT Taipei — April 22 to May 3, Red Space, run with the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Club.
- APT Incheon — August 7 to 16, Paradise City, with Paradise Group. This one is done: it set a festival record for the eighth straight APT stop.
- APT Jeju — September 25 through early October, back at Shinhwa World, with 136 events and roughly USD 3.5M guaranteed. We broke the schedule down in our APT Jeju 2026 preview.
- APT Championship (APTC) — November 13 to 29, Red Space, Taipei. Seventeen days, and the season’s centrepiece.
The pattern matters if you are planning a year: Jeju in winter, Taipei in spring, Incheon in late summer, Jeju again in autumn, Taipei to finish. Two trips gets you a full APT season if you pick well.
What a stop actually costs, not just the buy-in
The Jeju Classic Main Event at USD 1,600 is the honest benchmark for a mid-tier APT stop, and it is the number most people quote. It is also maybe 40% of what the trip costs.
Jeju is visa-free for most Asian passports and Shinhwa World is a self-contained resort, so you are paying resort rates for a room — budget USD 120–200 a night — and you will eat on-site because there is not much else within walking distance. Ten nights of that plus a Main Event, one re-entry and a couple of side events puts a realistic Jeju Classic trip at USD 3,000–4,000. Our Jeju poker rooms guide covers what else is running on the island when the festival tables go dark.
Taipei inverts that. The buy-ins at APTC climb higher, but the city is cheap: Red Space is a downtown business venue rather than a casino resort, so you can stay in a decent hotel for USD 60–90, eat for a few dollars a meal and take the metro to the tables. A three-week APTC stay is genuinely affordable on Taipei prices — see our Taipei poker rooms guide for the surrounding scene.
One planning note that catches people out: funding a trip usually means moving money before you fly, and Korean and Taiwanese card rails are not friendly to gaming merchants. If a deposit or transfer bounces while you are booking, message @PAGDaddyBot and someone will tell you which route still works from your country.
Where APTC seats come from
APT built the 2026 season to funnel into Taipei. Both Incheon in August and Jeju in September carried Main Event seat pathways into the November finale, and the APTC schedule itself lists 26 satellite events on top of the 210 trophy tournaments. If you are eyeing the USD 10K Main Event, the satellite ladder inside the festival is the realistic entry point rather than buying in directly.
Between stops, most Asian grinders build the bankroll online. Natural8 is the GG-network skin aimed at this region and runs the deepest schedule in Asian time zones, which is why it tends to be where live-festival money actually gets earned.
The APTC game mix is unusually wide
The full APTC 2026 schedule is the most varied thing on the Asian calendar: 210 trophy events, of which 119 are No Limit Hold’em (19 of those women’s events), 36 Omaha, 13 draw, 12 mixed games, seven stud and 26 high rollers. Twenty-three Championship Events carry over TWD 256 million (~USD 8.1M) in combined guarantees.
APT is also using Taipei to test formats you will not find elsewhere in Asia — Bomb Pot Stud, dedicated Super Badugi, Second Best Hold’em, six different heads-up structures, and Mind Sport events pairing poker with chess and Go. If you have only ever played the Hold’em schedule, the bomb pot rules are worth reading before you sit in one.
The scale is not speculative, either. The inaugural APTC in 2025 drew more than 28,000 entries and paid out USD 34 million, which is why the 2026 edition was expanded to 17 days.
FAQ
Is the Asian Poker Tour the same as the APPT?
No. The Asian Poker Tour (APT) is an independent tour founded almost 20 years ago; the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) is PokerStars’ regional brand. They run separate stops, sometimes in the same cities.
Which 2026 APT stop is best for a first-timer?
The Jeju Classic. A USD 1,600 Main Event with a USD 1.5M guarantee is a soft spot on the calendar, and a resort venue keeps the logistics simple.
How much is the APT Championship Main Event?
USD 10,000, freezeout, with a USD 5,000,000 guarantee. It runs November 23–27, 2026 inside the November 13–29 festival.
Do I need a visa for the Korean and Taiwanese stops?
Most ASEAN, Japanese and Taiwanese passport holders enter Jeju visa-free, and Taiwan is visa-free or e-visa for much of the region. Indian and Chinese passports face more paperwork — check current rules before booking flights, as Jeju’s visa-free scheme has been adjusted before.
Can I win an APT seat online?
APT’s own satellites are almost entirely live, inside the festivals. The 26 APTC satellites are the main path. Online, you are building a bankroll rather than qualifying directly.
Are the fields tough?
The high rollers are, because they pull the same regional pros who play Triton and the APPT. The main events run wide and recreational — 28,000 entries at APTC 2025 is not a pro-only number.
Is APT still going to Manila or Vietnam?
Not in 2026. The season is Korea and Taiwan only. Other tours cover Southeast Asia — our Poker Dream Tour guide covers the Manila and Genting circuit.