The Paradise City poker room is the permanent card room inside Paradise Casino at Paradise City, Incheon — Korea’s largest foreigner-only casino, a few minutes from Incheon International Airport. Day to day it deals No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha from about ₩1,000/₩3,000 blinds, and twice in 2026 it became the biggest tournament venue in mainland Korea. You need an original foreign passport to get in, and you must be 19 or older.
That combination — airport doorstep, small cash games most nights, packed festival weeks a few times a year — makes it a very different stop from Seoul’s Walkerhill room or the island scene covered in our Jeju poker rooms guide. Here is what a visit actually involves.
Getting there from arrivals
Paradise City sits in the International Business Center on Yeongjong Island, the same island as the airport. The resort runs a free shuttle from the terminals, and the ride is short enough that plenty of players book a game between flights instead of a hotel in Seoul. If you are coming from the city, the AREX airport railway gets you out to the airport in roughly an hour, and the shuttle covers the last stretch.
The resort itself has 711 rooms, a spa, an indoor theme park and a nightclub, plus neighbouring hotels such as the Grand Hyatt Incheon within walking distance. Official resort details are on p-city.com.
At the door: passport first, then a membership card
Korea licenses 17 casinos and only one of them admits Korean citizens, so the rule here is strict: foreigners only. Bring the physical passport — not a photo, not a phone scan. Once you are past the entrance check, you register at the membership desk for a player card, which takes a few minutes the first time.
Korean nationals are turned away regardless of stakes, with a narrow exception for citizens holding overseas residency status. If you are travelling with Korean friends, they will not be joining you at the table.
What gets dealt on a normal night
Outside festival weeks, this is a compact room. A 2024 trip report on Wizard of Vegas described around ten tables in a row next to a bar, with No-Limit Hold’em running at ₩1,000/₩3,000 and ₩2,000/₩5,000 — roughly US$0.70/$2 and US$1.40/$3.50. Bigger games start when the players who want them turn up, and PLO appears alongside Hold’em.
A few house quirks are worth knowing before you sit down:
- Straddles were allowed from any position, and running it twice was on offer, according to the same report.
- Dealers called numbers in English and action in Japanese, a nod to how many regulars fly in from Japan.
- Tipping is normal at the poker table even though Korea is not a tipping culture — a ₩1,000 chip on a won pot is typical.
- Hours: the casino is open 24/7, but poker room hours have been reported as shorter on quiet periods (early afternoon to early morning). Check with the desk before planning a 9 a.m. session.
Rake is not published, so ask at the podium. Currency exchange is available inside; one visitor reported a spread of about 2%, which beat the airport counters.
Festival weeks: when the ballroom takes over
Paradise City’s real pull comes a few times a year, when tours move into the Grand Ballroom and the field sizes jump. 2026 has been a record year:
- APT Incheon (7–16 August) — the ₩2,500,000 Main Event drew 1,393 entries from 807 unique players, building a ₩3.01 billion prize pool against a ₩1.5 billion guarantee. Hong Kong’s Stephen Pang won ₩411 million after a chaotic false finish. SoMuchPoker called it the largest international tournament ever held in mainland South Korea.
- APPT Korea (3–14 September) — back after seven years, with 92 events. The ₩1,800,000 Main Event had 782 entries and about ₩1.2 billion in prizes; Japan’s Hirotaka Fukatsu beat Xueying Zhao heads-up for ₩218 million. Japanese players took 16 of the first 29 event titles.
During these weeks the room is transformed: dozens of tournament tables, satellites all day, and cash games running far deeper than usual. The trade-off is hotel prices, which rise sharply, so book early. The Asian Poker Tour site publishes schedules first, and our APT 2026 stop-by-stop guide tracks costs across the tour.
Budgeting a stopover session
For a normal night at ₩1,000/₩3,000, a ₩300,000 buy-in (about 100 big blinds, roughly US$210) is comfortable, and two buy-ins covers a bad run. Festival visitors should plan around the Main Event plus side events: at APT pricing, one Main bullet, two ₩500,000-range side events and three hotel nights can easily reach ₩4–5 million before flights.
If you would rather win the seat than pay for it, online satellites on Natural8 and GGPoker sometimes feed Asian tour stops. Want to know which satellites are running for the next Incheon festival? Ask @PAGDaddyBot on Telegram and you’ll get a straight answer.
Where Incheon fits on a Korea poker trip
Paradise City works best as the bookend of a trip: a cash session on arrival, the Walkerhill room in Seoul in the middle, and Jeju if a festival is on there. The next big date on the Korean calendar is APT Jeju, from 25 September to 7 October at LES A Casino. For Korean residents who can’t use any of these rooms, our best poker sites in South Korea page covers the online options.
Paradise City poker: quick answers
Where exactly is the Paradise City poker room?
It is inside Paradise Casino at Paradise City, in the International Business Center next to Incheon International Airport on Yeongjong Island. The resort runs a free shuttle from the airport.
Can Korean citizens play poker at Paradise City?
No. It is a foreigner-only casino. Korean nationals are refused entry, with a narrow exception for citizens holding overseas residency status.
What are the lowest stakes at Paradise City?
Cash games usually start at ₩1,000/₩3,000 No-Limit Hold’em, about US$0.70/$2, with ₩2,000/₩5,000 and PLO also reported. Bigger games run when demand is there.
Is the poker room open 24 hours?
The casino is open 24/7, but poker room hours have been reported as shorter at quiet times. Festival weeks run late into the night. Confirm at the desk when you arrive.
What do I need to bring to get in?
Your original foreign passport — photos and digital copies are not accepted — and you must be at least 19. First-timers also register for a casino membership card inside.
Which tournaments does Paradise City host?
In 2026 it hosted APT Incheon in August (1,393-entry Main Event) and APPT Korea in September (782-entry Main Event), plus smaller GOP, AJPC and Super Cup events at other times.
Is it worth visiting on a layover?
Yes, if you have at least five or six hours and a passport that isn’t Korean. The shuttle ride is short, and a small-stakes session fits between flights.