The 20th anniversary of the Asian Poker Tour (APT) is here, and the continent’s premier live circuit is kicking off the festivities in the best possible way: with a 10-day series packed with big tournaments, huge guarantees and a feast of mixed games.
In just a week the LES A Casino in Jeju, South Korea will open its doors for APT Jeju Classic 2026, in partnership with Landing Entertainment Korea, running January 30 to February 8.
99 different events are on the schedule, including multiple high rollers, women’s events, turbos, single-day tournaments and much more.
In addition to almost $3.5 million in guaranteed prizes — including at least $1.5 million in the Main Event alone — seven seats to the season-ending APT Championship will be awarded (more details on that below).
With 671 entries and over $6M in prize money, the 2025 APT Championship Main Event set a number of records.APT Jeju Classic 2026: What, where and when?
For two full decades players from across Asia and around the globe have been enjoying the chance to play poker in some of the most beautiful and exciting cities in the world.
Wherever you’re from, the APT offers a great opportunity to visit unforgettable destinations and play a range of tournaments to suit every bankroll — and every interest.
From $150 NLO8 Double Board Bomb Pot tourneys to the $25K Superstar Challenge, each day of the series is packed with attractive options.
Here’s everything you need to know before you head to Jeju.
What is APT Jeju Classic?
They say variety is the spice of life, and APT Jeju Classic’s 99-event schedule covers everything from no-limit hold’em to pot-limit Omaha, triple-draw mix, drawmaha, dealer’s choice and more.
The APT is well-known for its incredible variety of poker games that stretch far beyond the variants offered at most other live poker stops, and Jeju will certainly be no different.
Whatever you play, you'll probably find it on the APT schedule.There are big guarantees, too, including a $1.5 million guarantee for the $1,500 Main Event, running February 1-7. Other highlights include:
- The $600 APT National Cup ($135K GTD), January 30-31.
- The $10K APT Super High Roller ($340K GTD), January 31 to February 1.
- The $25K Superstar Challenge, February 2-3.
- The $2,500 Zodiac Classic sponsored by Natural8 ($340K GTD), February 5-6.
- The $800 Mini Main Event ($200K GTD), February 6-7.
More than 90 other tournaments are scheduled across the week, including women’s events, freezeouts and hyper-turbos.
Altogether there will be 18 high rollers, 17 Omaha events and 15 mixed game tourneys, with close to $3.5 million in guaranteed prizepools across the series.
Where is APT Jeju Classic?
The LES A Casino is located in the luxury resort of Jeju Shinhwa World. In addition to the poker room — which features over 75 tables — the resort comprises a theme park, water park, a zoo, cinema and spa.
With its signature restaurants and boutique stores, the resort promises to cater to everyone in your party, whether they’re hitting the poker tables, enjoying the facilities or exploring Jeju Island — a UNESCO Natural Heritage site.
You shouldn’t have trouble finding a plane to Jeju — the trip from Seoul to Jeju International Airport is literally the busiest flight route in the world — and direct flights are available from many countries across Asia.
The chips are waiting...When is APT Jeju Classic?
The series runs from January 30 to February 8, with tournaments taking place all day, every day.
The first tournament on the schedule — the APT National Cup — gets cards in the air from 11am on January 30. The final event of the series, a hyper-turbo high roller, runs from 7.30pm on February 8.
Throughout the series 11am start times will be common to avoid too many late nights, with turbos running in the evenings.
Seven APT Championship Main Event seats will be given away
The season-ending APT Championship made its debut last year, setting various records as the largest Asian poker festival of all time, and will be back in Taipei, Taiwan for 2026, running from November 13-29.
Nishant Sharma won over a million dollars in the 2025 APT Championship Main Event.That series (which awarded over $34 million in 2025) will include a $5 million GTD Main Event. The buy-in will be $10K, but seven free seats will be awarded during APT Jeju Classic 2026.
These will be awarded to:
- The APT Main Event winner, plus 2nd and 3rd place finishers.
- The winner of the APT Super High Roller.
- The Zodiac Classic champion.
- The Superstar Challenge winner.
- The champion of the APT High Roller.
Last year’s APT Championship Main Event winner, Nishant Sharma, took home over $1.1 million for his victory in the $10K freezeout event which drew a field of 671.
Check out the full APT Jeju Classic schedule here.
Please note that all prize and buy-in amounts listed above have been converted to approximate USD from South Korean Won, and are correct at the time of writing.
Images courtesy of the Asian Poker Tour.
