The APT continues breaking records: Incheon once again set a milestone for the Asian circuit – CodigoPoker

The Asian Poker Tour (APT) is going through a moment of enormous growth, and the Incheon, South Korea festival was once again concrete proof of that expansion. The 2026 edition ended with record figures and confirmed a trend that has been repeated in the latest stops of the Asian circuit.

During the ten days of competition at Paradise City Casino, APT Incheon gathered 2,329 unique players from 45 countries and recorded a total of 14,059 entries across its 106 events. The series also distributed more than US$11 million in prizes, another historic mark for this stop.

The most significant fact is that Incheon was the eighth consecutive Asian Poker Tour festival to set a new record for entries or prizes. The growth no longer appears as an isolated event but as a trend spanning different circuit destinations.

The Main Event also made history

The main tournament was one of the great demonstrations of this growth. The APT Incheon Main Event, with a buy-in of approximately US$1,700, received 1,393 entries, almost 9% more than the 1,281 recorded in 2025.

The figure made the tournament the largest live poker event held so far on the Korean mainland, although a few days later the festival itself surpassed that mark again: the Mini Main Event reached 1,427 entries.

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The Main Event generated a pot of KRW 3,008,880,000, equivalent to about US$2.15 million, more than double the initial guarantee of US$1 million. Finally, Hong Kong’s Stephen Pang took the title and a prize of US$293,700.

But the comparison with previous years allows an even better understanding of the phenomenon. Compared to 2023, the Incheon Main Event had more than 108% growth in the number of players and distributed more than 86% more prize money.

An expansion beyond Incheon

The phenomenon is not limited to South Korea. The APT has been chaining festivals with increasingly higher numbers and consolidating an increasingly strong position within the international calendar.

In Incheon, besides the Main Event, there were several tournaments that set participation records. The festival ended with KRW 15,966,848,834, about US$11.4 million, distributed among all events, the highest figure in the history of this stop.

Growth is also seen in the number of players coming from different markets. This edition featured representatives from 45 countries, a sign of how the APT has ceased to be an exclusively regional circuit and has begun to attract more and more international players.

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