Asian Poker Tour (APT)

The Asian Poker Tour (APT) is one of the longest-running live poker tours in Asia. It began in Singapore in November 2006. The first event, the Betfair APT Singapore, drew 313 players to a US$5,000 buy-in, and Antanas “Tony G” Guoga took the title. Since June 2022 the tour has been owned by Malaysia-based APT Events Private Limited.

Over the years the APT has visited much of the region. The Philippines, Japan and South Korea have hosted the most Main Events, with stops in Macau, Vietnam, Cambodia and India as well. Today the calendar is built around a few long festivals a year, mostly in Taipei and in South Korea's Jeju and Incheon. In Taipei the tour plays at large dedicated venues such as Red Space and the CTP Asia Poker Arena. The Korean stops run inside the LES A Casino in Jeju and Paradise City in Incheon. Each festival runs for ten days or more and offers around 100 to 200 events.

A typical APT schedule mixes low buy-in national cups, satellites and multi-flight Main Events with High Rollers and mixed games, so recreational players and traveling pros play the same festival. Fields are international: the 2025 APT Championship Main Event alone drew players from 47 countries and regions. Players can also qualify online through the tour's online partner, and the official Asian Poker Tour site lists the current satellites.

The current era began with APT Taipei 2023, whose Main Event became the largest field in APT history at the time. More records followed: the APT Hanoi Billions 2023 Main Event drew 2,350 entries, the biggest tournament ever held in Vietnam. In 2025 the APT Jeju 2025 Main Event set a Korean record with 1,693 entries. Later that year the first APT Championship in Taipei drew 28,265 entries over 17 days and paid out about US$34.2 million, which the tour reports as the largest poker festival ever held in Asia. Its US$10,000 Main Event, won by India's Nishant Sharma for TWD 37 million (~US$1.2 million), is the richest Main Event the APT has run.