What is the Asian Poker Tour (APT)?

The APT is a premier live poker tour established in 2006 , with more than 110 major festivals held since its inception. It has become a fixture in the poker circuit, hosting events across Asia with Macau and the Philippines as key destinations.

How many events does the APT host annually?

Typically, the APT hosts four to six major live poker festivals each year across key Asian countries.

How much prize money has been awarded by APT?

The APT has awarded over US$50 million in prize money over its first 18 years, making it one of the richest poker tours in Asia.

Asian Poker Tour (APT): Schedule, Venues & History | SoMuchPoker

JessyAuthor

Reviewed by Callum Jury

Updated: 2026.06.09

🌏 Tour Profile

Asian Poker Tour ( APT )

The world’s fastest-growing poker tour. Since the 2022 New Era, the APT has broken records at every stop - from Taipei to Jeju - building Asia’s most prestigious live tournament circuit.

Founded

2006

Stops / Year

5–8

Prize Money Paid

$213M+

▲ APT 20 Years: Tony G - winner of the very first APT event in Singapore (2006). Subscribe to the APT YouTube channel for more.

About the Tour

The Asian Poker Tour (APT) is Asia’s most dynamic live tournament circuit and, by its own records, the fastest-growing poker tour in the world. Founded in 2006, it spent years building a footprint across the Asia-Pacific before a pivotal change of ownership in June 2022 transformed the brand completely.

Under APT Events Private Limited - led by CEO Fred Leung and President Neil Johnson - the tour adopted a “less is more” philosophy, replacing a bloated calendar with five to eight must-attend events per year. The first stop of the New Era, APT Taipei 2023, produced more players, more entries, and more prize money than the entire previous year combined. The 2025 season culminated in the inaugural APT Championship - the largest poker festival ever held in Asia, with 28,265 total entries and over USD 34 million in prize money awarded across 17 days at Taipei’s Red Space venue.

Flagship Venue

Red Space (多元商務空間)

📍 Taipei City, Taiwan

Regular Stops

🇹🇼

Taipei

Red Space (w/ CTP Club)

🇰🇷

Jeju

LES A Casino, Shinhwa World

🇰🇷

Incheon

Paradise City Casino

🇵🇭

Manila

Newport World Resorts

🇻🇳

Vietnam

Da Nang · Hanoi · Phu Quoc

🌐

APT Online

Via Natural8 / GGNetwork

Quick Facts

Founded2006

New Era fromJune 2022

Annual Stops5–8 (+ Online)

Flagship Trophy24K Gold Lion

Online PartnerNatural8 / GGNetwork

All-Time Prize MoneyUSD 213M+

Official Sitetheasianpokertour.com

History & Milestones

2006

Founded in Singapore
The inaugural APT event is won by Tony G, beating 313 players in a $5k buy-in. Capital Events Pte launches the tour to bring international-standard poker to Asia.

2008

AsianLogic Acquisition & Expansion
AsianLogic acquires the tour. The circuit expands into Vietnam , South Korea , and the Philippines .

2022

New Ownership - New Era Begins
APT Events Private Limited acquires the brand. Fred Leung appointed CEO; Neil Johnson becomes President. Co-owners Michael Soyza and Special Advisor Victor Chong join. A “less is more” rebrand begins - fewer, bigger, better events.

2023

New Era Launch at APT Taipei 2023
The debut New Era stop at the Asia Poker Arena outperforms the entire 2022 calendar year - more players, entries, and prize money in a single ten-day festival.

2024

Records Fall at Every Stop
Five stops across four countries. The APT Taipei Poker Classic draws 1,991 Main Event entries - a tour record - with Germany’s Rene von Reden claiming the biggest first-place prize in Taiwanese poker history.

2025

Largest Poker Festival in Asian History
APT Taipei 2025: 2,547 Main Event entries, $3.7M prize pool. APT Jeju 2025: Korea’s largest-ever international tournament (1,693 entries). The inaugural APT Championship crowns the year - 28,265 total entries, USD 34.2M awarded. India’s Nishant Sharma banks $1.2M in the richest Main Event ever held outside Las Vegas.

Key People

CEO

Fred Leung

Architect of the New Era. Former PokerStars Macau marketing chief. Appointed CEO in 2022; replaced a bloated calendar with focused, record-breaking festivals.

President

Neil Johnson

Oversees strategy and operations. Key driver of the APT’s women’s poker initiative - near-daily women’s events have pushed female participation to ~10% of fields.

Co-Owner

Michael Soyza

Malaysian high-stakes pro and co-owner of APT Events Private Limited. Regular on the Asia-Pacific high-roller circuit; known internationally from Game of Gold.

Special Advisor

Victor Chong

Malaysian poker pro and architect of the 2022 ownership group. Over $1.4M in live earnings; brings a player’s perspective to the tour’s direction.

Events & Structure

Main Event: The centrepiece of every stop. Deep structure with a shot clock in later stages. A freezeout format is now standard at flagship events.

APT Championship: The season-ending blowout in Taipei . 200+ events, USD 5M guaranteed Main Event. The 2025 inaugural edition was the largest poker festival ever held in Asia.

High Roller / Super High Roller: Premium events attracting international names. Isaac Haxton won the 2024 Taipei Super High Roller; John Juanda added a 2025 Taipei High Roller to his résumé.

Mystery Bounty: Sealed envelopes reveal random prize values when a bounty is collected - consistently one of the most oversubscribed formats on the schedule.

National Cup: Country-based competition open to all. The 2025 Taipei edition drew 2,161 entries - the largest opening event in APT history.

Mixed Games: One of very few tours to regularly run Super Hold’em (3 hole cards), Badacey, and Badeucey alongside standard NLH.

Online Satellites: Available via Natural8 (GGNetwork) , with the top prize a full travel package to the next live stop.

Recent Champions

APT Taipei 2026