APT Incheon 2026 closed with new benchmarks for the Asian Poker Tour in mainland Korea, drawing 14,059 total entries and awarding approximately KRW 15.97 billion in prize money across the 10-day festival.
Held from August 7-16 at Paradise City Casino Resort in partnership with Paradise Group, the series attracted 2,329 unique players from 45 combined countries and regions. The schedule featured 103 trophy events and three satellites.
The result extended the APT’s run of record-setting events to eight consecutive tour stops dating back to February 2025.
Incheon Festival Continues Multi-Year Growth
Compared with APT Incheon 2025, total entries increased by 13.6%, while prize money rose by 4.4%. Since 2023, the Incheon festival has more than doubled its total entries, with growth of 108.1%, while prize pools have increased by 86.4%.
Two tournaments surpassed 1,000 entries during the series, while three events produced prize pools above KRW 1 billion.
The KRW 2.5 million APT Main Event attracted 1,393 entries from 807 unique players and generated a KRW 3,008,880,000 prize pool. Hong Kong’s Stephen Pang won the event and also received a USD 10,000 seat to November’s APT Championship Main Event.
The largest field of the festival came in Event #80: Mini Main Event, which drew 1,427 entries. Japan’s Toru Sakiyama won the tournament, collecting KRW 189,982,000 in prize money and a USD 10,000 APT Championship Main Event seat.
Across the series, the APT reported eight record-setting events. The Main Event and Mini Main Event established new mainland Korean entry marks, while the Korea National Cup, Zodiac Classic – Sponsored by Natural8, High Roller Ultra Stack and Women’s Event set new Incheon tour-stop records in their respective categories. The Heads Up event established a new APT field-size record, and the Sunday Super Stack set new APT country records for entries and unique players.
Chang Hwan Lee Wins APT High Roller
The festival’s final signature Lion trophy was decided in Event #92: APT High Roller, where Japan’s Chang Hwan Lee topped a 222-entry field.
The KRW 5 million buy-in tournament generated a KRW 959,040,000 prize pool. Fifty-one players returned for the final day, with Lee eventually taking first place for KRW 199,870,000, approximately USD 142,765.
He also earned a USD 10,000 seat to November’s APT Championship Main Event and the Rose Gold Lion Trophy.
Lee entered heads-up play against the United Kingdom’s Jun Li with a 3-to-1 chip lead. Li finished runner-up for KRW 134,570,000, while Hong Kong’s Chun Shing Lau took third for KRW 94,880,000.
After the tournament, Lee said:
“There are so many professional players, it was a tough game for me. I tried to be patient and respect their actions. After losing USD 1.5 million in high-stakes cash games in Miami, I got the impulse to win a poker tournament and take it down against the pros. It’s a very high honor to have this trophy.”
APT Taipei Poker Classic 2024 High Roller champion Martin Sedlak finished seventh for KRW 33,740,000.
APT Incheon High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chang Hwan Lee | Japan | KRW 199,870,000 |
| 2 | Jun Li | United Kingdom | KRW 134,570,000 |
| 3 | Chun Shing Lau | Hong Kong | KRW 94,880,000 |
| 4 | Konstantin Solovev | Russia | KRW 76,930,000 |
| 5 | Maxim Lykov | Russia | KRW 60,860,000 |
| 6 | Hiroyuki Noda | Japan | KRW 46,210,000 |
| 7 | Martin Sedlak | Germany | KRW 33,740,000 |
| 8 | Wai Kiat Lee | Malaysia | KRW 24,670,000 |
| 9 | Shotiwan Wattanalarp | Thailand | KRW 20,410,000 |
With 14,059 entries and approximately KRW 15.97 billion awarded across the series, APT Incheon 2026 finished as the largest and richest APT festival held in mainland Korea.
