

Last Updated on August 31, 2026 by Bala Kumar
Jeju Island has quietly turned into one of Asia’s most talked-about poker destinations, and KPC Poker sits right at the center of that story. If you’ve been searching for KPC Poker schedule details, buy-in levels, prize pools, or simply wondering whether the trip to Jeju is worth it, this guide pulls everything together in one place.
This year brought a big change too, the two tours that Korean poker regulars grew up with, K Poker Cup and King Poker Cup, have merged into a single unified brand: KPC Poker. What follows is a full breakdown of what that means for the October 2026 festival, how the Main Event works, what the packages cost, and what to expect once you land in Jeju.
KPC Poker is the newly rebranded live tournament series that combines K Poker Cup and King Poker Cup under one identity. The tour runs out of LES A Casino in Jeju, Shinhwa World (formerly known as Landing Casino, the same venue that once hosted Triton Poker Jeju), and it has quickly become a fixture on the Asian poker calendar with multiple festivals a year.
Rather than running two separate, competing series, organizers folded everything into a single 12-day event that stretches from an affordable ₩800,000 opener all the way up to a $60,000 Super High Roller. That range is really the whole pitch of KPC Poker — recreational grinders and high-stakes regulars share the same festival, the same room, and often the same satellite paths.
The rebrand isn’t just cosmetic. It reflects how much the Jeju scene has grown. The January 2026 KPC x LPT Series pulled in a total prize pool north of $14 million, with the Main Event alone drawing over 2,000 entries, nearly triple its original guarantee. That kind of turnout is what convinced organizers to consolidate everything under the KPC Poker name going forward.
The headline event of the year runs October 10-21, 2026 at LES A Casino, and it’s the first major festival under the unified KPC Poker banner. Total guarantees across the series sit at roughly $2.3 million (₩3.1 billion).
Here’s how the 12 days break down at a glance:
| Phase | Dates | What’s Happening |
| Opening weekend | Oct 10-12 | KPC Bankroll Builder (₩800K, ₩180M GTD), King’s Debut ($5,000, $1M GTD) |
| Main Event stretch | Oct 11-16 | KPC Main Event, six starting flights, ₩880M guaranteed |
| High roller block | Oct 12-16 | 5M High Roller, $25K and $60K Super High Rollers |
| Mixed-game window | Oct 10-17 | Omaha Mix, Triple Draw Mix, Stud Mix, Poker Players Championship |
| Monster Stack | Oct 15-17 | ₩1.5M buy-in, ₩200M guaranteed |
| King’s Main Event | Oct 17-20 | $15,000 buy-in, two starting flights |
| Closing events | Oct 19-21 | Final Coronation ($30K) and Single Day Super High Rollers |
A few scheduling details worth knowing if you’re planning your trip:
Because KPC Poker runs multiple festivals across the year (a July-August series and a January KPC x LPT series have both already taken place in 2026), it’s worth checking the live tournament calendar before booking travel, since dates and guarantees shift slightly festival to festival.
Jeju has earned the nickname “the Hawaii of Korea,” and for poker travelers specifically, it offers a few practical advantages that keep pulling players back:
If you’re mapping out logistics, the short version is: fly into Jeju International Airport, and LES A Casino at Jeju Shinhwa World is a straightforward transfer from there. Hotel packages (below) bundle accommodation right at or near the venue, which is worth factoring in given how long the festival runs.
The KPC Main Event is the centerpiece of the October festival, a ₩1,300,000 buy-in with an ₩880 million guarantee, the largest KRW-denominated guarantee on the entire schedule.
Structure-wise, it’s built to be accessible without sacrificing depth:
Running alongside it is The King’s Main Event, a $15,000 buy-in tournament that closes out the back half of the festival (October 17-20) with only two starting flights before Day 2 and the final table. Winning certain qualifying events, like the 5M High Roller or either Main Event, during the festival can also punch a direct ticket into King’s-branded events, so a deep run early in the series can pay off well beyond the min-cash.
Between the two Main Events, KPC Poker essentially gives players two different tournaments to build a trip around, depending on bankroll and buy-in comfort.
One of the more distinctive things about KPC Poker is just how wide the buy-in range is within a single festival. Roughly:
| Tier | Buy-in Range | Example Events |
| Entry-level | ₩250,000 – ₩800,000 | Satellites, KPC Bankroll Builder, turbo side events |
| Mid-stakes | ₩1,000,000 – ₩1,500,000 | KPC Main Event, Monster Stack, mixed-game championships |
| High roller | ₩5,000,000 – $25,000 | 5M High Roller, Super High Rollers |
| Super high roller | $30,000 – $60,000 | King’s Super High Roller, Final Coronation |
That spread means a recreational player on a modest bankroll and a nosebleed regular can genuinely play the same festival, often on the same days, without one group crowding out the other.
Guarantees for the October 2026 festival total around $2.3 million (₩3.1 billion) across the schedule, anchored by five headline guaranteed events:
| Event | Buy-in | Guarantee |
| KPC Bankroll Builder | ₩800,000 | ₩180,000,000 |
| King’s Debut | $5,000 | $1,000,000 |
| KPC Main Event | ₩1,300,000 | ₩880,000,000 |
| 5M High Roller | ₩5,000,000 | ₩420,000,000 |
| Monster Stack | ₩1,500,000 | ₩200,000,000 |
For context on how these numbers can run: the January 2026 KPC x LPT Main Event carried an ₩880 million guarantee but ended up generating a prize pool of ₩2.28 billion off 2,030 entries — nearly triple the original number. It’s a good reminder that posted guarantees at KPC Poker are often a floor, not a ceiling.
Ahead of the October festival, KPC Poker released four limited travel packages that bundle tournament entries, tournament credit, and hotel stays. All are capped in quantity, so they tend to move fast once announced.
| Package | Cost | Included Events | Hotel | Package Limit |
| Premium High Roller | ₩11,000,000 + $5,000 | King’s Debut, 5M High Roller, + ₩6M credit | 8 nights, Marriott | 30 |
| KPC Poker Signature | ₩6,150,000 | Bankroll Builder, Main Event, Monster Stack + ₩2.3M credit | 6 nights, Landing Hotel | 50 |
| KPC Poker Exclusive | ₩4,600,000 | Bankroll Builder, Main Event, Monster Stack + ₩900K credit | 4 nights, Landing Hotel* | 50 |
| MAPS Mixed Game Rookie | ₩3,000,000 deposit | ₩3M mixed-game credit | 2 nights, Landing Hotel | 30 |
*Exclusive Package holders get a bonus fifth hotel night if they make Day 2 of the KPC Main Event.
There’s also a separate offer aimed at high-volume players: pre-pay $70,000 in tournament buy-ins before the festival and KPC Poker covers your hotel for the entire event. Given the run of high-stakes tournaments on the October schedule — the $5,000 King’s Debut, ₩5 million High Roller, both $25K Super High Rollers, the $60,000 Super High Roller, the $15,000 King’s Main Event, and the $30,000 Final Coronation — that threshold is realistic for anyone planning to fire multiple big buy-ins across the two weeks.
One thing to flag on all packages: preloaded tournament credit is non-transferable and non-refundable, and it can only be used during the specific festival it was purchased for.
Accommodation is built directly into most of the packages above, split between two tiers:
If you’re not buying a package, LES A Casino sits inside the Jeju Shinhwa World resort complex, which has its own hotel inventory nearby, so booking independently is also straightforward — just worth doing early given how long the festival runs and how much traffic it pulls into the resort.
The middle-to-back half of the October festival is where KPC Poker leans hardest into the high-stakes side of the brand:
This block is really what separates KPC Poker from a purely regional stop. Stacking a $60,000 buy-in alongside a ₩800,000 opener in the same 12-day window is unusual outside of the very top tier of the international circuit, and it’s a big part of why the tour has been able to attract recognizable pros from the U.S., Europe, and across Asia.
Jeju’s mixed-game identity has grown noticeably over the past year, and KPC Poker keeps expanding that side of the schedule rather than treating it as an afterthought. October’s mixed-game lineup includes:
There’s also a dedicated MAPS Mixed Game Rookie Package (₩3 million tournament credit for mixed-game events specifically, plus two hotel nights), aimed squarely at players who want to build their trip entirely around non-Hold’em formats rather than the NLH grind.
For players who can’t make the trip, KPC Poker maintains an active social presence across Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube, where updates, live coverage clips, and results are typically posted throughout each festival. Final tables of headline events — particularly the KPC Main Event and King’s Main Event — tend to get the most coverage. Checking KPC Poker’s official channels closer to the festival dates is the most reliable way to confirm live-streaming plans for specific final tables, since stream schedules are usually confirmed only in the days before each event.
The most recently completed KPC-branded festival, the July 25–August 10, 2026 K Poker Cup / King Poker Cup series, closed with Ren Lin taking home Player of the Series honors, a result that capped off a strong run across the 17-day event. Earlier in the year, the January 2026 KPC x LPT Series produced its own standout stories, including a hard-fought High Roller final table where Khoa Anh Ngo defeated fellow countryman Quang Minh Nguyen heads-up for the title and a top prize of roughly $125,670, out of a 178-entry field.
As the October festival plays out, KPC Poker’s official channels and poker news outlets are the fastest way to track live results, chip counts, and final table coverage in real time.
The next major festival runs October 10-21, 2026, at LES A Casino in Jeju, Shinhwa World — the first event under the unified KPC Poker brand following the K Poker Cup and King Poker Cup merger.
₩1,300,000, with an ₩880 million guarantee and six starting flights between October 11-14, 2026.
K Poker Cup and King Poker Cup have merged into one brand, KPC Poker. Events branded “King’s” (like the King’s Main Event and King’s Debut) still run within the same festival as premium, typically higher buy-in tournaments.
Most nationalities can enter Jeju visa-free, which is one of the reasons the island has become a popular regional poker stop. It’s still worth checking current requirements for your specific passport before booking travel.
Yes — the KPC Bankroll Builder opens the festival at ₩800,000 with a ₩180 million guarantee, and multiple satellite paths run throughout the two weeks into the bigger guaranteed events.
Packages bundle entries to specific guaranteed events, extra tournament credit, and hotel nights at either the Landing Hotel or Marriott, depending on tier. They’re limited in number and tend to sell out, so booking early is worth it if you know your schedule.
The most current schedule, including which events qualify for the 50% early-registration admin fee discount, is published on KPC Poker’s official channels closer to each festival — worth checking directly since dates and guarantees can shift slightly between festivals.