5 Record-Breaking Offline Poker Series In 2025

Asian Poker Tour Championship Taipei proves: poker in Asia is booming

This series took place from November 14 to 30. We could not help but single it out for several reasons.

Reason 1: Variety of games

Every year, APT chooses the most unusual formats and disciplines. There were 180 tournaments on the schedule; we selected only a few of the most unusual ones:

• Atomic Pineapple (Get 5 cards, discard 1 after betting preflop, flop, turn)
• NLHE Rivers (Each player receives their own face-down river card)
• Quadruple Super Stud (Super Stud, Super Stud Hi-Lo, Super Razz, Super Razzdugi)
• PL Courchevel High – 5 Card (First flop card is exposed preflop)
• Super Hold’em (3 Hole Cards, use 0,1,2,3 cards)
• 3/2/1 Single Winner (3 Flops, 2 Turns, 1 River)

Reason 2: The heaviest trophy

We forgot to mention it in the article about the most original trophies, so we are quickly correcting that. Winners of the biggest events receive a 17-kilogram lion (it is 1.5 kg heavier than the Stanley Cup). One such trophy, for example, was won by Sofia Lövgren for her victory in the $1.1K APT Championship Mystery Bounty ($180K).

Reason 3: Offline poker in Asia is booming

The $9.5K APT Championship Main Event attracted a record 671 entries. Nishant Sharma won the event. The prize for first place amounted to $1,186,880.

So in 2026, we can expect this series to repeat its success. APT Championship Taipei will take place from November 13 to 29. Four more series will also be held:

• APT Jeju Classic South Korea — January 30 to February 8
• APT Taipei — April 22 to May 3
• APT Incheon South Korea — August 7 to 16
• APT Jeju — September 25 to October 4

WSOP in Las Vegas continues to set records

Although the $10K Main Event generated a $90,535,500 prize pool and became the third most attended in history, several records were set in other events:

• $1.5K Millionaire Maker — 11,996 entries (the largest $1.5K tournament)
• $3K Mid-Stakes Championship — 3,797 entries (the largest $3K tournament)
• $1K Mystery Bounty PLO — 5,284 entries (the largest Omaha event in poker history)
• $100K PLO High Roller — 121 entries (the largest prize pool for a $100K Omaha tournament and the biggest payout ever in an Omaha tournament — $2,957,229)
• $1K Ladies Event — 1,368 entries (the largest the Ladies Event)
• $25K NLH High Roller — 392 entries (the largest $25K tournament)

We are confident that the records will continue in 2026.

Triton also set several records

Triton also had a powerful year, setting several records:

• $100K Triton Jeju Main Event attracted 285 entries and became the largest event in poker history with a $100K buy-in
• $25K NLH at the same series attracted 391 entries — this was an attendance record for $25K tournaments, but it was later surpassed by the $25K NLH High Roller at the WSOP
• $250K Triton Paradise Invitational attracted 133 entries — the same number as the Triton Invitational Montenegro, but that event had a $200K buy-in.

We are confident that the upcoming Triton Jeju 2026 series will bring new records. You can find the Triton series schedule here.

Triton One debuted with massive fields

From September 2 to 8, the Triton ONE series was held for the first time. It featured 12 tournaments with unusually small buy-ins by Triton standards, ranging from $2K to $20K. The series was an overwhelming success:

• The $3K QQPK Genesis attracted 1,185 entries. There were so many players that the organizers had to add an extra playing day. Chengxu Hu won it ($564K).
• The $8K Main Event Triton ONE attracted 1,046 entries. Satellite qualifier Joshua Gebissa won it ($975,225*). He chopped with Punnat Punsri in heads up ($1,205,775*).

The Triton One organizers are ready for new massive fields. Let us remind you that the new series will take place from March 5 to 15 in Jeju.

The $25K WSOP Paradise Super Main Event collected the largest prize pool outside the summer WSOP Main Event

This record-breaking year is capped off by one of the brightest events — the $25K WSOP Paradise Super Main Event. The organizers of this tournament were taking a risk to some extent: in 2024, the tournament ended with an overlay, as the announced $50M guarantee was not reached (there were 1,978 entries).

In 2025, the organizers announced an even bigger guarantee — $60M. And they succeeded: the tournament attracted 2,891 entries, and the final prize pool amounted to $72,275,000 — the largest prize pool in WSOP history (excluding the summer Main Events).

The finale of the tournament delivered exactly what it should have. Bernhard Binder became the champion ($10M). Legendary Jean-Noel Thorel took the second place($6M).