Although APT Incheon 2025 has wrapped up, the festival's impact is still evident, marking the largest and richest South Korean event in APT history—pending the upcoming APT Jeju 2025 (September 26 to October 5), of course.

At the felt, keen-eyed festival goers would spot a familiar figure playing his way through our daily mixed game events in Incheon. Enter poker veteran and outspoken figure Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler.

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Allen to hear about his life in the game, his first-ever APT experience, and his views on mixed games in Asia. And, of course, we asked whether we’ll see him at the Asian Poker Tour Championship (APTC) later this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJsuNV2hcEA

Discovering Poker – A Living Beyond the Office

Kessler’s poker story began far from Las Vegas. “In my late teens and early twenties, we used to play very small-stakes dealer’s choice games in college lounges or at our Monday night football game. They were all high-low variants – games where you could make a hand both ways. That got me hooked,” he recalled.

When the Trump Taj Mahal opened in Atlantic City, Kessler gravitated to Omaha, which eventually evolved into his speciality: Omaha Hi-Lo. For years, he worked a regular job in market research during the week and played at the Taj on weekends.

“I even had a safety deposit box at the cage filled with hundred-dollar chips. I’d take them out Friday night, play all weekend, and put them back in on Sunday before driving home,” he said.

His life changed dramatically thanks to a certain casino promotion with video poker.

“One weekend they had a jackpot multiplier from midnight to six a.m. I started on the one-dollar machines, then we moved up to the $25 machine that no one had touched in days. We won almost a quarter-million dollars. That set my bankroll in place – and I basically stopped working,” Kessler recounted.

From there, the World Series of Poker beckoned. “The first WSOP event I ever played was the $5,000 Omaha Hi-Lo at Binion’s. I flew in from Philadelphia that morning, went straight to the Horseshoe, and ended up finishing 10th. After that, I was hooked. By 2005 I bought a house in Vegas, and if you look at my Hendon Mob, you’ll see I’ve been consistently cashing every year since.”

Allen ‘Chainsaw’ Kessler taking to the felt at APT Incheon 2025

The Origins of Chainsaw

The nickname “Chainsaw” has followed Kessler for two decades, and he still tells the story with amusement.

“It came from Poker Road Radio with Gavin Smith around 2003. I was deep in a WPT at Foxwoods and they said I was cutting through players like a chainsaw. They even played chainsaw sound effects in their updates. After a while, people just started calling me that,” he said.

There was, however, another “Chainsaw” at the time – Steve Dempsey from San Francisco, who had a TV persona on King of Vegas.

“We even did a video together once called ‘duelling chainsaws.’ But eventually he gave up the name. If you Google ‘Chainsaw poker’ now, you won’t see him. He lost the name, he lost the persona,” Kessler laughed.

First Impressions of APT Incheon

APT Incheon 2025 was Kessler’s first-ever Asian Poker Tour event, and he came in with curiosity and high standards.

“But what impressed me most was how open they were. I’d point something out – like the fact that in a seven-handed mixed rotation one player never posted the big blind – and by the end they fixed it. That’s huge,” he said.

He also pressed for dinner breaks after discovering Korea’s late-night food options vanish quickly.

“One day I went deep and by 9pm everything was closed. I wound up at a convenience store, and someone had to help me pick out noodles because I didn’t even know how to make them. It turned out pretty good, but I was desperate,” he joked.

Allen trading words with Gregory ‘Greg Goes All In’ Liow

Mixed Games: Adapting and Advocating

Known for being “structure-savvy” with a passion for mixed formats, Kessler put the Incheon schedule under a microscope. _ “Early levels started way too small. If you give people 50,000 in chips but blinds are 100/200 and you can’t bet more than 400, then nothing changes. Players don’t register because they feel they’re wasting time. Start higher, and suddenly 30 people show up instead of eight,”_ he explained.

On the style of play, he noted clear differences from the US. “Here, people just limp and call all the way down. You can’t bluff – they’ll call you with almost anything. So my adjustment was to play tighter. If I raise on the river, they’re calling, so I’d better have it. That worked – I made three final tables and just missed a couple more,” he said.

Kessler also championed newer formats. “I’ve been promoting T.O.R.S.E.C. – a rotation of limit hold’em and limit triple draw. At the WSOP I even made a USD 5,000 bet with Shaun Deeb that it would draw over 300 players. It got 522. So I think that’s a game that could work in Asia too,” he suggested.

One of three final tables Allen made at APT Incheon 2025.

On APT’s Trophies – and His Own

Kessler’s eye was caught by the APT’s lion trophies. “Very impressive. The quality was amazing – I even wanted to take a picture of the box. For my Chainsaw Poker Series we’ve been looking for a chainsaw-themed trophy and haven’t found the right fit. Maybe this company could do it,” he mused.

The APT’s Signature Lion Trophies on display at APT Incheon 2025.

The Road Ahead: Jeju, Taipei, and the APTC

Scheduling conflicts may keep him from attending every APT stop, but the APTC Main Event in Taipei is firmly on his radar. When told about the USD 10,000 freezeout with a USD 5 million guarantee, his reaction was immediate: “My God. That’s huge. I was floored that you even made the USD 1 million guarantee here in Incheon with limited space. To scale that up to USD 5 million in Taipei – very impressive.”

With his own series in Las Vegas running around the same time, he admitted he was “considering going” had that not been the case and had already spoken to friends about the APTC.

Allen brews over a hand at one of the daily mixed games events in Incheon

Closing Thoughts

What stood out most to Kessler was APT’s commitment to mixed games. “They could say, ‘We’re only getting 40 or 50 players, let’s not run them.’ But instead they kept scheduling them every day. You can see the same players showing up, supporting it. I appreciate that dedication,” he said.

For a player whose reputation has long been tied to sharp critiques and high standards, that endorsement is telling. Allen Kessler may be known as the “Chainsaw,” but in Incheon he left behind more than cuts and critiques, and perhaps a preview of what’s to come at the APT Championship in Taipei.