KKPoker ambassador Jon Kyte has been travelling the world as a professional poker player for nearly 10 years, amassing over $2.7M in live cashes, and earning notable honors at the felt!
In January 2025, Jon unlocked a new milestone by cashing his first tournament in Asia.
Jon secured 4th place in the PokerStars Manilla Megastack in the the Phillipines, followed by five cashes at the WPT Cambodia Championship, which included four final tables!
Following his adventure travelling across Asia for live poker and some relaxation, KKPoker caught up with Jon to hear about his tales.
"Nine countries in two months"
Jon, congratulations on your achievements in Manila and the Philippines. How was your overall experience traveling across Asia for poker?
"I really enjoyed it! Asia brings so much more than Europe. I love the culture, the food, the people. I've been to nine Asian countries in two months, and each one of them brings something different to the table.
"I had a 67-day journey starting in Thailand, then Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, and South Korea before having a long layover in China and then back to Europe."
What were your expectations about the poker scene in Asia, and which nation ultimately stood out?
"It was my first time playing in Asia, so I didn't have high expectations, but everything overall was very well done. The organisation, the different tournaments, and everything that comes with it. I will definitely be back for more glory in Asia.
"It's hard to choose which nation stood-out, but the Taiwanese are very passionate. I felt they really enjoy playing poker, and it was a lot of fun playing there, and I got taken care of with open arms."
Did you notice major differences in how poker is played in different Asian countries?
"There's a few differences, the organisation on how they run the series is definitely different. In Asia cash is king, so that's a bit annoying when you want to play some higher stakes, I think I ended up going home with small bank notes from five different countries.
"I feel it's less formal, people laugh more and are less angry when they lose, which makes everything more friendly. The level of play is way faster, but also less technical. I had some recreationals reading me like an open book, or they just don't fold, who knows?!
"I think in general the level of play is a bit lower in Asia, I guess they use less tools to study poker, there's a lot more feel players, and sometimes they make very good decisions if the opponents line makes sense or not. In Europe it's more GTO, if you're meant to call this hand you do etc. instead of overfolding because your opponent most have it even though it's a clear call."
How about any specific or unique tendencies/playing styles?
"I found my opponents loved pairs a lot more, and 3-bet them a lot, even small pairs early position vs early position. Poker is a bit more tricky in Asia as you'll go multi-way a lot more often, also people like suited hands a lot more that should be folded.
"I played a lot of different tournaments, only three days of cash games. I enjoyed playing mixed games in Asia. It was very different, as people were more open and asked what I would do in this spot etc."
Were there any strategies you had to adjust based on how the players approached the game?
"I definitely couldn't put a lot of people on a certain range, as they might call 30-40% of hands preflop where you should call 15-20% of hands, for example.
"Also people folded very little to 3-bets, so I had way less 3-bet bluffs, instead going very thin for value and raise more of my AJo ATo etc as they didn't fold A8o A7o etc. to a 3-bet. All these things are very player dependent of course, but going thin for value when they don't like to fold was key.
"I also witnessed lack of play on the bubble, so it was a very easy way to chip up when we're getting close to the money in certain tournaments. Same for the final tables. Playing the tournaments was very fun, I had some final tables with 8-9 different nationalities, pretty cool.
"In Europe everything is a bit serious, sometimes too serious. In Asia people express their feelings instead of having their headphones on without saying a word."
TRITON DEBUT
When visiting South Korea, Jon had the opportunity to play in the well-known high-stakes tournament series, Triton.
How was your first Triton experience?
"The biggest tournaments for me was definitely in Jeju, playing against all the best poker players in the world, was fun, and challenging but not as scary as I thought it would be, was just like any other tournament."
Did you get to play against any famous Asian poker pros?
"I played against most of them, Paul Phua caught my biggest bluff of the series with just top pair in a 3bet pot, my read was on point but in the end he couldn't lay down his hand. I played vs Punnat Punsri, Webster Lim, Kiat Lee, and so on."
What’s the biggest lesson you took away from this poker journey?
"Definitely that being surrounded by the best isn't that different and definitely not scary, you just have to try. Being the chipleader at a $26,000 buy-in tournament for dinner break was cool, wish I just would've made it into the money or even further, but that's the game we love and hate.
"I also learned that the best players in the world are really good risk takers, they don't gamble with their stack, at least not when late reg is over. It's very hard to take down the best players, they play with very low variance, which is why they reach the top over and over again."
REST & RELAXATION TIME
Outside of poker, how did you enjoy the cultural experience in Asia?
"I really love Asia, everything feels so much more cultural, the people are way friendlier and the food is amazing everywhere."
Any memorable moments or unique experiences from your trip?
"I did a bit of everything, from snorkling a lot, to jumping from island to island and then swing by a lot of the capitals and what the major cities had to offer.
"It was the first time I celebrated New Year's Eve away so that was cool. Coming from a country without scyscrapers to Hong Kong that have 9,000 of them and the Marina Bay in Singapore was really cool."
What advice would you give to other European poker players considering playing in Asia?
"Bring USDT or transfer to the casino you're going to play at before your travel.
"Poker wise, I would say Asian poker players fold much less.
"Also the journey might seem long, but it's definitely worth going. If you struggle making it into the bigger scenes in Europe you should definitely give Asia a go."
Any final thoughts?
"Asian poker players, and people in general, are very friendly and open minded, so even if you travel alone as I did for the most part, you'll meet a lot of fun and interesting people. It's very easy to get to know Asian players on the felt. So I'll definitely be back soon, hopefully at one of KKPokers live events. See you'll soon!"
Also if you're interested in some poker vlog's check out my new channel on YouTube.com/@jonkytepoker
