What does a degree in astrophysics lead to? Well it could lead to becoming an astrophysicist, or on the other hand, it could lead to becoming a professional poker player, model, and TV personality.
Of course, being selected to participate in a poker reality TV show and being schooled by some of the best poker players in the business such as Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, and Dave “Devilfish” Ulliot, as part of participating in the show, certainly doesn’t hurt. One could not even imagine a better start to being introduced to the scene of big time poker.
So Liv Boeree, at the age of 21, back on 2005, was cast into this opportunity, and she certainly made the most of it and surely made her famous tutors proud. After she show concluded, she decided to continue the pursuit of this poker dream, and started playing regularly at a local poker club.
This club also happened to produce a poker TV show for British television, and she attracted the interest of the producers, who hired her as a reporter. Soon, other television roles came, and she was not only playing the game but becoming a rather famous commentator on it as well.
During this time she continued to work on her poker skills, and by 2008 she had won her first poker championship, and not a small one at that, having earned the right to call herself European Ladies Poker Champion. Her career as a poker professional was well underway and she has not looked back ever since.
In 2010, she won a European Poker Tour main event, becoming only the third woman ever to achieve such an accomplishment. This win is her biggest to date, and the over a million dollars she took home from that tournament alone ended up setting her up very nicely for her further career as a poker player.
There’s also quite a bit of fame that comes with winning a EPT main event and soon Poker Stars were knocking on her door, where she became admitted into their stable of elite poker pros that they sponsor, an honor which she still maintains.
While her success since has been fairly sporadic, she continues to be a regular fixture on the European poker scene and has had a total of 5 cashes at EPT events, and has amassed over 2 million dollars in career winnings thus far. She has shown that she can clearly hold her own with the best players around of either sex, and in spite of also being a TV celebrity, isn’t just another pretty face in the poker world.
Liv has struggled a bit lately though but is undaunted and certainly has the mindset and perseverance to overcome anything that is thrown at her, and will likely continue to be a recognizable face on the scene for years to come.
