Olivia "Liv" Boeree (born 18 July 1984) is a British science communicator,

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

, host of the ''Win-Win'' podcast, and professional

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

player. Dubbed "The Poker Queen", Boeree is a

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada, and since 2004, sponsored by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...

(WSOP) and

European Poker Tour The European Poker Tour (EPT) is a series of poker Poker tournament, tournaments created by John Duthie (poker player), John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas ...

(EPT) champion, and is the only female player in history to win both a WSOP bracelet and an EPT event. Boeree is a 3× winner of the

Global Poker Index The Global Poker Index (GPI) is a leaderboard index that ranks over 450,000 live tournament poker players in the world. The GPI poker rankings are updated on a weekly basis. Players’ performances are assessed by their finishing positions in pok ...

European Female Player of the year. , having first retired in late 2019, Boeree still ranks among the top five women in poker history in terms of all-time money winnings, sitting at fourth all-time in the female category, and currently holds the record for the highest pay-out in a poker tournament for a woman at $2,800,000.

Early life

Boeree was born in

Hollingbourne Hollingbourne is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the borough of Maidstone (borough), Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the North Downs to the east of the county town, Maidstone ...

, Kent in the South East of England, on 18 July 1984 and studied at

Ashford School Ashford School is a coeducational private boarding and day school in East Hill, Ashford, Kent. There are 480 students in the senior school (ages 11 to 18) and 360 in the prep school (ages 3 to 11). The school is owned and run by the United Ch ...

before going on to earn a First Class Honours degree in

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

with

Astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. During this time she played lead guitar in heavy metal bands Dissonance and Nemhaim and modelled for a number of alternative clothing brands such as Alchemy Gothic.

Poker career

Boeree was introduced to the poker industry when she was selected as one of five contestants for the reality TV show ''Ultimatepoker.com Showdown'', which aired on

Five 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

in autumn 2005. During the show she was coached by top poker players

Phil Hellmuth Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player who has won a record seventeen World Series of Poker bracelets, the majority in no-limit hold'em. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Se ...

Annie Duke Anne LaBarr Duke (née Lederer; born September 13, 1965) is an American former professional poker player and author in cognitive-behavioral decision science and decision education. She holds a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet from 2004 ...

, and

Dave Ulliott David A. "Devilfish" Ulliott (1 April 1954 – 6 April 2015) was an English professional gambler and poker player, known for his connections to Hull's organised crime scene. In 2017, he was posthumously inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. ...

. In May 2008, she won the 2008 Ladbrokes European Ladies Championships for $30,000. On 21 April 2010, Boeree won the

main event in

Sanremo Sanremo, also spelled San Remo in English and formerly in Italian, is a (municipality) on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination ...

, at the time the largest ever poker tournament held on European soil. Boeree won €1,250,000 and thereby became the third woman ever to win an EPT title. At the

2017 World Series of Poker The 2017 World Series of Poker was the 48th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). It took place from May 30 – July 17 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. There was a record 74 bracelet events including the third edition of ...

in Las Vegas, Boeree won event #2 (the "$10,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em Championship") for $273,964 with Russian poker player and boyfriend

Igor Kurganov Igor Kurganov (born 5 May 1988) is a Russian born German professional poker player, angel investor and philanthropist. He is the co-founder of Raising for Effective Giving, a philanthropic organisation that promotes a rational approach to philan ...

. Other notable results include a runner-up finish in the 2014 UKIPT Edinburgh Main Event, 1st place on Poker After Dark in 2017 and a 3rd-place finish in the EPT Barcelona High Roller event for €391,000 in August 2015. Awards: Boeree won Female Player of the Year in 2014, 2015 and 2016 at the European Poker Awards, as determined by Global Poker Index points she accumulated during those years. She was also awarded "Europe's Leading Lady" in 2010 at the European Poker Awards. Boeree has been a member of Team

PokerStars PokerStars is an online poker cardroom. It is the largest real money online poker site in the world, controlling over two-thirds of the total online poker market, and can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for Windows, macOS, Androi ...

Pro since September 2010. As of January 2020, her total live tournament earnings exceed $3,800,000. In February 2016, she was announced as the Team Manager of the Global Poker League team "The London Royals". In November 2019, Liv Boeree announced on Twitter that she had left Team PokerStars after nine years and will quit professional poker. In December 2024, Boeree returned to professional Poker in the 2024 World Series of Poker Paradise Event, held in

The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

. Boeree finished fourth in the $25,000 WSOP Super Main Event tournament, cashing out at $2,800,000. This cash-out put Boeree in fourth place on the woman’s all-time money list and also saw her break the record for the biggest-ever cash by a female poker player.

World Series of Poker bracelets

Charity work

In 2014, Boeree co-founded

Raising for Effective Giving Raising for Effective Giving (REG) is a charity fundraising nonprofit. Its members consist mostly of professional poker players and financial investors who pledge to donate a percentage of their income to selected charities. Philosophy REG was ...

, an organization that promotes a rational approach to philanthropy often referred to as

effective altruism Effective altruism (EA) is a 21st-century philosophical and social movement that advocates impartially calculating benefits and prioritizing causes to provide the greatest good. It is motivated by "using evidence and reason to figure out how to b ...

, and provides advice on choosing charities based on certain criteria. The organization also publishes an annual guide to effective giving, highlighting which charities may be worthy of receiving funds, and for which ethical reasons. As of July 2020,

has raised over $14,000,000 for its supported charities. In addition, in 2017 Boeree became a member of

Giving What We Can Giving What We Can (GWWC) is an effective altruism nonprofit that promotes effective giving through education, outreach, and advocacy around the 10% Pledge, which encourages members to donate at least 10% of their income to effective charities. ...

, a community of people who have pledged to give at least 10% of their income to effective charities. Boeree has raised concerns about possible risks from the development of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

and supports research that is directed at safe AI development. In 2020, she became an ambassador for Longview Philanthropy, which advises large-scale philanthropists on their donation strategy around global catastrophic risk mitigation. In January 2023, Boeree was awarded a Doctorate of Science, Honoris Causa, from the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

in recognition of her contributions to STEM education and outreach.

Television and film

Boeree's TV hosting credits include The Weather Channel's ''Weird Earth'', Discovery Channel's ''The Mind Control Freaks'' in 2015–2016, and

Red Bull TV Red Bull TV is an online television channel owned by Red Bull GmbH. Programming content focuses on live events and shows related to sports, music, lifestyle, and culture. The channel runs long-format original programming series. Series include ' ...

's ''MindGamers'' in 2017. From 2011 to 2013, she co-hosted ''UK and Ireland Poker Tour'', a weekly show that aired on Channel 4 in the UK. Her poker TV appearances include NBC's Heads Up Poker in 2011 and 2013,

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's Shark Cage in 2014 and the

from 2010 to 2016 and

Poker After Dark ''Poker After Dark'' is an hour-long poker television program that originally aired on NBC, premiering on January 1, 2007.

Poker Central Poker Central is a website and service which focuses on poker news, events, live streaming and hosting poker content. It operates PokerGO an online paid subscription channel and streaming service which features multiple poker shows, cash games and ...

in 2017. Other appearances include

BBC4 BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

Documentary "The Joy of Winning" discussing

game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...

with Presenter

Hannah Fry Hannah Fry (born 21 February 1984) is a British mathematician, author and broadcaster. She is Professor of the Public awareness of science, Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Queens' College, Cambrid ...

BBC Breakfast ''BBC Breakfast'' is a British television breakfast news programme, produced by BBC News and broadcast on BBC One every morning from 6:00am. It is also broadcast on the UK feed of BBC News channel on weekends. The simulcast is presented live, ...

alongside

Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker (; born 22 November 1967) is a German former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Becker won 49 c ...

in September 2010, and on ITV's GMTV by

Lorraine Kelly Lorraine Kelly (born 30 November 1959) is a Scottish television presenter. She has presented various television shows for ITV and STV, including '' Good Morning Britain'' (1988–1992), ''GMTV'' (1993–2010), ''This Morning'' (2003–2005, ...

about her European Poker Tour win. In 2011, Boeree was a member of the Celebrity Graduate Manchester University team that took part in

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

's seasonal general knowledge tournament, ''

Christmas University Challenge ''Christmas University Challenge'' is a British quiz programme which has aired on BBC Two since 19 December 2011. It is a spin-off from ''University Challenge'' that airs daily over the Christmas period, and features teams of noteworthy alumn ...

''. In 2006, she appeared on the

show ''

Codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

''. On 21 July 2007, Boeree appeared on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

show ''

Golden Balls ''Golden Balls'' is a British daytime game show that was presented by Jasper Carrott. It was broadcast on the ITV network from 18 June 2007 to 18 December 2009. Gameplay Round 1 At the back of the studio is the "Golden Bank," a giant contrap ...

'', winning £6,500.50. In 2020, Boeree made an appearance in the Dutch film '' The Host'' as Ms. Gueller.

Speaker

Boeree gave her first

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

talk at TEDxManchester in February 2018 on the benefits of thinking in probabilities. One month later she spoke at the TED 2018 Conference in Vancouver during their inaugural "TED Unplugged" session. Her topic was "3 lessons on decision-making from a poker champion". Boeree appeared as a guest speaker at Oxford University Union in May 2016, Jesus College, Cambridge in February 2017, the Cheltenham Science Festival in June 2016, Websummit Dublin in Nov 2015 and

Effective Altruism Global Effective Altruism Global, abbreviated EA Global or EAG, is a series of annual philanthropy events that focus on the effective altruism movement. They are organised by the Centre for Effective Altruism. History The first Effective Altruism Su ...

, Google HQ in San Francisco Aug 2015 Boeree also appeared on

Sean M. Carroll Sean Michael Carroll (born October 5, 1966) is an American theoretical physicist who specializes in quantum mechanics, cosmology, and the philosophy of science. He is the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. He ...

's ''Mindscape'' podcast (Episode 6, aired on 24 July 2018) to discuss probability and effective altruism. Boeree appeared on

Lex Fridman Alexei "Lex" Fridman (; born 15 August 1983) is an American computer scientist and podcaster. Since 2018, he has hosted the ''Lex Fridman Podcast'', where he interviews notable figures from various fields such as science, technology, sports, and ...

's podcast (aired 24 August 2022) to discuss poker,

, AI,

simulation theory Simulation theory or Simulation Theory may refer to: * Simulation theory of empathy, a theory in philosophy of mind about how people read others' actions and intentions * Simulation hypothesis, a theory that all of perceived reality is an artificia ...

, aliens &

existential risk A global catastrophic risk or a doomsday scenario is a hypothetical event that could damage human well-being on a global scale, endangering or even destroying Modernity, modern civilization. Existential risk is a related term limited to even ...

Writing

Boeree has written a number of articles and opinion pieces on various scientific and

rationality Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reason. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do, or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an ab ...

topics. Her publications include a

Vox.com ''Vox'' () is an American news and opinion website owned by Vox Media. The website was founded in April 2014 by Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, and Melissa Bell, and is noted for its concept of explanatory journalism. Vox's media presence also i ...

article discussing the philosophical implications of

Future of Humanity Institute The Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) was an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Oxford investigating big-picture questions about humanity and its prospects. It was founded in 2005 as part of the Faculty of Philosophy and t ...

's 2018 Paper
Dissolving the Fermi Paradox
, a

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is a Canadian-American digital media and broadcasting company. Vice Media encompasses four main business areas: Vice Studios Group (film and TV production); Vice TV (a joint venture with A&E Networks, also known as Vicelan ...

article on a discovered crystalline pattern in prime numbers, and an opinion piece in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' on the importance of rational thinking classes in mainstream education. Her June 2020 byline in ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'', reviewing the latest book by

Maria Konnikova Maria Konnikova (born 1984) is a Russians, Russian-Americans, American writer. Konnikova has also worked as a television producer, poker player, and podcaster. She has written three ''New York Times'' bestseller list books, including ''Masterm ...

, lists her as a "science communicator and former professional poker player."

Notes

External links

* *
Card Player profileHendon Mob profilePokerNews profileWPT profileWSOP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boeree, Liv 1984 births Living people Alumni of the University of Manchester English female models English poker players English television presenters European Poker Tour winners Female poker players British poker players People associated with effective altruism People educated at Ashford School People from Ashford, Kent World Series of Poker bracelet winners Models from Kent