Liv Boeree

Olivia "Liv" Boeree (born 18 July 1984) is a British science communicator, television presenter and former professional poker player. She is a World Series of Poker[1] and European Poker Tour 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 European Female Player of the year.[2][3] As of September 2021, having retired in late 2019, Boeree still ranks among the top ten women in poker history in terms of all-time money winnings.[4]

Liv Boeree
Liv Boeree in 2019
Nickname(s)Iron Maiden
Born (1984-07-18) 18 July 1984
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)1
Final table(s)1
Money finish(es)20
Highest ITM
Main Event finish		314th, 2017
European Poker Tour
Title(s)1
Final table(s)4
Money finish(es)12

Early life

Boeree was born in Kent in the South East of England on 18 July 1984 and studied at Ashford School before going on to earn a First Class Honours degree in Physics with Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. During this time she played lead guitar in heavy metal bands Dissonance and Nemhaim[5] and modelled for a number of alternative clothing brands such as Alchemy Gothic.[6]

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 in autumn 2005. During the show she was coached by top poker players Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, and Dave Ulliott.

In May 2008, she won the 2008 Ladbrokes European Ladies Championships for $30,000.[7]

On 21 April 2010, Boeree won the European Poker Tour main event in Sanremo, 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.[8]

At the 2017 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Boeree won event #2 (the "$10,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em Championship") for $273,964[9] with Russian poker player and boyfriend Igor Kurganov.

Other notable results include a runner-up finish in the 2014 UKIPT Edinburgh Main Event, 1st place on Poker After Dark in 2017[10] 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,[11][12] 2015[13] 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 Pro since September 2010.[14] As of January 2020, her total live tournament earnings exceed $3,800,000.[7]

In February 2016, she was announced as the Team Manager of the Global Poker League team "The London Royals".[15]

In November 2019, Liv Boeree announced on Twitter that she had left Team PokerStars after nine years and will quit professional poker.[16]

World Series of Poker bracelets
Year Tournament Prize (US$)
2017 $10,000 Tag Team No Limit Hold'em Championship $273,964

Charity work

In 2014, Boeree co-founded Raising for Effective Giving, an organization that promotes a rational approach to philanthropy often referred to as effective altruism,[17] 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.[18][19]

As of July 2020, Raising for Effective Giving has raised over $14,000,000 for its supported charities.[20]

In addition, in 2017 Boeree became a member of Giving What We Can,[18] a community of people who have pledged to give at least 10% of their income to effective charities.[21]

Boeree has raised concerns about possible risks from the development of artificial intelligence and supports research that is directed at safe AI development.[22][23]

In 2020 she became an ambassador for Longview Philanthropy, which advises large-scale philanthropists on their donation strategy around global catastrophic risk mitigation.[24]

In January 2023, Boeree was awarded a Doctorate of Science, Honoris Causa from the University of Hull in recognition of her contributions to STEM education and outreach.[25]

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[26][27] and Red Bull TV's "MindGamers" in 2017.[28]

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's Shark Cage in 2014 and the European Poker Tour from 2010 to 2016 and Poker After Dark on Poker Central in 2017.

Other appearances include BBC4 Documentary "The Joy of Winning" discussing game theory with Presenter Hannah Fry,[29] BBC Breakfast alongside Boris Becker in September 2010, and on ITV's GMTV by Lorraine Kelly about her European Poker Tour win.

In 2011, Boeree was a member of the Celebrity Graduate Manchester University team that took part in BBC2's seasonal general knowledge tournament, Christmas University Challenge.[30]

In 2006, she appeared on the Channel 4 show Codex.

On 21 July 2007, Boeree appeared on the ITV show Golden Balls, 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 talk at TEDxManchester in February 2018 on the benefits of thinking in probabilities.[31] One month later she spoke at the TED 2018 Conference in Vancouver during their inaugural "TED Unplugged" session.[32] 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,[33] Jesus College, Cambridge in February 2017, the Cheltenham Science Festival in June 2016,[34] Websummit Dublin in Nov 2015[35] and Effective Altruism Global, Google HQ in San Francisco Aug 2015[36]

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

Boeree appeared on Lex Fridman's podcast (aired 24 August 2022) to discuss poker, game theory, AI, simulation, aliens & existential risk.[37]

Writing

Boeree has written a number of articles and opinion pieces on various scientific and rationality topics. Her publications include a Vox.com article[38] discussing the philosophical implications of Future of Humanity Institute's 2018 Paper "Dissolving the Fermi Paradox", a Vice Media article on a discovered crystalline pattern in prime numbers[39] and an opinion piece in The Independent on the importance of rational thinking classes in mainstream education.[40] Her June 2020 byline in Nature, reviewing the latest book by Maria Konnikova, lists her as a "science communicator and former professional poker player."[41]

Notes
  1. Schult, Steve (2 June 2017). "WSOP NEWS: IGOR KURGANOV AND LIV BOEREE WIN 10K TAG TEAM EVENT". World Series of Poker. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  2. Newell, Jennifer (4 May 2016). "European Poker Awards winners feature GPL players". USA Today. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  3. Scimia, Ed (27 March 2015). "Martin Jacobson, Liv Boeree Among European Poker Award Winners". CardsChat. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  4. "Women's All Time Money List - Top 13,752". The Hendon Mob. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  5. "Liv Boeree: The "Iron Maiden" of the poker world". Metal Insider. 29 October 2019. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  6. "Alchemy England Blog » Liv Boeree". Alchemy Gothic. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  7. Butt, Robert. "Liv Boeree – Results". TheHendonMob.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
  8. "BBC News - Poker woman from Sittingbourne plays for £2.2m prize". 24 April 2010. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
  9. Fast, Erik (2 June 2017). "Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov Win 2017 World Series of Poker $10,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em Championship - Poker News". Card Player. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  10. Oresteen, Paul (25 August 2017). "Poker After Dark: Liv Boeree Shreds Final Night of "Voices Carry"". Poker Central. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  11. "2014 European Poker Awards Winners - European Poker Awards". European Poker Awards. 8 February 2015. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  12. Albrecht, Anne (26 March 2015). "European Poker Awards: Liv Boeree Female Player of the Year - PokerWomenNews". Pokernews Women. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  13. "European Poker Awards 2015 Award Winners - European Poker Awards". European Poker Awards. 4 May 2016. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  14. "Liv Boeree - Poker Pro and Maxim Model Olivia Boeree". PokerStars. Archived from the original on 3 October 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  15. "London Royals - Global Poker League". Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  16. "Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov leave Team Pokerstars". pokersuperagent.com. 21 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  17. Carter, Barry (8 April 2017). "News: Liv Boeree on Effective Altruism". www.pokerstrategy.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  18. "Raising for Effective Giving: About". Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  19. Willis, Max (7 July 2014). "Boeree, Gruissem, Kurganov Team Up For Charity". Poker.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  20. "Accomplishments - Raising for Effective Giving". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  21. "List of Giving What We Can Members". Giving What We Can. Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  22. "News: Liv Boeree on the dangers of Artificial Intelligence". www.pokerstrategy.com. 29 March 2017. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  23. Zhang, Linch (22 November 2016). "The Poker Pro Who Wants to Save the World". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  25. "We welcome new graduates to our Hull Alumni Community at our Winter 2023 Graduation Ceremonies". University of Hull Alumni Association. 24 January 2023. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  26. "The Mind Control Freaks". Discovery Channel Asia. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  27. Collson, Brett (20 March 2014). "Liv Boeree Featured on Discovery Channel's "The Mind Control Freaks"". PokerNews. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  28. "Home — Red Bull Mind Gamers". www.redbullmindgamers.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  29. "BBC Four - The Joy of Winning". BBC. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  30. BBC2, 19 December 2011
  31. TEDx Talks (20 March 2018). "A Number Speaks a Thousand Words - Liv Boeree - TEDxManchester". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2018 – via YouTube.
  32. "3 lessions on decision-making from a poker chamption". Ted.com. 12 April 2018. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  33. "Liv Boeree - the Oxford Union". www.oxford-union.org. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  34. "2016 The Times Cheltenham Science Festival brochure". Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  35. "Inspiring Liv Boeree from PokerStars talking as Team Pro. 1 talk". Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  36. "Liv Boeree Starring at Effective Altruism Global 2015". CalvinAyre.com. 20 July 2015. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  37. "Liv Boeree: Poker, Game Theory, AI, Simulation, Aliens & Existential Risk | Lex Fridman Podcast #314". YouTube. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  38. "Why haven't we found aliens yet?". 3 July 2018. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  39. Boeree, Liv (14 September 2018). "Researchers Discover a Pattern to the Seemingly Random Distribution of Prime Numbers". Motherboard. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  40. Boeree, Liv (12 April 2015). "If I were Prime Minister: Rational decision-making classes would be a part of the national curriculum". The Independent. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  41. Boeree, Liv (23 June 2020). "What the world needs now: lessons from a poker player". Nature. 582 (7813): 480. Bibcode:2020Natur.582..480B. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01840-5.
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