Liv’s Boeree’s poker career began almost by accident. It began when she appeared on a reality TV show, and was coached by Poker Pro’s Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke and Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott.
She took to it so well she began to play poker professionally and has since gone on to win over $2 million dollars. Liv is sponsored by the Poker Website ‘Poker Stars‘ and is also a regular contributor to Bluff Europe magazine.
Liv recently won the online $750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up up taking home a cool $147,780.96. She used to be a keen rock guitarist and is nicknamed ‘The Iron Maiden’.
We spoke to here inbetween fashion shoots and final tables.
Where does the nickname come from?
I like Iron Maiden and a lot of metal in general so I guess it made sense!
Who is your favourite guitarist?
Dimebag Darrel of Pantera or Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom
What tournament finish are you most proud of up to date?
The EPT San Remo 1st place was pretty good, and also winning the recent Sunday Warm up on PokerStars.
What are your favourite hole cards?
Pocket nines
How do you stay focused on the game when you are playing for such long periods?
Make sure you get plenty of sleep the night before. Staying focused is a matter of practice, although having the prospect of a big win also helps keep me sharp!
Do you enjoy being the ‘pin up’ girl for PokerStars?
I don’t know if I’m the “pin-up” girl for PokerStars in particular as they have a lot of very beautiful women on the team, some of whom are much more photogenic than me! That said I really enjoy the photo shoots and similar perks that come from being part of such a prestigious team.
Do you get much time to play online?
Recently I have been playing much more, especially since winning the Warm Up in February! I love playing online.
When you play Poker online what do you play?
I mostly play multi-table tournaments but you’ll often catch me playing single table sit and goes as well. There are always great tournaments at any time of the day on PokerStars, but of course Sundays are the big day.
Do you ever take time off away from Poker?
Not lately, no! I actually intend to take a bit of downtime in London soon hopefully.
Now you are so well known, does everyone want to be the one who knocks you out of a tournament?
That’s an interesting question as it really varies from person to person and on the tournament. Generally in bigger buy-in live tournaments the players don’t care who they knock out provided the hand goes their way! However I do occasionally come across people who target me specifically, particularly online.
Does this make it harder for you to play your game?
It definitely changes the game but I wouldn’t say it makes it harder – it means that I’m going to get paid off when I have strong hands much more frequently, although I have to be careful to keep bluffing to a minimum against those people.
Do you have any tips for players who want to turn Pro?
That it’s not as easy as they may think! It’s a very tough world in reality, particularly playing the major tournament circuit so be very careful and wise in your bankroll management. I have seen many people go broke by investing too much of their bankroll in any give tournament or game – the maximum you should ever invest is 5%.
Are you good at reading people in real life?
I actually don’t know! Sometimes I am spot on in my reads and other times completely wrong so I haven’t figured that one out yet!
Look out for more Heads up interviews on Flush the Fashion soon.