Olivia “Liv” Boeree was born in 1984 in Maidstone, Kent. She grew up in the Kent countryside which enabled her to discover her first great passion of horse riding. She competed regularly with considerable success, and this competitive side also spilled over into her school life, where she embraced almost any sport she could take part in. Liv also showed a strong aptitude for most academic subjects, particularly the sciences. After achieving all A/A* grades at GCSE and A-Level, she earned herself a place at the University of Manchester where she studied Physics with Astrophysics, graduating with a First Class degree in 2005.

Shortly after graduation Liv moved to London, and during the summer of 2005 she answered a TV show advertisement (UltimatePoker Showdown) that was looking for five contestants, and after numerous auditions she was selected out of the many thousands who applied. A secret to all who applied until the very first day of filming, the show’s premise was to take five complete beginners and train them how to play poker with the coaching of top poker players Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke and Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott. It was during filming that Liv discovered an immense love for the game and made it a personal goal to emulate her mentors and become a successful poker player.

TV also became a keen interest to Liv during the next couple of years, and in 2006 she got the opportunity to be a journalist and TV presenter for Gutshot TV at the World Series of Poker World Series of Poker Las Vegas.

Shortly afterwards she became the host of Challenge TV‘s on-line coverage of the European Poker Tour and also appeared as a reporter for the World Series of Poker Europe. She also continued to appear on a number of Gameshows including Codex (Channel 4, 2006) and Goldenballs (ITV, 2007).

Liv also became involved in the industry of yet another of her great passions: heavy metal music. A keen guitar player from the age of 16, she became a regular on the rock music scene both in Manchester in her band “Dissonance” and later in London, and in 2008 she co-presented the Metal Hammer’s Golden Gods, interviewing many of her musical heroes.

Poker really started to take hold for Liv in May 2008 when Ladbrokes European Ladies Championships for $30,000, which was televised on Channel 4, and after that she started travelling the tournament circuit and achieving results in some World Series of Poker and World Poker tour events. She attracted significant media attention along the way and became a regular fixture in numerous poker publications including Bluff, Cardplayer and WPT magazines. She also modelled for a number of mainstream publications included Maxim, Loaded, Look and Revolver Magazine.

However, her biggest breakthrough was in April 2010 when she won the European Poker Tour (EPT) in San Remo for $1,250,000. Not only was she the third woman to ever win an EPT title, but this was the largest ever EPT to date of 1240 players, and this achievement catapulted Liv into the mainstream media spotlight.

In September 2010 Liv was invited to join Team Pokerstars Pro as one of their representatives and since then she has notched up a number of tournament successes both online and live, including winning the Sunday “Warm-up” Major for $148,000 in February 2011 after defeating 4,710 entrants. Liv is currently residing in London, continues to play in major tournaments around the world, and currently co-hosts the UK and Ireland Poker Tour with Nick Wealthall, shown weekly on Channel 4.