Olivia Boaree (simply known as Liv) is one of the best female pro poker players in the world. She was born in the UK, she has a background in science and began her poker career in a reality show on Channel 5. She even had a TED speech where she talked about decision making.
She graduated in 2005 at the University of Manchester, with a degree in Physics and Astrophysics. The same year she took part in the above mentioned TV show (named Ultimatepoker.com Showdown). Here she was coached by a pro and felt in love with the game. So she decided to take part in the WSOP the next year.
It is estimated that she won close to 4 million dollars in her career, from 93 cashes over 12 years. She has the most winnings of all British female players and is among the top 20 English players.
Here are some key moments of her career:
- in 2008 she wins the Ladbrokes European Ladies Championships for $42,000
- in 2010 she wins the San Remo EPT Main Event for €1,250,000
- in 2017 she wins her first WSOP bracelet. It was as part of a team with her partner Igor Kurganov
And speaking of him, Igor is a Russian professional player from Saint Petersburg. Born in 1988, he played his first important tournament in 2010. It was the PokerStars Carbibbean Adventure, where even though he finished 119th, he still won $20,000. Two years later he won the EPT High Roller in Monte Carlo, for an astonishing $1,425,874.
At the Aussie Millions 2013 he made 3 final tables and also cashed more than 1 million dollars, and then again at the GuangDong Asia Millions. The same year he also played his first WSOP.
The two started dating in 2014 and together they founded the charity project called “Raising for Effective Giving”. This organization teaches poker players about effective altruism, and over the years they raised more than 6 million dollars for various charities.
While each one of them had great winnings over the years, none had a gold WSOP bracelet. This was until 2017 when they decided to play as a team at the WSOP $10,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em Championship. From 102 teams, it was Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov who eventually won, cashing $273,964.
Since they already were a couple for 3 years, they knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and this made the team work very well together. They eliminated big pros along the way, including Daniel Negreanu.
So now you know more details about the poker team and real life couple formed of Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov.
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