Seat 7: Xuan Liu, 25, Toronto, Canada -- 6,355,000 chips
Xuan Liu is the first woman to ever appear at a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event final table. Her breakthrough came when she won PokerStars’ Italian Poker Tour San Remo €1,000 side event in December 2010 for €48,000 and then, only a few months later finished third at EPT San Remo for $524,705; a stand-out result in total career winnings so far of $655,886. She is already guaranteed $156,400 here, but she looks like a good bet to get much more as the final progresses.
Liu, 25, has always been fascinated by games of skill and chance, and used to play hands of poker against herself from six years old. But it was at Waterloo University back home in Ontario, Canada where she started playing regularly. It was a poker hotbed that was also home to the likes of Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald, former EPT Grand Final winner Glen Chorny, Michael Watts and Steve Paul.
After school, Liu switched from cash to live tournaments, a move which now looks like the best decision of her life.
Bio courtesy of PokerStars.