Poker has always been a male-dominated game, but this has changed recently with players like Kristen Foxen and several other female pro giving tough competition. This change came after several female pros contributed to the game during the early 2000s. Joanne JJ Liu is one of the female poker players who played a pivotal role in the game’s popularity among women. In this report, we will discuss Joanne JJ Liu’s early life, education, poker career, and personal life.
Joanne Liu’s Early Life and Poker Introduction
Joanne JJ Liu is a Taiwanese poker player who’s been playing professional poker for nearly three decades. She was born on April 10, 1965, in Taiwan’s Taipei City. Liu spent her early years in Taipei and moved out of it in 1985 to pursue a Master’s degree in computer science from Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois. After her education, she got a job in Silicon Valley, California.
While working in Silicon Valley as a software engineer, Liu was introduced to poker. She soon discovers that poker can be a lucrative game in the long run and starts playing poker part-time. She eventually walked out of her software engineer job to pursue a professional poker career in 2004.
Joanne Liu’s Poker Career and Winnings
Liu began her poker career by playing cash games in the Bay 101 Casino. She soon started liking the game and competed in her first live tournament in 1996’s World Series of Poker, where she came 4th in the $3,000 Limit Hold’em, and collected $32,658.
Joanne JJ Liu’s first title win came in 1997 when she conquered the Four Queens Poker Classic for a staggering $43,313. Liu’s next big cash came in 2002, where she finished 5th in the WSOP $2,000 NLH for $33,760. The closest Joanne JJ Liu ever came to a WSOP bracelet was in the 2003 $1,000 Ladies 1/2 Stud event, where she finished as the runner-up collecting $20,540.
Liu’s first six-figure cash came in 2005, where she made a 4th place final table finish in the Fourth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic (WPT) $15,300 Main Event for $362,140. The female poker pro again made a final table finish in the 2007 World Poker Tour $10,000 Championship Event and banked her career-best $600,000 for his runner-up finish.
In 2009, Joanne JJ Liu competed in her first European Poker Tour, and it was a €10,600 NLH Grand Final, where she received $46,020 for his 44th place finish.
In 2010, Liu made one WSOP final table finish in the $1,500 PLO (3rd place – $86,512) and busted out on the final table bubble in the $2,500 LH Six Handed event for $21,991.
Liu didn’t score any big cashes after 2009 until 2014. In 2014, Joanne JJ Liu won the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APT) HK $100,000 NLH High Roller for HK $1,420,000 ($183,135) cash prize. Liu’s next big score came in 2016 when she outlasted over 400 players to secure $106,129 in the Goliath Phamous Poker Series $600 NLH Goliath Million.
In Summer 2021, Liu competed in 11 WSOP events, banking over $100k with one 5th place finish in the $1,000 NLH Ladies Championship for $26,458. Despite playing poker for over 2 decades,
Liu put herself among the WSOP ring winners in 2023, where she won the WSOP Circuit Online $1,000 NLH 8-Max cost $35,814. She again claimed another circuit ring in the same year by winning the WSOP Circuit Online $320 NLH 6-Max for $30,282.
IAtthe beginning of 2024, Liu made four final table finishes in the World Series of Poker Circuit Online, collecting over $30k. Besides these, she came 4th in the Wynn Summer Classic $600 NLH Ladies Event, earning $7,282.
Joanne JJ Liu has cashed in 403 poker tournaments and has nearly $3.9 million in total live earnings. Most of her cashes came in low-stakes poker tournaments, which is why her earnings aren’t that big, but she is currently the most active player of her age alongside Kathy Liebert.
WPT and WSOP Earnings
Most of her big wins came from these two series, the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour. As of now, Joanne JJ Liu has cashed in 94 WSOP events, made 9 final table finishes, and earned $883,674. She has competed in 19 WPT events, with 2 final table finishes and an earning of $1,215,802.
Joanne Liu’s Net Worth 2024
As of 2024, the 2007 WPT Championship runner-up finisher, Liu is ranked in Taiwan’s All-Time Money List and has close to $4 million in live tournament earnings. The $ 600,000, which she earned in 2007 for her runner-up finish in the WPT Championship event, remains her best score till date!
Joanne Liu’s Personal Life and Achievements
For Joanne JJ Liu’s contributions to the game of poker, she was inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in 2012. She also became the first Asian female poker player to be part of the Women In Poker HOF inductee.
Besides playing poker, Joanne JJ Liu is a real estate developer, broker, and investor. In 2021, Liu bought the ‘Bristol Arcadia Inn.’ There is no current update regarding Liu’s personal life, but as reported by WSOP back in 2007, Liu is married to poker player Dan Alspach.
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