Liv Boeree is on the verge of rewriting poker's history books as she prepares to play the biggest final table of her life. She's enjoyed huge poker moments before. She won the EPT San Remo Main Event in 2010 for $1,698,300. But a win tonight in The Bahamas will hit differently.
Getting a woman onto the final table of the WSOP Main Event has been poker's Holy Grail. That hasn't happened since 1995 when Barbara Enright finished fifth. And the field was only 273 players then.
And, while technically this isn't the WSOP Main Event, it's arguably the second-biggest tournament of the year in terms of stature, comes with a WSOP bracelet and has the word Main Event in the name. Super, in this instance, doesn't elevate it above the summer's Main, Main Event. But it would still be huge for the wider game if Boeree could pull it off.
Shameless glory hunter (her words)
"It sounds strange, but I'm a glory chaser," she said when we asked what brought her back to poker these days (poker is now very much a sideline for the former pro.)
"I love these big, fancy, prestigious tournaments," Boeree added with a smile.
"So, I’ve literally only been playing, in the last couple of years, I’ve played the Main Event in Las Vegas. Then there was the WPT [World Championship] in Vegas last December. But then they had this [Super Main Event] this year and I'm like, Well, it's better.'
"So that's it. Shameless glory hunting, trophy hunting."
Talking with WSOP after last night's action, she added, "It's so big...and I don't have words and that doesn't often happen."
Heroes and villains
Today's final table starts at 12pm ET and all the action will be livestreamed on a one-hour delay. Boeree will bring a new legion of fans along for the ride.
Ironically, however, she took out Chris Moneymaker in two key hands last night, eventually eliminating him in 10th spot, one off the final table.
That extinguished the only other storyline that could have eclipsed hers – Moneymaker winning another 'Main Event' after his historic win in 2003 sparked the original poker boom. For some, she will play the part of the villain today because of that.
Boeree is fourth in chips with a stack of 111,400,000. Michael Addamo, the hugely experienced chip leader, has 196,800,000, but Boeree has a stack – and the poker chops – to take the bracelet. And she really wants the glory.
You'll have seen how much it means to her if you were watching last night. Here's a clip below, courtesy of the WSOP.
She knows how big it could be. And the poker world, and the wider, more mainstream world, will also know if she completes a historic victory.
You can get all the biggest moments as they happen and watch the livestream on PokerOrg Instant, starting from 11am ET today.
