WSOP Europe kicks off March 31 as players descend on Prague for brand-new city and a revamped Player of the Year race, battling a packed schedule with big fields of the game's most talented traveling poker players.
Xuan Liu, one of poker's fan favorites, will be right in the middle of it. She'll also be vlogging her experience of playing in the Ladies event and the Main, along with a few other events at the Prague's maiden WSOP series.
Past success overseas proves that Liu’s poker résumé travels well. She finished fourth for $600,000 at the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure shortly after she cashed for $534,000 at PokerStars San Remo in 2011. Most recently, Liu made history as the first woman to win a Triton trophy at the WPT Global Slam in Montenegro.
PokerOrg caught up with Liu just days before she boarded for Prague:
Success in Europe
What was the deciding factor for you when deciding to sign on as a vlogger for the WSOPE in Prague this week?
Honestly, I like the direction that WSOP is going in terms of growing the game and providing a good player experience. I like that they are elevating the status of bracelets, even though they are giving out a lot of them.
Quite frankly, the WSOP does care about what the content creators are doing and they're giving us some good perks for participating. How could I say no?
What are you most excited about by attending these events in Prague?
It's been at least 10 years since I've been to WSOP Europe. Playing in Europe is always something I look forward to. It's such a different pace than what I'm accustomed to.
When I first started playing tournaments, that's where I had my initial breakthrough successes. Being in that atmosphere brings back a lot of nostalgia for me.
Have you been to the beautiful city of Prague before?
I know there's lots of culture and interesting sites to see in Prague, which is always nice. I've been to the city twice, but always during the winter when they had the Christmas market up. It will be nice to see what they offer for spring, even though I know it's still quite chilly.
I understand that Annette Obrestad will be playing the Ladies tournament and the Main Event.
She's a legend. She was one of the first serious female players that I admired and looked up to. I've hung out with her away from poker a couple of times, I believe. She's always pleasant, and obviously super bright. I think we always need talent like that in the poker world.
It’s going to be fun watching Annette in the mix. How do you think the ladies event in Vegas will play differently than the upcoming championship in Prague?
The WSOP ladies event in Vegas is by far the largest ladies event held anywhere. But I think of all the events in Europe, the ladies will also get an amazing turnout.
I just love the way European women tend to dress up more and be a little more elegant. North American players are a little more casual, me included.
'Vlogging does end up making my play a little worse'
Word is out that the WSOP ladies champion for the last two years, Shiina Okamoto, will also be participating.
It’s going to be really lovely to see Shiina. She's made playing ladies' events seem like so much fun and it's definitely inspiring to see her accomplishments.
I wasn’t able to play in either Ladies events she's won. So, it'll be fun battling with her.
What have you been up to these past few months?
I play a lot of different formats of poker these days, but mostly cash games. But leading up to the WSOP, I've been brushing up on some MTT fundamentals. I’ve been playing a bit online at wsop.com since I’m in Nevada.
I do have another big announcement coming soon. I’ve been pretty busy. But I can’t share about that yet.
What should we look forward to from your vlogging?
I wish I was a better vlogger, and it came more naturally to me. But, you know, with my like ADHD skillset, I just try to do too many things at once.
Vlogging does end up making my play a little worse. I try not to stress too much about it. But I do like being connected to my viewers and fan base.
Do you have any advice for someone new to playing in Europe?
I think for the more serious buy-ins, you would have to play definitely more fundamentally sound. But for some of the lower buy-ins, you definitely have to keep an eye out on who's really getting out of line. And quite frankly, in Europe, sometimes it's the majority of your table. But that can also be a lot more fun.
The WSOP will be streaming the Main Event final table on YouTube. Do you enjoy playing on livestream?
I love playing on streamed events. I think it helps me kill two birds with the same stone. It helps me create content and compete at a high level.
So yeah, I think it'll be great. I'm going to have a lot of fun with it and try not to do anything too silly.
I am sure you’ve heard that the WSOP has announced a new television deal to work with ESPN once again. What were your first thoughts?
I think it's fantastic. It's great for poker. It legitimizes the game as an actual sport being on the sports network.
I’m curious. Have you ever gone deep in the WSOP Main?
No. I've never made an actual deep run in the main event. But I always feel like it's something that I’ll do on my 40th try or something. And we're definitely approaching that number.
You have to just to treat it like any other tournament. But it's always nice to have that dream leading up to the event.
Best of luck this year, Xuan. This could be the one. Have fun in Prague.
Thanks, Craig.
