In early April, as the action at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe was winding down, Xuan Liu announced that she had signed as an ambassador to represent Ignition Casino.
Reaction from the broader poker community was mixed. In recent years, the platform has come under fire as accusations of uncredited winnings, bot farms, and alleged cheating have emerged.
In the post announcing her new deal, Liu indirectly addressed the controversies, writing: "I'm committed to helping drive positive change and catapult Ignition into a new era in the competitive online gaming space."
I spoke with Liu to learn more about her commitment to improving the site and how her role might improve the situation at the Ignition tables.
Xuan Liu: "No site is perfect”
When Liu's time with WPT Global came to an end, interest from other poker operators came pouring in. Ignition's pitch – particularly its offer to allow her creative autonomy over her content – attracted Liu's attention.
"I was making content anyways, and what they were asking of me was in alignment with everything I was already doing," she shared. "Having said that, it took a lot of back and forth to make sure we were synced."
That might have had something to do with an apparent stipulation Liu insisted on as part of the partnership.
"It's actually written into my contract that they will make a significant effort to improve things," Liu told me.
It's unclear how exactly Ignition defines a 'significant effort,' but Liu went on to say that "a lot of changes have been implemented" by the site in response to the allegations.
"I know it's a really bad look, and it's very easy to paint Ignition as a scapegoat," she said. "But the honest truth is no site is perfect, and every site has issues that they are constantly battling."
Poker tables on Ignition operate anonymously. There are no player usernames, no avatars, no identifying features of any kind. Ignition utilizes this system to level the playing field for recreational players by limiting or removing the advantage professionals can attain through data-mining and third-party tracking software.
Unfortunately, this system also makes it more challenging to identify and subsequently remove bot accounts.
"There's going to be a tradeoff anytime that you have a unique feature that makes the player pool more accessible and friendlier for recreational players," Liu explained. "And, yeah, it does make it a little easier for bots because detection is a little harder."
How Liu plans to make an impact
So, with an understanding that improvement is needed, how does Liu plan to make an impact at Ignition?
"I have direct, regular contact with Ignition to make sure they're actively working on things," Liu told me. "And I've been doing some of my own detective work. I've hired people to play games across several different stakes to see if those problems still require major change. So far, the feedback is pretty good from everybody I've worked with, but it's a continued process."
While Liu's efforts will hopefully lead to a brighter future for Ignition and its player base, it's unreasonable to think she can single-handedly turn the tides on the site.
In her role as an ambassador, Liu can certainly speak truth to power – as she has done in the past – and act as an amplifier of player concerns, but, ultimately, decisions about how the platform operates are beyond her pay grade.
"I'm going to do the most I can, but I'm just one person," she said. "I don't have [control over] the inner workings of the company and how it operates."
A defining moment in Liu’s career
While Liu lacks the power to rewrite Ignition's operating code, her status as one of the game's top female players and integrity as an ambassador does afford her a certain degree of leverage.
In 2025, Liu made poker history as the first woman to win a Triton Poker Super High Roller Series title. It brought her no shortage of praise and recognition – all of it well-earned. Sometimes, however, that level of attention can come with its own pitfalls. Not everyone shines in the spotlight.
I asked Liu about that time in her life and what the acknowledgment of not only her peers but also the broader poker community meant to her.
"When I was younger, I 100% would have been super uncomfortable and would have tried to hide under a rock to avoid the praise," she shared. "Now that I'm older and know who I am and have so much more confidence, I relish it. I enjoy it. I think it's a big deal."
Breaking barriers in high-stakes poker
And it was a big deal. As one of only a handful of women operating within the high-stakes community, Liu's triumph in one of poker's most competitive environments defied the odds and raised the bar.
"There are just not that many of us," Liu continued. "If you look at the high-stakes regulars, you can count [the women] on one hand because there are inherent obstacles to being a female in this industry.
"I'm not saying there aren't advantages. I wouldn't have a sponsorship right now if I wasn't a female, but I also had to work really hard and figure out a lot of things on my own because there's no blueprint or template to being a woman in poker."
In many ways, Liu – alongside other women like Foxen, Jamie Kerstetter, Ebony Kenney, and Victoria Livschitz – is fleshing out that blueprint in real time.
"When I was younger, I wish I had more female role models to look up to," Liu told me. "I did have some, but a lot of them saw me as competition for existing, and that was unfortunate."
As she lays the groundwork for others to follow her into high-stakes battle, Liu is excited for the future of women in poker and theorizes that the next few years will bring about a massive influx of female talent.
"I can't wait for the next generation of female players," she concluded.
