J. J. Liu
Encyclopedia
Joanne Jishung Liu is a professional poker
player from Palo Alto, California
. She is the highest placing female in a World Poker Tour
Championship event, finishing runner-up to Ted Forrest
at the WPT Bay 101
Shooting Stars in 2007.
As of 2008, her total live tournament winnings exceed $1,700,000. She ranks 6th in live tournament earnings among female players, behind Kathy Liebert
, Annie Duke
, Annette Obrestad
, Vanessa Rousso
and Jennifer Harman
.
Liu was born in Taiwan
, and moved to Peoria
, Illinois
to pursue a Master's degree in computer engineering at Bradley University
. After graduation, she took a job as a software engineer in Silicon Valley
. It was there that she discovered her love for poker, having never played it until she came to the United States.
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player from Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
. She is the highest placing female in a World Poker Tour
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...
Championship event, finishing runner-up to Ted Forrest
Ted Forrest
Ted Forrest is an American professional poker player, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada.- Tournament Wins:...
at the WPT Bay 101
Bay 101
Bay 101 is a cardroom in San Jose, California. Like other California cardrooms, Bay 101 offers poker cash games and tournaments as well as special "California" style table games....
Shooting Stars in 2007.
As of 2008, her total live tournament winnings exceed $1,700,000. She ranks 6th in live tournament earnings among female players, behind Kathy Liebert
Kathy Liebert
Kathleen H. Liebert is an American professional poker player.- Poker :Liebert started her professional poker career as a prop player in Colorado...
, Annie Duke
Annie Duke
Annie Duke is a professional poker player and author who won a bracelet in the 2004 World Series of Poker $2,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Event and was the winner of the 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, where she earned the Winner-Take-All prize of $2,000,000...
, Annette Obrestad
Annette Obrestad
Annette Obrestad is a Norwegian poker player. Obrestad is the youngest person to ever win a World Series of Poker Europe bracelet...
, Vanessa Rousso
Vanessa Rousso
Vanessa Ashley Rousso is a French American law student at the University of Miami and a professional poker player. She is also known by her Pokerstars online screen name Lady Maverick. Born in , Rousso has dual citizenships with the United States and France. Rousso is a member of Team PokerStars,...
and Jennifer Harman
Jennifer Harman
Jennifer C. Harman-Traniello is an American professional poker player.-Early life:Harman was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. She started playing poker in 1972 at the age of eight...
.
Liu was born in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, and moved to Peoria
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
to pursue a Master's degree in computer engineering at Bradley University
Bradley University
Bradley University, founded in 1897, is a private, co-educational university located in Peoria, Illinois. It is a small institution with an enrollment of approximately 6,100 undergraduate and postgraduate students and a full-time faculty of approximately 350....
. After graduation, she took a job as a software engineer in Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
. It was there that she discovered her love for poker, having never played it until she came to the United States.