For women in poker, few summits are left to climb. Sure, there is the World Series of Poker’s “Main Event,” which has not seen a woman make the final table since Barbara Enright’s stirring run in 1995. However, a historical first was achieved last week in Montenegro, with Canada’s Xuan Liu becoming the first woman to win a major tournament on the Triton Poker Series schedule.
Liu’s Win Also Her Largest Score
The achievement by Liu did not come without some struggles. The $25,000 WPT Global Slam, as Event #1 of the Triton Poker Series stop was called, saw 155 entries come to the table. Only the top 27 players would take home money for the event and, once the final table was determined, not only was Liu in position for a potential win, but another top female pro, Kristen Foxen, also looked to claim her piece of the tournament pie.
After failing to complete the tournament in its two-day schedule, the final five came back on Thursday (May 15) to finish off the action. Daniel Dvoress was on top of the leaderboard at this point, while Liu, Foxen, Tom Fuchs, and David Peters rounded out the final five. Dvoress started the day with the elimination of Fuchs in fifth place but, from there, Liu began to make her move.
The final two ladies would clash in a hand, and it resulted in one of them being eliminated from the final table. The chips went to the center with Liu holding an off-suit K-J to Foxen’s K♣ 8♣, and the ten-high flop did not change the fact that Liu’s kicker was better. Foxen, out in fourth place, had to be comfortable with the news that, with her winnings from this final table, she had joined Vanessa Selbst as the only two women to have over $10 million in career earnings.
Liu Comes From Behind for Title
Dvoress tried to punch out the remainder of the field. He would eliminate Peters in third and was in position to take another major title in heads-up action against Liu. With Dvoress holding nearly quadruple the chips that Liu had to start play, Liu instead set about a meticulous style that slowly ground the stacks to nearly even.
What would prove to be the decisive hand saw Liu limp in with pocket fives, and Dvoress put the pressure on with a raise while holding A-Q. Liu called and, after a 10-8-8 flop hit the felt, she took control with an all-in move, and Dvoress called. After a deuce on the turn and a four on the river, Liu won the hand and, once the chips were counted, Dvoress was left with scraps. The next hand, with Dvoress all in from the small blind, only served as the coup de grace for Xuan Liu as she etched her name in Triton Poker Series lore and poker history.
1. Xuan Liu, $860,000
2. Daniel Dvoress, $579,000
3. David Peters, $398,000
4. Kristen Foxen, $325,000
5. Tom Fuchs, $259,000
6. Michael Watson, $199,000
7. Yu Zhang, $144,500
8. Paulius Plausinaitis, $105,000
9. Theodore McQuilkin, $86,500
Although the victory has put Liu in an outstanding position to make a run at the Player of the Series in Montenegro, the Canadian pro won’t be making that run. The WPT Global-sponsored player was put in just that event by her sponsor, and Liu smartly is not going to burn up a chunk of that $860,000 first place win by chasing another title. Folks will remember Liu’s achievement, as will the Triton Poker community.
(Photo courtesy of Triton Poker)
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