Xuan Liu headed to Montenegro to play in exactly one event, the $25,000 WPT Global Slam contest that opened the latest version of the Triton Super High Roller Series. It was the first time she played in a Triton event, and she made it count.
The Canadian pro and WPT Global Ambassador made history by becoming the first woman to win a Triton event.
“Obviously this is beyond my wildest dreams,” Liu said after winning all the chips.”I know I really can’t hang on a day-to-day basis (with the seasoned high-rollers), but this is what the beauty of poker is all about — anybody can get lucky on any given day.”
The $860,000 prize is her largest lifetime tournament cash and her first six-figure cash since 2017.
The event attracted 99 players who rebought an additional 56 times. Three of those players were women — and all three cashed. Sosia Jiang finished 20th, while Kristen Foxen — one of those seasoned high-rollers — nearly made history herself before being knocked-out in fourth for $325,000.
Fellow Canadian Daniel Dvoress was the runner-up ($579,000), while David Peters finished third ($398,000). Michael Watson was the fourth Canadian who made the final table (sixths for $199,000). Foxen was also born and raised in Canada.
Liu said she felt no pressure to perform during the tournament and believes that gave her an advantage. Here’s what she said afterwards:
“I came only to play this one event, but I told myself I was going to make it really count. You know, in this field, there were three women and all three of us cashed, and two of us made the final table, and I think it’s just going to happen more and more. I know so many talented women who are playing small stakes, mid-stakes, and in a few years they’re going to be playing high stakes, and it’s going to be really exciting to watch when it happens.
You know, I didn’t have the chip lead at all at the final table and had a huge deficit going into heads up, so obviously I ran really hot.
I kind of like the fact that I had the deficit. There was no pressure on me. Dan is one of the best in the world and the onus was on him to win. He had no idea how I play. Obviously I’m not very seasoned in tournaments or heads-up, so I just got to do whatever I wanted and it worked out.
This is a career highlight and I don’t know if I can ever top this in poker, to be completely honest. I mean, that’s what life in poker is all about. There are always going to be setbacks, but sometimes when one door closes for you, a better one opens. That’s exactly how this went.”
The $212,000 Triton Invitational started today. Triton is broadcasting the event live. Click here to check it out..
