How Liv Boeree Reads Her Opponents' Bodies

One of the most prominent female poker players of the world, Liv Boeree appeared on the popular online educational show Big Think where she talked about how to read your opponents’ body language at the poker table.

The 33-year-old British poker pro Boeree was the only woman to win a bracelet at the last WSOP outside the Ladies Event where only female players are allowed to enter - she finished first in the $10K NLHE Tag Team Championship with her partner Igor Kurganov. She also holds a World Poker Tour Main Event title from 2010, making her the only female player to have both a WSOP and a WPT championship to her name.

With all her accolades, it’s no surprise she often makes public appearances, promoting the game of poker to women everywhere.

In June 2016, she spoke at the Oxford Union Debate Society about poker strategy in general; in September 2017 she appeared in a video on the educational YouTube channel Big Think where she talked about the different biases poker players may have. 

She also has an informative show of her own on her YouTube channel called Amazing Science Adventures - this one has nothing to with cards, but given she has a First Class Honours degree in Physics with Astrophysics from the University of Manchester, she’s perfectly qualified to “educate the masses” about science as well. Even Chris Moneymaker made a cameo in one of the episodes of her series.

Boeree recently returned to Big Think, this time tackling the issue of live reads. 

“There are certain things that as a poker player I look for. And the most important thing is to get a baseline of somebody. (...) The first thing I’ll do when I sit down at the table is look at what my opponents are doing when they’re not in a hand. (...) Once I’ve got an idea of their baseline outside of a hand then I look to see how they deviate from that when they’re actually in the middle of playing” - she told Big Think in the video.

Boeree went on to mention specific, useful examples such as the so-called “happy feet”: when a player is tapping their feet under the table that is often an indication of a strong holding, while if the feet are tucked around the chair legs that likely means weakness.