Seat 5. Xuan Liu, 25, Toronto, Canada- 1,740,000
It’s no surprise to find that Xuan Liu is a graduate of Waterloo University in Canada, a poker hothouse where she ran home games attracting stars such as EPT5 Grand Final winner Glen Chorny, Michael Watts, Steve Paul and Michael “Timex” McDonald. After college, Liu carried on playing live cash games and enjoyed success for several years. She recently switched her focus to live tournaments and has so far amassed over $80,000 earnings. She took to the live poker circuit last November, competing at NAPT LA before travelling to Spain for EPT Barcelona. Her breakthrough came soon after when she won a IPT San Remo €1,000 side event in December for €48,000. Liu is the first female finalist this season; the last woman to make a final was Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree who won EPT San Remo last year.