J. J. Liu Poker Player Biography
Written by
Joe - Poker PlayerLast updated:
January 24, 2024
Joanne Jishung Liu, or J. J. Liu as she is known in poker circles, has been in this business for more than 20 years and has her name in the Poker Hall of Fame. However, this is not why she is known and loved by all poker players around the world. It’s her gentile behavior, unique way of dressing, and her unusual hats that have won everybody over. She, of course, denies everything and believes that she dresses like everybody else! Whatever the case, let’s get to know Liu and her life as a professional poker player. Stick with us to the end of this article, and you will know everything there is to know about this Taiwanese Poker player.
Who is J. J. Liu?
J. J. Liu was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1965. She had her primary and university education in the same city and then moved to the US to study an MSc course in computer engineering at Bradly University. This is how she found herself in the US. However, she didn’t encounter poker until she had her first job as a computer engineer in Silicon Valley and settled down in sunny California. The story is that she once walked into a casino to have some fun and found her love and talent for poker. She realized that she could earn good money from this game, so she started playing regularly as a side hustle.
J. J. Liu’s beginnings at poker
J. J. finally quit her day job in 2004 and started devoting all her time and energy to poker. However, she had started winning important tournaments and poker events around the country long before that. In fact, her first important win happened on May 6, 1996, in the World Series of Poker tournaments in Las Vegas, where she came fourth and earned a relatively high amount of $32,565. From there, she moved on to winning a whooping amount of $600,000 in 2007 and becoming the sole woman who won a monetary prize in the Asian Poker tour in Singapore.
J. J. Liu’s most important wins
As mentioned before, J. J. Liu started her poker career in 1996, coming fourth in the WSOP. Her first real win happened in the Four Queens Poker Classic the following year, and she walked away with $43,313. Liu continued to conquer one poker table after another and win small and big prizes. The first time she earned six figures from poker was in the World Poker Tour’s Fourth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas. She came fourth in these tournaments and pocketed $362,140. The 2007 World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star tournaments gave her the highest income she had earned in a poker game yet. Although she came second in these tournaments, her prize was a considerable amount of $600,000.
In 2014, Liu finally made it out of the United States and started taking part in the Asia Pacific Poker Tour and owning those tables as well. This was the year she got first place in the event and won $183,135. J. J. Liu’s last significant win happened in June 2023 in the WSOP tournaments. She earned another 4th place in these games and earned $140,442. All her wins during these years have come to a total sum of over $3.8 million, which puts her in third place in Taiwan’s all-time money list.
J. J. Liu and the New Bristol Arcadia
J. J. Liu came across the auction for the old Bristol Mall building in 2019 and instantly fell in love with the place, describing it as paradise in an interview. She finalized the contract in November 2020 and immediately started remodeling and rebranding the place. She had the prospect of building her own casino and resort where important poker tournaments such as the WSOP and WPT could take place. The New Bristol Arcadia is located on the border between Virginia and Tennessee, where the people have recently voted to have their first Hard Rock Casino in the area. The Arcadia opened for business on February 5, 2021. Since then, Liu has been living in the area and entertaining her friends and family with delicious meals and a friendly game of poker.
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J. J. Liu’s personal life
J. J. Liu is an extremely private person about her personal life and shares almost nothing about herself on social media. She doesn’t even have an Instagram account, and the Twitter (X) account that she has is full of images of the New Bristol Arcadia and her poker adventures all around the country. Therefore, not much is known about Liu’s personal life. The world doesn’t even know whether she is in a relationship or single, which is really out of place in today’s world of putting your life on display for everyone to see.
J. J. Liu’s net worth
J. J. Liu’s sole source of income has been poker since 2004, the time when she left her engineering career to become a professional poker player. Since then, she has earned over $3.8 million in poker tournaments. It’s fair to assume that she has made similar investments to the New Bristol Arcadia over the years and has tried to increase her income and net worth. Today, it is believed that J. J. Liu’s net worth is somewhere between 1 and 5 million dollars.
J. J. Liu in China
J. J. Liu’s mother tongue is Mandarin Chinese, so she has been trying for years to raise awareness about poker in the Chinese-speaking world. It is of personal importance to her to introduce poker in China and invite this country’s considerable population to poker tables. Although poker is still illegal in this country and online poker casinos are strictly restricted, people seem to have heard Liu’s invitation and found their way into this fascinating world as well.
J. J. Liu’s life in a box
| Name | Joanne Jishung Liu |
| Nickname | J. J. Liu |
| Born | April 10, 1965 |
| Birth place | Taipei, Taiwan |
| Native language | Mandarin, Chinese |
| Residence | Palo Alto California |
| Education | MSc in computer engineering |
| University | Bradly University |
| First poker game | 1996 |
| Best live cash | 2007, $600,000 |
| Total live earnings | $3,805,011 |
| All-time money list | 522nd |
| Taiwan all-time money list | 3rd |
| Popularity ranking | 320 |
| Net worth | $1-5M |
| X (Twitter) | @jjliu9065 with 484 followers |
