Liv Boeree
The latest tweets from @LivBoeree. 115.8k Followers, 276 Following, 728 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Liv Boeree (@livboeree). Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree burst onto the tournament scene when she took down EPT San Remo back in Season 6. Check out some of her top moments. Liv Boeree is famously known for being a professional poker player and a televison actress. Moreover, she is a science communicator who holds excellent knowledge of physics with a first-class degree in it from the University of Manchester.
So I'm a professional poker player, and today, I want to talk aboutthree things that the game has taught me around decision-makingthat I find apply to everyday life.
Now the first of these thingsis about luck. Now, like poker, life is alsoa game of skill and luck, and when it comesto the biggest things we care about — health, wealth and relationships — these outcomes don't only dependon the quality of our decision-making, but also the roll of life's dice. For example, we can beperfectly health-conscious and still get unluckywith something like cancer. Or we can smoke 20 a dayand live to a ripe old age, and this kind of ambiguitycan make it hard for us to know how good our strategies are, sometimes, especially when we'reexperiencing a lot of success.
For example, back in 2010, I won a really big poker tournamentknown as the European Poker Tour. And because I'd only been playingfull-time for about a year, when I won, I assumedI must be rather brilliant. In fact, I thought I was so brilliant that I not only got rather lazywith studying the game, but I also got more risky, started playing inthe biggest tournaments I could against the very best in the world. And then my profit graph wentfrom a thing of beauty to something kind of sad, with this worryingdownhill trend for a long time, until I finally realizedthat I was overestimating my skill level, and got my act together.
And this kind of reminds meof what we've been seeing in the cryptocurrency space,at least in 2017, where the only thing that's been going upfaster than the markets themselves is the number of 'seniorinvestment specialists' who have been appearing out of nowhere. Now I'm not saying it's not possibleto have a strategic edge, but at the same time,it's very easy to feel like a genius when you're in a marketthat's going up so fast that even the worst strategiesare making a profit. So when we're experiencing success, it's important to take a momentto really ask ourselves how much of it is truly down to us, because our egos love to downplaythe luck factor when we're winning.
Now, a second thing poker taught me is the importanceof quantifying my thinking. When you're playing,you can't just get away with going, 'Eh, they're probably bluffing.' That's just going to lose youa bunch of money, because poker is a gameof probabilities and precision, and so you have to train yourselfto think in numbers. So now, whenever I catch myself thinking vaguely about somethingreally important, like, 'It's unlikely I'll forgetwhat I want to say in my TED Talk,' I now try to estimate it numerically.
(Laughter)
Trust me, it helps a lotwith the planning process. And the thing is, almost anythingthat could possibly happen here today, or at any point in the future, can also be expressedas a probability, too.
Liv Boeree Shoot
(Laughter)
So now I also try to speakin numbers as well. So if someone asks me, 'Hey, Liv, do you think you're goingto come along to that thing tonight?' instead of just saying to them,'Yeah, probably,' I actually give them my best estimate — say, 60 percent. Because — I know that soundsa little odd — but the thing is, I ran a poll on Twitter of what people understandthe word 'probably' to mean, and this was the spread of answers. Enormous! So apparently, it's absolutely useless at actually conveyingany real information.
So if you guys catch yourselvesusing these vague words, like 'probably' or 'sometimes,' try, instead, using numbers,because when we speak in numbers, we know what landsin the other person's brain.
Now, the third thing I wantto touch on today is intuition. How often have you seenthese kinds of inspirational memes in your Facebook feed?
[Always trust your gut feelingand never second-guess.]
They're nice, right? It's lovely. Yes. 'Trust your soul.' Well, they're terrible advice. These are some of the bestpoker players in the world right now. Do they look like people who livepurely off feelings and intuitions?
(Laughter)
Look at them! Obviously, these guysare about slow, careful analysis, and that's because the gamehas outgrown the days where pure street smartsand people-reading can get you to the top. And that's because our intuitionsaren't nearly as perfect as we'd like to believe. I mean, it'd be great,whenever we're in a tough spot, to just have an answer appear to usfrom some magical source of inspiration. But in reality, our gutis extremely vulnerable to all kinds of wishfulthinking and biases.
So then, what is our gut good for? Well, all the studies I've read conclude that it's best-suitedfor everyday things that we have lotsand lots of experience in, like how we just knowthat our friend is mad at us before we've even said anything to them, or whether we can fit our carinto a tight parking spot. But when it comes to the really big stuff, like what's our career path going to be or who should we marry, why should we assume that our intuitions are better calibrated for thesethan slow, proper analysis? I mean, they don't haveany data to be based off.
So my third lesson is,while we shouldn't ignore our intuitions, we shouldn't overprivilege them either. And I'd like to summarizethese three lessons today with my own set of memes, with more of a poker-player twist.
'Success is sweetest when you achieve itacross a large sample size.'
(Laughter)
'Your gut is your friendand so is a cost-benefit analysis.
(Laughter)
'The future is unknown, but you candamn well try and estimate it.'
Thank you.
(Applause)
Performance Improvement, Philanthropy, Strategic Planning, TED Talk Speaker, Women Speakers
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Liv Boeree Profile
One of the top female poker players in the game’s history, Liv Boeree is the only woman to have ever won both the World Series of Poker and a European Poker Tour event. As of 2017, her earnings in live tournaments were more than $3.5 million.
Boeree graduated with top honors with a degree in astrophysics. In an attempt to pay off her student loans, she went on a television reality show that taught beginners how to play poker, thus launching her career in the game.
Boeree is the cofounder of Raising for Effective Giving, a nonprofit that offers guidance on how to choose charities that will make an effective impact. Raising for Effective Giving has helped raise over $6 million for the organizations it has promoted.
Boeree’s knack for translating the latest science into layman’s terms has made her a popular speaker and television contributor. She has appeared on multiple programs on BBC, NBC, the Travel Channel and Discovery Channel.
View Extended/Alternate Bio
One of the most recognizable faces in professional poker, Liv Boeree empowers audiences to combine lessons from science, mathematics, game theory, algorithms and more to make better, more rational decisions in an uncertain world. A self-confessed “science nerd” with a degree in astrophysics, Liv utilized her math and science background to become the #1 ranked female player from 2014-2016. She holds both European and World Championship poker titles and has won more than $4 million on the international circuit. Liv shared her fascination with applying scientific thinking to everyday life in a breakthrough mainstage TED Talk that has received more than two million views. Wielding such maxims as “your gut is your friend and so is a cost-benefit analysis” and “the future is unknown, but you can damn well try and estimate it,” she received a rousing standing ovation. Liv also speaks on subjects ranging from effective altruism/philanthropy to artificial intelligence and games, being a woman in a man’s world, and space exploration and futurism. True to her championship fame, she also teaches the ultimate poker master class.
Liv’s unique story is captivating: After graduating university with a first-class degree in astrophysics (4.0 GPA), she started competing on TV game shows as a way to pay off her student loans. This included a reality show that taught beginners how to play poker. Her natural talent for the game quickly led her to become both a poker champion and a champion of philanthropy amongst players. Liv went on to become a science communicator, appearing on a number of programs on the BBC, as well as NBC, the Travel Channel and Discovery Channel. She has written articles for Vox and The Independent and blogs on an eclectic range of science-related topics. Now retired from professional poker, Liv is a co-founder of Raising for Effective Giving (REG), a nonprofit organization that has raised more than seven million dollars for nonprofits and charities that have a maximum impact on improving the world. REG advances the mission of the effective altruism movement, which uses evidence and reason to identify and mitigate the world’s most pressing problems. Liv speaks to both individuals and organizations on improving the effectiveness of their philanthropy. An in-demand speaker, she has spoken at both Oxford and Cambridge, the Cheltenham Science Festival, WebSummit Dublin and Effective Altruism Global, among others.
Combining a television presenter’s charisma, the knowledge of a science geek and invaluable insights on decision-making gained at high-stakes poker tournaments, Liv captivates audiences with her extensive scientific knowledge and unforgettable stories. Audiences leave with invigorated mindsets, fresh approaches and new strategies for success in their work and everyday life.
Liv Boeree Poker
Liv Boeree Speaking Videos
Liv Boeree - 3 Lessons On Decision-making From A Poker Champion
Poker player Liv Boeree shares the most important three lessons she's learned about decision-making. Like life, poker is a combination of strategy and luck, making it difficult for us to sometimes analyze just how much of our success can really be contributed to something we did.
Citing the ups and downs of her own career, Boeree emphasizes how data analysis and quantifying probabilities can give us a competitive edge. 'In reality, our gut is extremely vulnerable to all kinds of wishful thinking and biases,' she notes, explaining that while our intuition serves us well in everyday situations like reading a friend's mood, major decisions like career paths, marriage, or key poker moves turn out better when we've give them 'slow, careful analysis.'
Liv Boeree - The Science Behind Poker
Liv Boeree - A Number Speaks a Thousand Words TEDxManchester
Liv Boeree - 3 Lessons On Decision-making From A Poker ChampionLiv Boeree - The Science Behind PokerLiv Boeree - A Number Speaks a Thousand Words TEDxManchesterBring Liv Boeree to Speak Live at Your Event
Liv Boeree's Speech Descriptions
Liv Boeree is an in-demand speaker on several topics linked to different aspects of her career. Boeree demystifies how the world’s top poker players gather and analyze data to make winning decisions. She is also an accomplished speaker on philanthropy, AI, and overcoming adversity while crafting a career in male-dominated fields.
Poker Thinking Applied to Business & Life
Like poker, life is also a game of decision-making under uncertainty. Liv Boeree examines the thinking techniques and tricks used by top poker players both on and off the table, including cognitive bias reduction, emotional control, performance enhancement and the role of intuition in decision-making. She also covers game theory and statistical analysis techniques such as Bayesian reasoning, 'expected value' thinking and forecasting, all extremely useful tools for both our business and personal lives.
Artificial Intelligence & Games
Artificial Intelligence is poised to be the most impactful technological breakthrough of the 21st century, and games are a great way of measuring its progress. In just a few decades, algorithms have advanced from rudimentary tic-tac-toe solvers of the 1950s to defeating world champions in notoriously complex games such as chess and Go. Recently, the world's best poker players were defeated by an AI—a feat long thought impossible. Liv explores what sets these algorithms apart from the human mind, and what their implications are for our future.
Effective Philanthropy
The philanthropic space is undergoing a scientific revolution. Previously, charity and the act of 'doing good' was a fuzzy, unmeasurable concept that most people felt couldn't — or maybe even shouldn't — be evaluated or compared. But nowadays, improved data and evidence allows us to better measure the impact of our philanthropic actions. Given our limited resources, and the vast number of different ways we could spend them, shouldn't we ensure they achieve the maximum good? Liv Boeree discusses how, and why, we should prioritize between cause areas, and how we can use science to maximize the positive impact we want to achieve on the world.
A Woman in a Man's World
As a female professional poker player, heavy metal enthusiast and a former physics student, Liv Boeree is very accustomed to being the only girl in the room. Liv discusses the pros and cons of being a female in a heavily male-dominated industry. This talk is especially suited to female-only audiences (although it works well for mixed audiences, too).
Liv Boeree’s Ultimate Poker Master Class
Created for audiences looking to improve their poker game, Liv Boeree covers all the core strategies. She also explores the more psychological side of the game such as live tells, emotional control and bankroll management. This master class from one of the most famous women in professional poker can be tailored to all ability levels.