Sky-high poker stakes for British astronomer in Monte Carlo

A BRITISH woman goes into battle tonight on a Monte Carlo poker table to try to win a £2.2 million grand final event.

Card ace Liv Boeree, 25, from Milstead, near Sittingbourne, Kent, won 1.1m in a prior round earlier this week in San Remo, Italy, to book a place at the final table.

The Manchester University astrophysics graduate is only the third woman to win a European Poker Tournament (EPT) event since the tour began in 2004. Boeree, a television presenter and model, has been playing poker for four years after working on the Channel 5 show Ultimate Poker Showdown, where she learned to play.

Boeree said: "Winning a major event is exactly what I've been working towards. I went round to all the EPTs as a host but all I was thinking was, 'I want to play'. I have been working very hard on my game but I can't believe I have won. I'm over the moon, absolutely over the moon."

The player, who lives with her mother and stepfather, notched up several wins over the last three years, amassing about 1.8m, including the European Ladies Championship, but the million pound win this week is by far her biggest.

Boeree is known on the poker circuit for her "Liv stare" poker face which, it is claimed, unsettles opponents.

Despite her success, Boeree does not even make the top ten of the lucrative EPT tour, where the leader has amassed more than 2m in winnings over the past 12 months.

The Monte Carlo Grand final take place at the Le Sporting Club in Monaco until April 30.