Ignition Signs High-Stakes Poker Pro Xuan Liu

High-stakes tournament poker player Xuan Liu has signed on to become a partner of Ignition Poker, one of the leading online poker rooms for U.S. players. Besides the United States, Ignition also accepts customers from Australia and several Latin American countries.

About the Partnership

Ignition released a press release about the partnership. According to this document, Liu will “represent the brand across major events and livestreams.” Part of her responsibilities will include generating interesting content and interacting with fans via social media.

Ignition gave more details in a post on their X account:

Xuan Liu also posted on X explaining things from her perspective:

Xuan Liu Biography

Born in Tianjin, China, Xuan Liu moved to Toronto, Canada when she was just five years old. She began her love of poker at a young age – a very young age indeed if we can believe her own words:

I’d pretend like I had limited information for each party and make decisions based on hypothetical scenarios as to what each stuffed animal would do.

That’s right: She would deal out hands to her cuddly toys and then go through each “player” in turn, making poker decisions as though she were that character!

Fast-forwarding a bit, Liu eventually started attending the University of Waterloo, but she got caught up in the early 2000s poker boom not necessarily to the advancement of her studies. She would host poker games in her dorm room that would run straight through the night and into the early morning.

Xuan did eventually graduate from Waterloo in 2012, but by this time, she had accrued a lot of experience in the live poker scene along with substantial time playing online. Liu took a year to play in Europe where she amassed several big scores. She then opted to become a full-time poker pro.

Xuan Liu

After several years, though, she began to feel burnt out and largely abandoned the game until receiving an invitation to teach poker to other women through a startup called Poker Powher. This rekindled her love of the game, and she has been playing seriously ever since.

Xuan Liu Poker Results

According to Hendonmob.com, Xuan Liu has won more than $3.4 million in live tournament winnings, putting her 814th on the all-time money list and 34th for Canada. In addition, she has earned more than $700,000 in online tourneys under her screenname “xx23.”

Liu’s largest cash was the $860,000 she won for a first-place finish at the $26,500 WPT Global Slam event during the 2025 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro. She became the first female player to win a Triton Poker Series event. Other notable results include a fourth-place finish in the 2012 $10,300 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event in the Bahamas, good for $600,000, and a €360,000 payday for finishing third place in the 2013 €5,300 EPT Sanremo Main Event.

In the World Series of Poker, Xuan has 21 cashes and made it to one final table but has not yet earned a gold bracelet. Her final table was in the 2012 $1,500 Stud/8 event where she wound up taking sixth place.

Liu’s Other Poker-Related Endeavors

Xuan Liu’s recent partnership with Ignition was by no means the first time that she has signed a deal to represent a poker site.

On April 14, 2014, Xuan Liu and fellow female poker player Sofia Lovgren were named to Team 888poker: a position she held until February 2015. From October 2016 to December 2018, she was a part of “Team Hot” for Natural8 Poker. Then from May 2024 to May 2025, Xuan was a WPT global ambassador.

Xuan has also made several high-profile appearances in media. She starred in the short-lived 2016 poker reality TV series “Girl Got Game.” Liu has appeared a number of times on “Hellmuth’s Home Game,” which airs on CBS, as well as streamed games at Hustler Casino and The Lodge. She has been featured on the covers of WPT, Poker Pro, and CardPlayer magazines.

Xuan frequently commentates for poker broadcasts, and she has also accepted speaking engagements.

Reasons for the Deal

In its statement, Ignition explained a bit more about its reasons for signing Xuan Liu at this time:

Ignition has partnered with Xuan Liu in recognition of her achievements at the highest levels of professional poker. Her skill, strategic insight, and influence align with the brand’s mission to provide players with a trusted environment to compete, explore, and enjoy poker at every level. The collaboration reflects a shared focus on developing impactful initiatives, engaging players, and elevating the game through a community-driven, player-first approach.

Xuan stated:

I’m excited to further establish Ignition as a leading competitor in the online iGaming space. I look forward to elevating the player experience, demonstrating the platform’s value to seasoned players, and helping the site grow a new audience while highlighting its unique offerings and competitive rake.

Liu is committed to seeing Ignition improve its poker platform. In fact, in an interview with poker.org, she said, “It’s actually written into my contract that they will make a significant effort to improve things.” This is a somewhat vague assertion, and it’s not clear what will count as a “significant effort,” but it does show that Xuan is not going to be content to just play poker and be quiet. She will undoubtedly raise concerns with Ignition if she feels so inclined.

Xuan Liu in Ignition-branded Clothing

Xuan Already Engaging With the Ignition Community

Though the partnership between Xuan Liu and Ignition was only finalized earlier this month, she has already been featured in a couple of events run by Ignition. On April 23, she participated in a freeroll wherein 10% of Xuan’s winnings from the WSOP-Europe were distributed to players. In total, there was $4,100 up for grabs. On Sunday, April 26 at 6 p.m. ET, Liu will appear in a live stream on Ignition’s X page playing cash games or a tournament at the poker site.

You Can Play at Ignition Too

If you reside in the United States, Australia, or one of several Latin American countries, then you can play at Ignition. Whether you wish to participate in any promotions centered around Xuan Liu or simply want to take advantage of the largest online poker room available to Americans and Aussies, signing up is easy. When you make your first deposit with crypto-currency, you’ll get a 150% up to $1,500 poker bonus and another similar bonus to play casino games. Press the button below to get started:

To find out more about Ignition first, head over to this detailed Ignition Poker review. For info on other US-friendly internet poker destinations, check out this guide to offshore poker for Americans.

April 25, 2026 – by Max Golden, Editor-in-Chief