Maria Ho planned to continue the family business and did not want to connect her life with poker. But the achievements at the start of her career made her change her mind, which she hardly regrets. Today, Maria is one of the most successful professional female players, a commentator and TV presenter.
You can read biographies of other successful poker players in the GipsyTeam Hall of Fame . Find out interesting facts about the lives of poker stars, such as Phil Hellmuth or Liv Boeree, and use their experience in your game.
Biography of Maria Ho
Maria Ho was born on March 6, 1983, in Taipei, the capital of the unrecognized Republic of Taiwan. Four years later, her family moved to the United States and settled in the small town of Arcadia near Los Angeles, one of the capitals of American live poker. Her parents managed to build a successful business from scratch in their new place and were able to give their daughter a good education. In 2005, she received a degree from the University of California, majoring in Communications.
Maria Ho has a younger sister, Judy, a well-known neuropsychologist in the USA, a motivational speaker, and the author of several books on psychology. She regularly participates in popular TV shows as an expert and writes articles for Psychology Today, Teen Vogue, and other magazines.
Beginning of a Poker Career
Ho first encountered poker in 2002 while studying at college. Games with friends quickly bored the future champion, so she began visiting small casinos and playing for small stakes. After graduating from university, the girl got the opportunity to move up to high limits and quickly achieved results.
At this stage, Maria did not plan to start a career as a professional player and expected to continue the family business of selling real estate. But the first major achievements and serious prizes made her change her mind and focus on poker.
Success and Recognition
Her first truly successful tournament was the 2007 WSOP Main Event with a buy-in of $10,000, where she became the best among women. She took 38th place out of 6,000+ professional players and earned more than $237,000.
The following year, in 2010, Maria made two final tables (WPT Bellagio, Italy and WSOP Circuit in South Africa), but failed to achieve victory, finishing in 10th and 6th place. In 2011, the girl was close to a WSOP bracelet, but stopped one step away from victory. That same year, she took another second place at the Aussie Millions 8 game, where she earned more than $73,000 in winnings.
Maria Ho's career is impressive:
- 10 final tables and 80 cashes at the WSOP
- 1 title, 4 final tables 14 ITM on WPT
- 18 final tables at other events.
Regular long runs in high roller tournaments brought the girl popularity and recognition in the community. She was nominated for the Favorite Female Professional Player award three times, and in 2018 she entered the Women's Poker Hall of Fame.
Maria Ho also won GGPoker’s Game of Gold, making her way through a unique structure and multiple game types. The high budget poker matches mixed reality TV and some of our favorite players, which fans loved. After beating Jungleman in the heads-up stage, Maria took it down Season 1 of Game of Gold.
Major Poker Wins
Maria Ho's deep run at the 2007 WSOP Main Event earned her $237,000 and fame in the world of offline poker, but she's had other notable victories in her career. Let's talk about them in more detail.
- $540,000 at the 2011 WSOP. Ho earned the biggest prize of her career at the tournament in Las Vegas. The girl confidently reached the final table and was close to victory, but lost heads-up to Allen Bari.
- $345,000 at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. In 2019, Maria took 3rd place at the WPT Season 17 event, which took place in one of the Hollywood hotels. More than 1,300 poker players took part in it, and the prize pool exceeded $4.3 million.
- $276,000 at LAPC Commerce High Roller. 2019 was one of the most successful years for Maria. After her success on the WPT, she won the $25,000 buy-in High Roller tournament, which took place at the most famous casino in Los Angeles, Commerce.
- $202,000 at the WSOP Europe Main Event. In 2017, she achieved her best result outside the US – 6th place at the tournament in the Czech town of Rozvadov.
- $189,000 at the WPT LA Poker Classic. In the $25,000 buy-in tournament, Maria took 3rd place out of 50 participants, losing only to William Foxen and Nick Petrangelo.
As of 2023, Maria Ho has earned over $4.5 million in live poker, significantly boosting her net worth. In fact, Maria Ho’s net worth is estimated to be at around $4 million, which is close to her total live winnings. She is ranked 4th on the All Time Money List among women, and is in the top 200 overall among American poker players.
On her own website, Maria claims to have over $5 million in live and online tournaments, but info about her online play is difficult to find.
Maria Ho’s Roles in Poker Media
Maria Ho is not only a professional player, but also a bright personality who actively participates in creative projects. Even before the start of her poker career, she performed in school musicals and was a member of the university musical group. In 2004, she passed the casting for the show American Idol, where she reached the Hollywood Week stage.
Having become a recognizable person, the girl began to appear regularly on TV. The first major project with her participation was the 15th season of the reality show The Amazing Race, which was released in 2009. Her partner on the project was poker player Tiffany Michelle, who Ho calls her best friend.
Since 2013, Maria has been regularly commentating on poker tournaments. She got her first experience as a TV presenter during the broadcasts of the 9th season of HPT.
Since then, the girl has combined poker with a television career. She comments on the WSOP on ESPN, and since 2018 she has become a full-time presenter of the streaming service PokerGO.