133 Seconds with… Liv Boeree
Sunday, 23 February 2014
Liv on philosophy, god, jokes and Phil Hellmuth!
What’s your most treasured possession?
[Sadly looking down at her broken iPhone] Well, luckily not that. My most treasured possession is my mind.
Poker hero?
I have a couple. I have a lot of people I admire, but the one that I’m still really like “argh yay!” with is Phil Hellmuth. I love Phil. He was one of the first people I met in poker, and he’s an inspiration. Nobody has more self-belief than Phil. Daniel Negreanu is also definitely someone who I respect hugely.
Non-poker hero?
I would have loved to have met Alan Watts, who was a philosopher. He’s dead now, he died in the seventies. Another person I’d love to just go for dinner with and chat to is Russell Brand. I can’t figure him out, but he’s the most articulate person I’ve ever met. He also cares about the environment and the longevity of the planet which I find really impressive, and I admire a lot of what he has to say.
What the most extravagant purchase you’ve made with your poker winnings?
My apartment. I don’t think that’s too extravagant, though, just kinda necessary. I didn’t really buy anything massive after I won the EPT. I didn’t even buy a new car. I still have the same car I had five years ago!
Do you believe in God?
Not in the conventional sense, no. Not the common perception of God as a male, and someone that is conscious, in our sense of the word; who judges and makes decisions. I do believe in some form of spirituality even if it’s just existence itself. You define God as the biggest thing out there, the most overriding presence, and what’s bigger than existence? There’s nothing bigger than existence, because then it exists. I don’t subscribe to any particular religion, but when people ask me if I’m an atheist I always say no. Being an atheist is saying “I am very confident that God does not exist!” But have you been outside existence? No. Unless you’re fully aware of all things that exist, how can you say that God does not exist?
OK, you just blew our tiny minds. Can you tell us a joke?
I know lots of jokes, but they are definitely not printable. All my jokes are filthy and horrible and inappropriate and weird.