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 As a young, beautiful, talented and remarkably
grounded woman, Maria Ho seems to have it all. Despite being surrounded by the tough poker world and the often shady characters than come
along with it, Maria has established herself as a professional player who seems to rise above it all. She writes, “Although the nature of
this business can be cutthroat and revolve around people with a healthy appetite for competition, it is imperative for us as poker players
to remember that at the end of the day, it is the strength of our character that defines us, and no amount of money is worth compromising that.”
Maria Ho was born on March 6, 1983 in Taipei, Taiwan. When she was four, her family moved to the United States, first living in
Syracuse, New York but eventually settling in Arcadia, California in 1988. Maria was a talented child and excelled in the performing
arts, particularly singing and dancing. She played the piano and the violin, and auditioned for American Idol when she was 19,
impressively making it through the preliminary rounds to Hollywood. After graduating high school, Maria attended the University of
California San Diego where she studied mass communications. It was in San Diego where Maria first got a taste of the game that would
change her life. In 2002, she began playing in home games and frequenting the Indian Casinos in the area, finding poker a perfect fit
for her competitive nature and intelligence. Unlike many professional players of her generation, Maria chose to continue with her
education and eventually graduated in 2005 with a major in mass communications and a minor in law. Although she had originally planned
to take over her family’s real estate development business, Maria instead spent the next year traveling the world before moving back
to Arcadia and beginning her career as a professional card player.
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Maria made going pro look easy. She hit the ground running, working her way up in stakes and eventually finding a home for herself in
the top section of the Commerce Casino. She was competing against some of the best players in the world on a daily basis, and holding
her own. Maria also found time to compete in tournaments in LA and Las Vegas, having some success including her first World Series of
Poker cash in 2005. In January 2006, she began blogging, sharing her thoughts on poker and life with the world. Because
writing had always been a passion for her, Maria found blogging a perfect accompaniment to her career as a player. The poker community
was starting to take notice of Maria’s poker skills and good looks, but it was in 2007 that the entire world watched on ESPN as she
tore through the competition in the WSOP $10,000 buy-in Championship. Maria earned more than $230,000 and the title of the last woman
standing in the Main Event that year, finishing 38th out of 6,358 players. She was only 24, and saw the prize money as an opportunity
to move forward with her poker career and other projects off the felt Maria returned to the cash games in LA but didn’t have to wait
too long for more tournament glory. In February 2009 she defeated more than 600 players to take 38th in the LA Poker Classic $10,000
Main Event at the Commerce Casino. Her performance and home court advantage earned her over $32,000. Later that year, Maria had two
more cashes at the WSOP, including a close miss of the final table in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship, in which she finished
11th for over $41,000.
Maria says her favorite game is No Limit Texas Hold’em, but she also enjoys playing high stakes mixed games. Despite being extremely
competitive and driven, Maria never seems to lose sight of what is important. She holds her fellow pros and competitors in high
regard, and carries herself with grace. When asked which poker players she respects most, Maria wrote: “Daniel Negreanu for his
cheerful demeanor at the tables and his humility, Barry Greenstein
for his charitable contributions outside of the poker world, Phil Ivey for his composure, and all the grinders who have maintained extreme
discipline to achieve longevity in this business.”
Maria has no plans to limit herself to being a poker professional. She sees the game as an opportunity to pursue other endeavors, and
seems to find a good balance between working hard and having fun. She calls herself a “full-time knowledge seeker who loves to try new
things.” Singing, dancing, reading and spending time with her family and friends are important to her. In 2008, Maria was invited to play
in the World Mahjong Tour in Hong Kong, where she competed against celebrities and professional Mahjong players. In 2009, Maria and fellow
female poker player Tiffany Michelle competed in Season 15 of the
reality television show The Amazing Race, coming in sixth place.
Although Maria is enjoying her poker successes, she eventually plans to take over her parent’s real estate business so that they can retire.
When asked, Maria wrote that her ambition in life is “to make a positive impact for this world and the people in it, to be successful
in my own right whether it be through poker or other ventures, and to find genuine happiness in the simple things that make life beautiful.”
Read about Maria's Amazing Race partner, Tiffany Michelle
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