Maria Ho

Maria Ho was born in Taipei, Taiwan and is a Professional Poker Player and TV Host. She can currently be seen on CBS Sports, as a co-host and commentator on The Final Table.With over 2 million dollars in live poker tournament earnings she is ranked one of the Top 5 female poker player in the world. Her extensive poker resume includes 41 World Series of Poker cashes, 4 WSOP final tables, 5 World Poker Tour cashes, 3 WPT final tables, and 8 other final tables on the professional poker tour.Ho was the first female in history hired to a poker television broadcast (in 2013) as the resident Strategic Commentator. Throughout her poker career she has continued to lend her expertise as an on-camera host and commentator - with two seasons on the Heartland Poker Tour and appearances on ESPN 360, WSOP.com. She is an ambassador and host for the Poker Central Network, the Celebrity Spokesperson for the WinStar World Casino, and the current host of The Battle of Malta.With notoriety in both the entertainment and poker industry, Ho is widely recognized for competing on the Emmy-winning 15th season of The Amazing Race and for being the three time Last Woman Standing at the World Series of Poker Main Event (2007, 2011, 2014). She also broke records at the 2011 World Series of Poker - for the largest cash a woman has ever had at the WSOP, when she took 2nd place in the $5,000 No-Limit Event for a $540,020 payday.Fluent in Mandarin and born into a traditional Chinese family, the younger of two daughters, Maria's family moved from Taiwan to the United States when she was 4-years-old. They eventually settled just outside of Los Angeles in Arcadia, California.Maria attended the University of California, San Diego for college, with a major in Communications and a minor in Law. She pursued her passion for music and performing as a member of UCSD's A capella group the D.O.T.s. She also performed in several of the school's musicals, including The Marriage of Figaro and Anything Goes.During college Maria was introduced to playing poker. She was drawn to the psychology and competitive spirit of the game and soon went from playing games with college friends, to playing Limit cash games at nearby Indian casinos. By the time Maria graduated from UCSD in 2005, she had gone from playing low limits to high stakes cash games and had grown her poker bankroll to the point that she felt confident to embark on a career as a professional poker player.A skilled and respected gamer, Maria has received invitations to play in the World Team Poker Invitational (where her team, Team China took 1st place in 2010), as well as the World Mahjong Tour in Hong Kong, playing the traditional Chinese game of Mahjong with fellow celebrities from China and Taiwan. She has also been seen as a panelist on Anderson Cooper 360 and in 2016 she was named a Team Manager for the Inaugural season of the Global Poker League.Maria currently resides just outside of Los Angeles, California. When she isn't traveling the poker tournament circuit or for events she can be seen singing at Hollywood music gigs, devoting her time to charity and working with her family's successful real estate firm. Show less «