The female poker pro Kathy Liebert was born in Nashville, Tennessee, but she spent most of her young life on New York's Long Island. When it was time for her to go to college, she chose Marist, and was able to get a business/finance degree from there. After that, she found a job as a stock analyst with Dun & Bradstreet.

Landing the job was the only lucky part of this portion of her life; she realized that she was not cut out to be a stock analyst. She left her job at Dun & Bradstreet with a sizable amount of money that she'd made playing the market, money that enabled her to take a ski trip to Colorado. She also discovered poker while she was out West- she'd played it growing up in New York, but in Colorado, she began visiting the casino. She discovered that she had a knack for poker, and took a job as a prop player in a local casino. The job allowed her to earn some good money and sharpen her poker skills at the same time.

She learned the game so well that she was finally good enough to play in Vegas, and she immediately found success on the smaller tournament circuit. Her first big finish came in 1997 when she placed second in a WSOP no-limit hold 'em tournament and earned over $120,000.

Kathy Liebert will be remembered for her win at the first limit hold 'em tournament to ever offer a one million dollar cash prize. Many of the best poker players in the world vied for the money, but when it was said and done, Liebert was the winner. After winning the million, she won her first WSOP bracelet in a $1,500 no-limit hold' em shootout. She hasn't won a tournament since, but she has made a number of cash finishes in WPT tournament play.