Vanessa Rousso

Biography

Vanessa Rousso is quickly becoming one of the most successful women in poker. She boasts career winnings of over $2 million from all across the globe, but it hasn’t always been about poker for Vanessa. She attended Duke University and graduated with a degree in economics. She was on the Dean’s list and graduated after only two and a half years. From there, she attended the University of Miami School of Law where she was one of the top members in her class.

She’s almost always played poker during her life, but didn’t get serious about it until her late teens. Although she was too young to play in casinos, Rousso took to the virtual felt online. She played online until she was of age to play at the casinos. She played a lot in her spare time and worked on her game. She built up her bankroll and began taking shots at larger tournaments. In 2005, she cashed in the $1,000 Ladies Only event at the WSOP and also in Atlantic City at the WSOP Circuit event.

In 2006, Rousso played the $25,000 WPT World Championship and placed seventh for over $260,000, just missing out on the televised final table. She cashed in three WSOP events that year and also captured the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Borgata for over $285,000.

The following year, Rousso had a few smaller cashes, but nothing really prominent. One might have been questioning whether she was maybe just on a hot streak for a while and would now fade off into the distance. That wouldn’t be the case though come the following years.

In 2008, Rousso had numerous cashes, the majority of which were worth at least five figures. She won an episode of Poker After Dark for $120,000 and also final tabled an event at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. At the Southern Poker Championship in 2009, Rousso placed seventh for nearly $80,000.

She wasn’t done yet and entered the National Heads-Up Championship in Las Vegas. Rousso battled through Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Paul Wasicka, Daniel Negreanu, and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier to get to the finals against Huck Seed. That’s surely no slouch of a cast. Seed would go on to defeat Rousso, but Vanessa took home $250,000 for his finish. With GoDaddy.com sponsoring the event, Rousso’s awesome performance helped further solidify a deal she had just signed with them immediately prior to the tournament.

At the EPT Grand Final in 2009, Rousso won the High Roller Championship and pocketed nearly $750,000. This was another great field that Rousso was able to grind her way through on her way to her highest payday to date.

Vanessa is a member of Team PokerStars and got engaged to fellow team member Chad Brown back in 2008. The two eventually married in 2009. Rousso’s also been featured in various magazines as Maxim and Sports Illustrated, where she was featured in the swimsuit edition. She also hosts her own poker camp in Florida and is a strong advocate for the game.