Vanessa Selbst

Biography

Poker pro Vanessa Selbst graduated from Yale with a degree in Political Science and is currently studying at Yale Law School. She’s been a lifelong fan of games, including anything from cards to Pacman, and her love of poker grew from there. She began taking the game seriously during her time at university, and it’s proving to be a lucrative extra-curricular activity that’s seen Vanessa rake in more than $1,500,000 in earnings.

In the space of just a few years Vanessa has built an incredible set of results at the biggest live tournaments. She made her first World Series of Poker* final table in 2006 when she finished 7th in a $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event for a cash of $101,285. She returned the following year and finished 3rd in the $5,000 Championship Heads-Up event for $128,968. A year later Vanessa finally found the breakthrough she was looking for when she won her first bracelet. She beat a tough field of 759 in a $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event to take the title and $227,993, earning the respect of the poker world along the way. Just days later she came close again when she finished 3rd in the $10,000 Championship Heads-Up event for an additional $108,288. After a string of several other impressive cash finishes at events across the US, Vanessa earned the biggest score of her career so far at the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Mohegan Sun Main Event in 2010. She took down the tournament for a huge cash of $750,000, confirming her status as one of the most talented players on the scene today.

When she isn’t playing poker, Vanessa concentrates on her studies and also gets involved with political issues such as the fight for social justice. She also likes playing basketball and tennis, and games like pool and darts. Vanessa is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and plays online using the screen name ‘V. Selbst’ (formerly known as ‘suckoutqueen’).

Profile courtesy of PokerStars.