Vanessa Selbst

Vanessa Selbst

Nationality
United States
United States
GPI Rank 181,961
WSOP Bracelets 3
Total Live Earnings $11,906,247
The Hendon Mob Data provided by The Hendon Mob

Biography

Vanessa Selbst is an American former professional poker player with more than $11.9 million in career earnings.

She is one of only three female poker players to have won three WSOP bracelets (Barbara Enright and Nani Dollison) but is the only player to have achieved this feat only in "open" events.

Selbst is arguably one of the best female poker players in history. A former PokerStars Team Pro, she retired from poker in 2018.

"Poker has given me so much over the last 12 years," she said at the time. "It has been intellectually challenging, exhilarating, fun, and extremely rewarding. It has given me the opportunity to travel to places I might never have experienced, and forge friendships with people from all over the world."

Since retiring, she has had two children with her wife Miranda Foster, who she married in 2013.

Biography

Vanessa Selbst was born in 1984 in Brooklyn, New York. She first attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but had soon changed to Yale where she studied Political Science. It was during that time that she started playing poker. Home games were quickly replaced by cash games at the Foxwoods poker room. After warming up at the casino cash games, in 2006 Selbst traveled to Vegas for her first World Series and has been a regular in many of the world's major poker tournaments ever since.

Selbst at the WSOP

She first played at the WSOP in 2006, making a final table appearance in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em. The following year she racked up two more final table appearances, before winning her first WSOP bracelet in 2008 in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha. She also finished third in the $10,000 Heads-Up event.

In 2012 she took home her second WSOP bracelet after winning the $2,500 10-Game Mix event.

Her third WSOP bracelet came in 2014, winning the $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em Mixed Max event for $871,148, one of the largest cashes of her career.

Vanessa Selbst's Top 5 WSOP Results

YearEventPlacePrize
2014$25,000 No Limit Hold'em Mixed Max1st$871,148
2012$2,500 10-Game Mix – Six-Handed1st$244,259
2008$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha1st$227,933
2012$1,500 No Limit Hold'em4th$161,345
2007$ 5,000 Heads-Up World Championship3rd$128,968

Other Poker Achievements

Selbst is the only player to score back-to-back North American Poker Tour titles. She won her first NAPT title in 2010 by taking down the Mohegan Sun Main Event for $750,000. One year after she came back to defend the title and she did, this time taking home $450,000 in cash.

The 2010 was also the year when Selbst decided to take her game outside the U.S. She cashed in two Aussie Millions events, and then collected the biggest cash prize of her career in Cannes, France after winning the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event for €1,300,000.

In 2014, she was the first woman to play in the Big One for One Drop. The following year, she won the Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout for $1,000,000.

PokerNews Covered Events

Event Place Prize
2019 Borgata Poker Open
WPT Borgata Poker Open $3,500 Championship
14th $39,950
2017 World Series of Poker
Event #70: $10,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship
56th $2,040
2017 World Series of Poker
Event #27: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed
56th $6,191
2016 PokerStars EPT Season 13 Prague
€5,300 Main Event
211th €7,560
2016 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final
€5,300 Main Event
26th €26,850
2015 PokerStars EPT Season 12 Prague
€10,300 High Roller
8th €74,550
2014 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 Prague
€5,300 Main Event
14th €48,400
2014 World Series of Poker
Event #25: $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low
38th $5,517
2014 World Series of Poker
Event #2: $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold'em
1st $871,148
2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
$25,000 High Roller
3rd $607,580
2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
$10,000,000 Guarantee Main Event
42nd $32,000
2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
$100,000 Super High Roller
3rd $760,640
2013 PokerStars.com EPT Prague
€10,300 High Roller
7th €64,500
2013 World Series of Poker
Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
60th $7,218
The 2013 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final
€25,000 High Roller
4th €290,300
2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
$25,000 High Roller
1st $1,424,420
2012 World Series of Poker Europe
Event #3: €5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha
12th €9,929
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 61: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event
73rd $88,070
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 52: $2,500 10-Game Mix - Six-Handed
1st $244,259
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 46: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
24th $20,327
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 12: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em
9th $20,674
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 2: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
4th $161,345
2012 PokerStars.com EPT Berlin
Main Event
48th €13,000
2011 PokerStars.it EPT San Remo
Main Event
40th €14,000
2011 World Series of Poker Europe
Event #4: €3,200 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
28th €6,913
2011 World Series of Poker Europe
Event #2: €1,090 No-Limit Hold'em
32nd €3,390
2011 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona
Main Event
84th €10,000
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #35: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha / Six Handed
18th $23,519
2011 PokerStars.it EPT San Remo
Main Event
136th €7,500
2011 North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun
Main Event
1st $450,000
2011 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship
6th $75,000
2010 PokerStars.net NAPT Mohegan Sun
2010 PokerStars.net NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event
1st $750,000
2010 Aussie Millions
Event 13: $5,300 Australian Heads Up Championship
7th 15,625 AUD
2010 Aussie Millions
Event 1: $1,100 No Limit Hold'em
14th 9,144 AUD
2008 World Series of Poker
Event 25 - $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em World Championship
3rd $108,288
2008 World Series of Poker
Event 19 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
1st $227,965
2008 World Series of Poker
Event 13 - $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
34th $14,137
2007 World Series of Poker
Event 31 - $5,000 Heads Up No Limit Holdem
4th $128,968
2007 World Series of Poker
Event 17 - $1,000 Ladies No Limit Holdem
8th $20,480

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