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Vanessa SelbstPoker player
Country:
 USA |
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Vanessa Selbst Biography
Vanessa Selbst is a professional poker player, widely recognized as the only woman to have ever reached the number one spot in the Global Poker Index. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Selbst comes from a Jewish family. She attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a year before transferring to Yale University, where she graduated with a degree in political science. After Yale, Selbst received a Fulbright scholarship and spent a year in Spain. Upon returning to the United States, she worked at the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Later, she went back to Yale Law School and obtained her law degree in 2012.
Poker Career and Achievements
Vanessa Selbst has had an incredibly successful poker career. Her live tournament earnings exceed $11.8 million, making her one of the highest-earning female players in the history of poker. Selbst was a member of the Team Pokerstars Pro, playing under the username "V. Selbst." She holds three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and is the first and only woman to win three WSOP bracelets in open-air tournaments. She is also the only poker player to win the same main event of the North American Poker Tour consecutively.
In January 2013, Selbst won the PCA High Roller tournament, earning $1.4 million and becoming the highest-earning woman in poker history at that time. Her impressive results have secured her a place among the top 100 players in the all-time money list, with career tournament winnings just surpassing $12 million. In addition to her accomplishments, Selbst has made 21 final tables in live poker tournaments with six-figure payouts or higher.
Other Notable Results
Among her other achievements, Vanessa Selbst has reached the final tables of several major poker tournaments. In 2010, she won the main event of the North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun, earning $750,000. The following year, she successfully defended her title, becoming the first person to win two consecutive NAPT main events. Selbst's biggest payday to date came in 2010 when she won first place at the Partouche Poker Tour, taking home €1.3 million (approximately $1.82 million).
Additionally, Selbst has participated in four high roller final tables, winning the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure high roller tournament in January 2013. She was the first woman to ever play in a super high roller tournament, finishing in third place in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 buy-in event in January 2014. As of 2018, Selbst's total live tournament winnings exceed $11.85 million.
Despite officially retiring from poker in 2018, Vanessa Selbst made a comeback the following year by participating in the WPT Borgata tournament with a $3,500 buy-in, finishing in 14th place with a $40,000 payout. Shortly after, she also competed in the main event of the WPT Fallsview, securing the 22nd place.
