Vanessa Selbst

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Vanessa Selbst has gone on to establish herself as one of the world’s most formidable tournament players.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Vanessa Selbst has gone on to establish herself as one of the world’s most formidable tournament players. Selbst developed her competitive spirit from a young age, as she excelled both academically and on the sports field playing tennis, field hockey and rugby.

After achieving excellent results in school, Selbst attended MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for one year, before transferring to Yale. Although she began playing poker in home games in high school, Selbst has credited much of her poker education to her time at Yale, where she began to discuss the intricacies of the game, and became involved in the 2+2 forum.

While still a student, Selbst began to dedicate her summers away from study to play poker, participating in her first World Series of Poker in 2006. Her first WSOP could be considered a success, as she final-tabled the $2,000 No-Limit Hold ‘Em event finishing 7th for $101,285. Selbst would continue her success at the WSOP in the following years as she finished in 3rd place in the 2007 $5,000 World Championship Heads-Up event for a $128,968 cash, before winning her first bracelet in the 2008 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. In the heads-up section of the Pot-Limit Omaha event, Selbst’s opponent Jamie Pickering, who had been drinking alcohol throughout the tournament, was shoving all-in blind and Selbst survived the madness to pick up her first WSOP bracelet.

Selbst managed to win her 2nd WSOP bracelet in 2012 when she won the $2,500 10 Game Six Handed event for $244,259. Selbst’s biggest career win to date is her first place finish in the 2010 Main Event of the Partouche Poker Tour, as she took $1,800,000 for her win.

In January of 2013 Selbst took down the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller event for $1,424,402. Selbst had proposed to her partner the night before the event began, making the tournament an extra special win for her. Unlike many other professional players who drop out of education after realising they can make money playing poker, Selbst is unique in that she has continued on with her studies.

Selbst returned to Yale after graduation to pursue a law degree, graduating in 2012. She has since stated that she would like to pursue a career in civil rights: economic equality, racial justice and against the government’s abuse of authority.

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15 years ago7,341

Published 15 years ago

Vanessa Selbst

Tiffany Michelle catches up with Vanessa whos currently the last remaining female and chip leader in\nthe $1500 Pot Limit Omaha. ...

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Vanessa Selbst - Winner $1500 PLO

Vanessa Selbst - Winner $1500 PLO

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NAPT Mohegan Sun 2010: Champion Vanessa Selbst

Congratulations to Vanessa Selbst, the newest PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour Champion after taking down a field of 716 p...

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NAPT Mohegan Sun: Vanessa Selbst

NAPT Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT, April 2010. Highlights from Vanessa Selbts dominating performance at the Main Event final table.

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Vanessa Selbst 3rd after Day 1B, featuring Scotty Seiver

Vanessa Selbst is one of the best players overall in the world right now. She won a very impressive bracelet in the 10-game and ha...

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Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst is a force to be reckoned with at the felt. Check out this countdown of highlights from PStv.

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EPT 8 Barcelona - Nikov vs Selbst

Dobromir Nikov (Bulgaria) and Vanessa Selbst (USA) in action at EPT Barcelona, September 2011

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Vanessa Selbst slowrolls Peter Eastgate

Vanessa Selbst slowrolls Peter Eastgate

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PCA10: Vanessa Selbst Gets Engaged!

Sarah talks to Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst about playing the PCA Super High Roller for the first time and getting engaged!

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PCA10: Switching from No Limit to Mixed Games with Selbst and Greenstein

PokerStars hosted a Q & A with Vanessa Selbst and Barry Greenstein.

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January tends to be a relatively quiet month at the tables, but some pros have spiced things up with trolling and falling outs hitting the gossip columns.

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Maria Lampropulos navigated through a field of over 500 players to take down the 2018 Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure.

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The recent announcement made by Vanessa Selbst to retire from the game of poker came as a shock to many.

Jason Mercier Leaves PokerStars

In the second big departure of the week, 5-time WSOP bracelet winner Jason Mercier has decided to part ways with PokerStars.

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The most successful female poker player of all time announces her retirement from poker and parts ways with PokerStars through a Facebook post.

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The 30% or more plunge in the price of cryptocurrency Bitcoin from its $20K high has been mainly met by amusement rather than dread by the top pros.

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Dan Bilzerian's millions of starstruck social media followers who tune in for a bit of vicarious pleasure at his playboy lifestyle have been treated to something more than photos.

Crazy Rapper Brands Poker Pros Racist

Half a dozen of the most liberal pros in the poker world found themselves under attack by the rapper Talib Kweli, who seemed hell-bent on calling everybody a racist.

TV Shark vs. Card Shark: James Woods Goes After Selbst on Terrorist

Woods pounced on Selbst's tweet by misusing the word malaise, and misunderstanding her point.

Matusow Criticised by Selbst Over Weinstein Hollywood Tweets

Mike ‘the Mouth’ Matusow was once again at the centre of controversy when he shared his thoughts on the Harvey Weinstein alleged rape and sexual abuse scandal.