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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9 years ago14,886Sherminator,

Published 9 years ago

PCA 2014 - $50k Super High Roller Ep03

The highest stakes in tournament poker - the $50k PCA Super High Roller. Featuring Vanessa Selbst, Dan Shak, Antonio Esfandiari, P...

9 years ago9,558PokerTube,

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Vanessa Selbst - One Word

Vanessa Selbst - What's the first word you think of?

9 years ago6,411PokerTube,

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Vanessa Selbst playing the Main Event

Vanessa Selbst is today the leading lady of poker. With uncontested results over the last couple of years, she was just recently r...

9 years ago21,195Sherminator,

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PCA 2014 - $50k Super High Roller Ep02

The Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure 2014 - $50,000 Buy-in Super High Roller Event featuring the biggest live players in poker.

9 years ago6,191RPFC,

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Vanessa Selbst - An Image Game

A presentation given by Vanessa Selbst discussing the ways in which a players' image can affect their game.

9 years ago5,026welovepoker,

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Kurganov straight flush vs Vanessa Selbst

Igor Kurganov turns the straight flush against Vanessa Selbst.

9 years ago6,408welovepoker,

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Top 5 Vanessa Selbst Hands

5 of the most entertaining hands featuring Vanessa Selbst.

9 years ago5,112welovepoker,

Published 9 years ago

The Big Game - Top 5 hands with analysis

The professionals talk us through their lines of reasoning in these big hands.

10 years ago14,659ThePokerAces,

Published 10 years ago

Vanessa Selbst chops pot with amateur then berates him

Vanessa Selbst clearly isn't one of those people who say you shouldn't berate or abuse the fish at the table!

10 years ago5,380

Published 10 years ago

PCA 2014: Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst

This time last year Vanessa Selbst was recently engaged and about to win a High Roller. Sarah catches up with her about where she ...

Vanessa Selbst Is Having Serious Regrets About Her Massive Prop Bet

Selbst made mistakes. Both involved massive prop bets against two poker players and the possibility to win three WSOP bracelets in one summer. And now, having the sweat of her life, she regrets them.

Mercier Sees Chance To Cash In On Huge Prop Bets

The stakes got a lot higher though when Vanessa Selbst joined the sweat party. She gave 180-to-1 odds to win three WSOP bracelets this summer. If Mercier takes down three events, he will get $1.8 million.

Will a Woman Ever Win a WPT?

No woman has ever picked up a WPT title in the history of the event, thus there were absolutely no representatives of the fairer sex in the inaugural WPT champions event.

The Top 3 Female Poker Players

The reality nowadays is that there are many women involved in poker – and the best of them are very, very good players indeed!

The Bike Ride Worth $1.2M

​Once upon a time, the King of Instagram Dan Bilzerian had a dream life spending most of his time alongside countless female friends with no worries whatsoever. Proof you ask? Well, what you’re about to see is only a glimpse of Bilzerian’s boss life.

Vanessa Selbst $2M Prop Bet

Selbst accepted a bet from over-confident poker player Urbanovich. The Polish put on the line $10,000 to his cause: win three World Series of Poker gold-bracelets in his first appearance in Las Vegas.

Vanessa Selbst Wins for Charity

Poker players are often generous to the charity campaigns they support, but Vanessa Selbst stands out as one of the highest contributing poker players around.

Live Poker Events, 8 years ago

Vanessa Selbst Wins Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout

Vanessa Selbst won $1 million in the Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout, defeating Hollywood star Kevin Pollack heads-up.

Vanessa Selbst Makes Appearance on Steve Harvey Show

Vanessa Selbst appears on the Steve Harvey Show, featured as part of a "Female Ground Breaker" segment that highlights successful women.

Vanessa Selbst Passes Bar Exam

Vanessa Selbst passed the bar exam and looks forward to practicing law in addition to playing poker professionally.