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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8 years ago31,019BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

The Big Game - Vanessa Selbst Gets Mad!

Vanessa Selbst isn't happy with herself in this hand from an episode of Pokerstars The Big Game. Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari and...

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Top Women in Poker - 2015 Edition

A feature on the Top 5 most successful female poker players in 2015, including Vanessa Selbst and Liv Boeree amongst others.

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Party Poker Premier League - An Emotional Vanessa Selbst

Varying emotions for Vanessa Selbst in these hands from the Party Poker Premier League as she goes up against Aces twice, first ag...

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Vanessa Selbst - Reading Your Opponents

A short video with top poker pro Vanessa Selbst giving a few tips on what to look for when reading your opponents at the table

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PCA 2016 - Vanessa Selbst Interview

Vanessa Selbst interviewed by Poker Update live at the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

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10 Most Successful Female Poker Players

10 Most Successful Female Poker PlayersFeaturing: Vanessa Selbst, Maria Ho, Liv Boeree, Annette Obrestad, Vanessa Rousso, Kathy Li...

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PokerStars Shark Cage - S02 Ep11

Season 2 of the Pokerstars Shark cage! Episode 11. Where plays battle it out over various heats to win $1,000,000 cash. The show f...

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Top 5 Angry Vanessa Selbst Moments

Vanessa Selbst is undoubtedly an extremely talent poker player who's consistently performed at the very peak of the game. However,...

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Vanessa Selbst Makes Great Read vs Dan Shak

Vanessa Selbst making a great call vs Dan Shak to put him at risk at the PCA Super High Roller final table

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Published 8 years ago

Vanessa Selbst on Steve Harvey Show - Pro Tips

Vanessa Selbst sharing some poker advice on Steve Harvey show

Hank Azaria And Vanessa Selbst Hangout

The all-time winningest female poker player on the planet rubbed elbows with one of the best voice actors of all time.

Live Poker Events, 6 years ago

WSOP Event #27: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed (Live Updates)

Event #27 $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed will start its day one at 11:00 AM PST on 14th June 2017.

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Scott Blumstein Takes the WSOP Main Event title!

Scott Blumstein won the Main Event bracelet, $8,150,000 and a place in poker history!

Patrick Leonard Responds to Angle Shoot Accusations

A reasonable explanation and much deeper than the simple ‘scummy angle shoot’ claims which were flying all over the internet.

Negreanu Versus Trump: Hurricane Edition

Negreanu had something to say about the Commander in Chief’s wildly solipsistic handling of the Texas hurricane disaster.

Live Poker Events, 6 years ago

Justice is Blinds Returns With Vanessa Selbst, Olivier Busquet and Ingrid Weber

Vanessa Selbst will host the third edition of her Justice is Blinds, a charity poker event benefiting the non-profit advocacy organization Urban Justice Center.

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.

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.

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.

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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.