Vanessa Selbst
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American poker player (born 1984)
Born (1984-07-09) July 9, 1984 (age 41)
AlmamaterYale University (BA, JD)
OccupationTrader
EmployerJane Street Capital
Vanessa Selbst | |
|---|---|
 Selbst after winning the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the 2008 World Series of Poker | |
| Born | (1984-07-09) July 9, 1984 (age 41) |
| Alma mater | Yale University (BA, JD) |
| Occupation | Trader |
| Employer | Jane Street Capital |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelets | 3 |
| Final tables | 8 |
| Money finishes | 20 |
| Highest WSOP Main Event finish | 73rd, 2012 |
| World Poker Tour | |
| Title | None |
| Final table | 2 |
| Money finishes | 3 |
| European Poker Tour | |
| Title | None |
| Final table | None |
| Money finishes | 4 |
| Information last updated on 16 July 2014. | |
Vanessa K. Selbst (born July 9, 1984) is a poker player, the only woman to ever reach the number one ranking in the world on the Global Poker Index.[1] She has over US$11.8 million in live poker tournament earnings and used to be a member of Team Pokerstars Pro, where she plays under the username "V. Selbst".[2]
Selbst has three World Series of Poker bracelets and is the only woman to win three WSOP bracelets in open field events.[3] She is also the only poker player to win the same North American Poker Tour Main Event back-to-back.[4][5] In January 2013 Selbst won the PCA high roller for $1.4 million, which made her the highest-earning woman in poker history.[6] Her results put her in the top 100 of the overall All Time Money List, with career tournament winnings just shy of $12 million.[7]
Selbst was born in Brooklyn, New York, into a Jewish family.[8] She attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a year[9] before transferring to Yale University, where she graduated with a degree in political science. After Yale, on a Fulbright scholarship, she spent a year in Spain. On her return to the United States, she worked for consulting firm McKinsey & Company.[8] She later returned to Yale Law School and received her J.D. degree in 2012[10]. During her time at Yale University, she was head of the Yale Queer-Straight Alliance.[11] Selbst was a coach and executive producer for DeucesCracked, an online poker training site.[12][13]
Other poker results
Selbst has 21 live poker tournament results equaling six figure paydays or above.[14]
Selbst has made five Main Event final tables of various poker tours and gone on to capture three titles. She attended her first World Series at Las Vegas in 2006.[15][16] She won the 2010 North American Poker Tour $5,000 Mohegan Sun Main Event, earning $750,000[4] and returned the following year to successfully defend her title. She earned $450,000 for her 2011 1st-place finish and became the first and only person to win two consecutive NAPT Main Events.[5] To date, Selbst's biggest purse was when she won €1,300,000 ($1.82 million) for her first-place finish at the 2010 Partouche Poker Tour.[1]
She has made four High Roller final tables, winning the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller in January 2013. She is the first woman to ever play[17] in a Super High Roller event, taking third place at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 buy in tournament in January 2014.[18]
One year after her official retirement from poker in 2018, she played the WPT Borgata $3,500 event, ending in 14th place for a payday of $40,000. Not long after, she participated in WPT Fallsview Main Event, where she finished 22nd.[19] In 2025, she participated in the World Series of Poker $10k Eight Game Mixed Championship.[20]
As of 2026, Selbst's total live tournament winnings exceed $11,928,000.[14]
References
- 1 2 "Vanessa Selbst's profile on GPI". GlobalPokerIndex.com. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
- ↑ Grant, Nico (January 9, 2018). "Player Joins the World's Biggest Hedge Fund". Bloomberg News. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
- ↑ Fast, Erik (May 30, 2014). "Vanessa Selbst Wins Third World Series of Poker Gold Bracelet In $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold'Em". CardPlayer.com. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
- 1 2 "2010 PokerStars.net NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event – 2010 PokerStars.net NAPT Mohegan Sun". PokerNews.com. April 11, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- 1 2 "Main Event – 2011 North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun". PokerNews.com. April 13, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ↑ Willis, Brad (January 14, 2013). "2013 PCA: Vanessa Selbst becomes top-earning female tournament player". PokerStarsBlog.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
- ↑ Peckaitis, Tadas (March 7, 2021). "What Ever Happened To Vanessa Selbst?". Casino.org. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
- 1 2 "Vanessa Selbst Wins $1 Million Prize At Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout". Jewish Business News. May 20, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
- ↑ Habib, Daniel G. (May 30, 2005). "Online And Obsessed". SI.com. sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
- ↑ Neil, Martha (April 8, 2009). "Yale Law Student's Recession-Proof Game Plan: Professional Poker". ABA Journal.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Vanessa Selbst biography". Epic Poker. Archived from the original on January 3, 2012.
- ↑ Dalla, Nolan. "Event #19: Pot-Limit Omaha championship – Vanessa Selbst from Brooklyn, NY Wins!". AOL.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
- ↑ "Vanessa Selbst Performs Ultimate Double-Range Merge". PokerStarsBlog. September 12, 2013. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
- 1 2 "Vanessa Selbst's profile on The Hendon Mob". The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
- ↑ "Vanessa Selbst". www.pokernews.com. September 12, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
- ↑ Friess, Steve (July 27, 2018). "From the Poker Table to Wall Street". New York Times.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Price, Sadonna (March 8, 2019). "Famous Female Gamblers That Have Made History". OnlineUnitedStatesCasinos.com. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
- ↑ "2014 PCA Super High Roller: The Final Table is Set!". BankrollMob.com. January 7, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
- ↑ "World Poker Tour - WPT Fallsview, No Limit Hold'em - WPT Main Event". The Hendon Mob. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
- ↑ Tapscott, Craig (July 4, 2025). "No solver, no problem: Vanessa Selbst back in the mix at the 2025 WSOP". www.poker.org. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
External links
- Vanessa Selbst interview
- New York Times feature
- CardPlayer profile
- Global Poker Index profile
- Hendon Mob profile
- PokerNews profile
- WPT profile
- WSOP profile
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