Poker Central, the world’s Poker TV network and producers of the Super High Roller poker series, today announced poker pro Vanessa as the winner of the Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout and the $1 million prize.
Vanessa Selbst is the only female player in the Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout, Vanessa Selbst is the highest-earning female poker player of all time and the only woman to ever rank 1st on the Global Poker Index. With $11.5 million in total winnings, Vanessa has been playing poker for 10 years, starting online before moving to tournament play. As the only player to ever have back-to-back wins in the North American Poker Tour Main, Vanessa is also the only woman to win three bracelets in open WSOP events. Vanessa’s best year was in 2010 when, on a break from Yale Law School, she won $3 million, including her 1st place $1.8 million win at the Partouche Poker Tour in France.
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The Unique Life of Vanessa Selbst
Raised in Brooklyn and Montclair, NJ, in a Jewish family. Vanessa began her college career with a year at MIT. She transferred to Yale and, after graduation, spent a year in Spain on a Fulbright Scholarship. Vanessa returned to the U.S. to work for the prestigious McKinsey Group, leaving McKinsey to play poker full-time until being admitted to Yale Law School. After taking a semester off from law school to play poker in 2010 – winning $3 million and placing 6th on the poker money list that year – she graduated Yale Law in 2012.
In 2013 she married girlfriend Miranda, who she met on OK Cupid. Miranda Selbst works for a nonprofit that uses social and emotional learning to make New York City schools a safe, positive and productive learning environment. The couple lives in Brooklyn.
When not playing poker, Vanessa uses her law degree to fight for social justice and works on her foundation, Venture Justice, which provides seed money for a variety of nonprofits and social causes. Some of the organizations that Venture Justice has helped include the Urban Justice Center, Teachers Unite and Raising for Effective Giving (REG), the nonprofit founded by fellow poker pros Igor Kurganov, Liv Boeree and others. Vanessa plans on using her $1 million winnings to help fund Venture Justice, as a poker bankroll, and to save for her future family.
“Vanessa is a great example of how fascinating poker players are, ” said Clint Stinchcomb, CEO of Poker Central. “The stories behind the players are just as interesting as their play. Poker’s popularity, with players and fans alike, crosses all ages and demographics.”
Vanessa Selbst
– Ms. Selbst picked up her third WSOP bracelet in the tournament and with it a prize of $871, 148 to add to the more than $10 million she has already won in live poker tournaments. – Vanessa Selbst, despite More…
