A member of Team PokerStars, Vanessa Rousso, also known as "Lady Maverick", her nickname in the cyber world of online poker, is one of the best female poker players, an uncontested solid player of both live and online poker.Born in White Plains, New York, on February 5, 1983, Vanessa Ashley Rousso has dual citizenships with the United States and France and joined the professional poker tour in April 2006.
Vanessa Rousso is one of the top 10 female money earners of all time on the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tournament (WPT) circuits as her poker winnings exceed $3.5 million at the age of 27. She spends most of her time traveling the world to compete in professional poker tournaments. As a result, Vanessa had to have pages added to her passport as she has played poker in every continent except Antarctica.
No. 2 debater in the country, high school valedictorian, and a straight A student, Vanessa Rousso graduated with an economics major from Duke University in just two and a half years, and then moved on to Law School at The University of Miami. Vanessa was a member of the editorial board of the University of Miami Law Review, and was also in the top 5 of her class at University of Miami School of Law.
As a kid, her dream was to be the "queen of Wall Street" but, during her first summer break from law school, she became completely side tracked with poker. In just her first year of playing, Vanessa Rousso had multiple in the money tournament finishes, including a seventh place finish in a field of 605 at the $25,000 April 26, 2006 World Poker Tour (Season four) No-Limit Holdem championship event in which she earned $263,625 in prize money. In 2007, Vanessa Rousso placed 2nd in the prestigious $2500 buy-in online Pokerstars WCOOP Main Event for over $700,000.
In May 2009, Vanessa Rousso outlasted other poker pros and even celebrities to win the 79-entrant ?25,000 EPT High Roller Championship, which had a first prize of 720,000 Euros. However, at the final table, the three final contestants made an agreement to chop chips at ?420,000 and leave ?150,000 for the winner. The ?570,000 win, which converts to $749,467, represents the highest payday of her career.
Vanessa Rousso is also known as an ambassador for poker as sport and a game of skill. As she wants to spread her knowledge and enjoyment for poker, Vanessa Rousso has started a poker boot camp where she incorporates game theory into instruction. She also wrote a book called "Game Theory in Poker".
Vanessa Rousso spends her off-poker time engaging in adrenaline inducing activities such as sky diving, flying lessons and playing the drums. Her other hobbies include traveling, playing chess and backgammon, skiing, and running. Her favorite movie is "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and her favorite book is Sun Tzu's "The Art of War".
Putting her sex appeal to good use, Vanessa Rousso appeared in a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue in 2009. She has recently said that if she weren't a poker pro she would be a life coach.
CATEGORY: Players
TAGS Vanessa Rousso PokerStars World Series of Poker The Art of War