Vanessa Rousso

Vanessa Rousso

With French-American dual citizenship, Vanessa Rousso, who was born in New York, graduated with honors on a full scholarship from Duke University and was all set to go to law school in Miami with plans to become a securities litigator. Then she discovered poker and the plan changed.

It was at Duke that Vanessa grew interested in Game Theory which shows how complex math-based decision making strategies can be applied to everyday life. Add to that a lifelong love for games and it’s hardly surprising that she would become a poker player, and in 2005 she began making an impact on the game. She was developing her skills with some powerful results and a year later made the final of the WPT Championship, taking away more than $250,000 for her 7th place finish. That same year she became the youngest female player ever to reach the final of a World Series event, finishing 8th in the $5,000 Shorthanded Hold’em event, which she followed with a win in a preliminary event at the WPT Borgata Poker Open, a haul worth $285,450. In March 2009 Vanessa proved her heads-up poker credentials by reaching the final of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Las Vegas. The star-studded event featured 64 of the world’s best players and she picked up $250,000 for an impressive second place. Next up was the EPT Grand Final, and the biggest result of Vanessa’s career. Every year Monte Carlo attracts the world’s best players, and the €25,000 High Roller sees the best of the best do battle. Vanessa played through the field to finish first, taking the win and €720,000 in prize money.

Vanessa has many hobbies which she crams in to what spare time she has. As a self-confessed adrenaline junkie she’s a regular sky-diver and bungee jumper and has also written strategy articles for several poker magazines.

Vanessa lives in Vancouver (Canada) and plays online with the screen name ‘LadyMaverick’.

Career Highlights