Vanessa Rousso
Vanessa Rousso | |
---|---|
Las Vegas, Nevada | |
Born | White Plains, New York | February 5, 1983
World Series of Poker | |
Bracelet(s) | None |
Money finish(es) | 17 |
Highest ITM Main Event finish | 511, 2011 |
World Poker Tour | |
Title(s) | None |
Final table(s) | 1 |
Money finish(es) | 7 |
European Poker Tour | |
Title(s) | None |
Final table(s) | None |
Money finish(es) | 1 |
Vanessa Ashley Rousso
Between 2005 and 2011, Rousso finished
Rousso has been a pro-gambling campaigner and activist.
Early life and education
Her parents are
In college, she was on the Dean's list.[12] After studying some game theory, she became proficient with the Rubik's Cube and then chess. However, because she considers both to be fairly objective static games, she began to prefer poker, which incorporated human psychology that allows for inferior hands to win.[13] She graduated early from Duke University after two and a half years with a major in economics and a minor in political science in December 2003.[14][19] Her collegiate duration of two and a half years was the shortest time to graduate in the history of Duke.[14] Rousso began law school in 2004 and was the inaugural recipient of the Chaplin Scholarship from the University of Miami School of Law.[20] During school she served on the editorial board of the University of Miami Law Review.[21][22] In 2018 she enrolled in order to finish her law degree, which she completed that same year. Soon after graduating she passed the Florida Bar Exam.[23]
A poker player since the age of five, Rousso began serious
As of September 2021[update], excluding online winnings, and having not cashed at a tournament since 2017, she ranks as number eight among women players in terms of all-time money winnings.[9] She currently resides in South Florida.[24] Her nickname was given to her by a relative when she sold shares of herself to enter a $25,000 buy-in event in a manner reminiscent of the eponymous hero of the 1994 Western movie Maverick.[14]
Poker career
Rousso built her first stake at Hard Rock sit & go ten-player tables, where first prize was $250. From there, she was able to save for a $1,500 entry fee in
Her first win in a professional event came on June 13, 2005, in
On February 12, 2006, Rousso placed fifth at the final table of the 195-entrant $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em WSOP Circuit event at Harrah's Atlantic City.[32]
Rousso joined the professional poker tour in April 2006, and by October was among the top 80 in earnings that year.[13] In her first year of playing, 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 Hold'em championship event, in which she earned $263,625 in prize money.[33] By that time she was spending Tuesday through Thursday taking her law school classes, spending the rest of the week playing in poker tournaments and fielding endorsement offers from online poker clubs.[19] On September 13, 2006, she won $285,450 with a first-place finish at the 173-entrant $5,000 no-limit hold 'em event at the 4th Borgata Open.[34] At 2006 World Series of Poker she had three in the money finishes. She finished 80th in a field of 1068 in Event 4, $1,500 Limit Hold'em,[35] 63rd in a field of 824 in Event 5, $2500 Short Handed No-Limit Hold'em,[36] and she placed 8th of 507 in the Event 30, $5000 Short Handed No-Limit Hold'em event.[37]
By 2007, Rousso was a notable poker star.
In 2007, she earned $700,782.50, her largest career payday at that time, during the World Championship of Online Poker NL Hold'em Main Event with a second-place finish in the 2998-entrant field.[45] She had originally placed third in the event, but the winner was found to have violated the Pokerstars terms of service, which caused a disqualification ruling and caused all contestants to be elevated one place in the rankings. The tournament is run online by Rousso's sponsor, PokerStars, and she had originally earned the third place prize of $463,940.50.[46] At 2008 World Series of Poker she again had three in the money finishes. She placed 57 of 605 in Event 38, $2000 Pot Limit Hold'em,[47] placed 44 of 2693 in Event 52, $1500 No-Limit Hold'em,[48] and 625 of 6844 in the Main event 54, $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em.[49]
In January 2009, Rousso just missed the televised six-handed WPT final table while playing at the World Poker Tour Season VII Southern Poker Championship; she finished in seventh place and earned $79,117. In the head-to-head single-elimination 2009
In 2009, Rousso spoke in favor of changes to Florida gambling laws that would remove caps on buy-ins and wagers on poker in the state. She felt the gambling limitations precluded more strategic and skillful deeper-stack competition and said that Florida gamblers "don't have enough chips in front of them to play out the bets and raises that are required in the skillful aspect of the game".[59] In 2007, a $100 cap replaced a $2/bet limit. This cap still prohibits large tournaments with multi-thousand dollar buy-ins from occurring in Florida.[59][60]
Rousso had her own April 2009 poker instructional camp in South Florida. The camp related poker-playing and strategies to the strategies of military conflict in Sun Tzu's book, The Art of War.[61] She called her camp "Big Slick boot camp" and charged a $399 participation fee.[62] The camp's website makes the analogy of the Art of War and the Art of Poker.[63]
At the 2009 World Series of Poker, she had four in-the-money finishes: She placed 27 of 201 in Event 2, $40,000 No-Limit Hold'em;[64] placed 17 of 147 in Event 8, $2500 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball;[65] placed 19 of 770 in Event 31, $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.;[66] and 15 of 275 in the Event 45, $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em.[67] In the main event, she busted out on day 6 (officially known as day 2B).[68] Rousso will be hosting Stars of Poker in France.[69] On January 9, 2010, she finished first among 91 entrants to earn $24,725 at the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em – Ladies Event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.[70]
At the 2010 World Series of Poker, she has had two in-the-money finishes: She placed 421 of 4345 in Event 3, $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em,[71] and was eliminated in the quarter-final round of 256 entries, earning $92,580 in the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship.[72] On December 8, 2010, she finished 3rd in a field of 438 at the $10,000 World Poker Tour No-Limit Hold'em Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic (which was won by Antonio Esfandiari), earning $358,964.[73]
World Series of Poker
Year | Cashes | Final Tables | Bracelets |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | 1 | 0 | |
2006 | 3 | 0 | |
2008 | 3 | 0 | |
2009 | 4 | 0 | |
2010 | 2 | 0 | |
2011 | 1 | 0 | |
2013 | 1 | 0 | |
2015 | 1 | 0 | |
2016 | 1 | 0 |
In addition, Rousso had one cash at the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia Pacific event, and five cashes in various events on the World Series of Poker Circuit tournaments held annually as a build-up to the main World Series of Poker.
Endorsements
Rousso was formerly sponsored by the PokerStars online poker cardroom under the screenname LadyMaverick as part of their Team PokerStars.[74] Her sponsorship with PokerStars ended in February 2015.[75][76]
Pokerstars approached Sports Illustrated about including a poker player in their 2009 Swimsuit edition. In her online blog on January 4, 2009, Rousso confirmed that she participated that week in a photo shoot in Nassau, Bahamas, when she was there for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure poker tournament.[77] Rousso appeared in an advertising feature paid for by PokerStars, rather than the swimsuit article itself, in the February 10, 2009, swimsuit issue.[78][79] In the advertisement, Russo appeared in a bikini bottom and cutoff wetsuit top, in keeping with the swimsuit theme.[6] Rousso's thoughts on the Sports Illustrated publicity was that "It was a great opportunity for poker in general and for me in particular."[80]
In March 2009, Rousso signed to promote internet domain names by
Rousso is regarded as one of the sexiest poker players in the world, ranking 18th by Bleacher Report in 2010,[84] and in the top 20 by Maxim in 2010.[85]
Rousso has worked with American Poker Player, writing on game theory, and worked with Forbes, teaching poker to its "100 Most Powerful Women".[6][13]
Non-poker activities
Rousso appeared on
Rousso has become a music producer and DJ and has formed a DJ Duo called N1TEL1TE with her wife Melissa Ouellet. The duo released their first song, "Kiss Face", in February 2017.[89]
Personal life
In 2015, at the
Notes
- ^ "F.E.C. Image". Federal Election Commission. December 31, 2007. Archived from the original on August 24, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
- ^ a b "Student Spotlights 2005". University of Miami School of Law. Archived from the original on January 4, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
- ^ "Poker Pro Turned Singer, DJ Vanessa Rousso to Release First Single 'Kiss Face'". Costigan Media. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
- ^ "Vanessa Rousso". PokerPages.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ Elfman, Doug (June 2, 2008). "World Series of Poker shows Vegas at its best". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c Sortal, Nick (February 11, 2009). "Former Wellington Valedictorian, Now Poker Player, In SI Swimsuit Edition". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ "Vanessa Rousso's profile on The Hendon Mob". The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
- ^ "Vanessa Rousso". WSOP.com. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
- ^ a b "Women's All Time Money List - Top 13,752". The Hendon Mob. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ "Vanessa Rousso – Poker Player Profile". Poker News Daily. August 11, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ^ a b Ho, Rodney (September 23, 2015). "Who won 'Big Brother 17'?". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
- ^ Palm Beach Post. April 16, 2003. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g Arnett, Kristy (December 25, 2009). "'The Lady Maverick' Moves Into the Mainstream". Card Player. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
- GoDaddy.com. Archived from the originalon April 1, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
- Sun-Sentinel. June 17, 2001. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ Porreca, Brian (June 14, 2016). "'Big Brother 18' Reveals Houseguests, Including Two Siblings of Former Players". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
- ^ "Leticia Alexandra Rousso O. D." Facebook. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
- ^ Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ "Admitted Students Attend Scholarship Weekend" (PDF). University of Miami School of Law Dean's Notes. Vol. V, no. 1. University of Miami School of Law. May 2004. p. 6. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
- ^ "2005-2006 Executive Board". University of Miami School of Law. 2007. Archived from the original on August 25, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
- ^ "2003-2004 Executive Board". University of Miami Law Review. 2007. Archived from the original on June 16, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
- twitter.com. December 21, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ Palm Beach Post. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
- ^ "Login • Instagram". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021.
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- ^ Rousso, Vanessa (September 25, 2015). "@VanessaRousso status update". Twitter. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
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Vanessa emerged from the Big Brother house to a spectacular consolation prize: Her girlfriend Mel proposed to her at the wrap party.
External links
- Vanessa Rousso at IMDb
- Official site
- Card Player profile
- Hendon Mob profile
- PokerNews profile
- WPT profile
- WSOP profile