Vanessa Rousso “Lady Maverick“

Birthplace
White Plains, NY

Hometown
Las Vegas, NV

Total Winnings
$786,086

Vanessa Rousso was born to a French father and American mother in New York but spent much of the first ten years of her life in Paris. As a dual citizen with parents who heavily emphasized the importance of education, she excelled in school, was active in sports, and learned several languages in her childhood. She was also playing poker by the age of five, thanks to a family who very much enjoyed the casual game of poker. After attending Duke University on a full scholarship and graduating cum laude in only two and a half years with a degree in economics and a minor in game theory, she enrolled at the University of Miami School of Law on another scholarship. She was an honor student, dedicated much time to charity work, and began to take an interest in games like backgammon, chess, and poker.

In her spare time, Vanessa studied poker and game theory, and put her developing theories to practice at the nearby Seminole Casino in Hollywood Florida. She slowly built a bankroll and during her summer break in 2005, she took a trip to play in the Harrah's New Orleans Poker Challenge, a World Series of Poker circuit event. She finished seventh for $6465 and became the youngest woman to make the final table of a WSOP circuit event. Only months later, she traveled to play in another Harrah's WSOP circuit event, this time in Atlantic City. Even playing in her bathrobe, she finished fifth for $17,550. She was truly inspired to play more regularly.

Still in law school in Florida, Vanessa decided to play in the biggest WPT event in the spring of 2006 - the WPT World Championship at the Five Star World Poker Classic. The trip was well worth it, as she finished seventh in the prestigious event, and though she was the TV bubble player, she took home $263,625 to ease the pain. And later that year, she took it all the way to the top by winning the $5000 no-limit hold'em event at the Borgata Poker Open for $285,450. This solidified her decision to take a break from law school and play poker full-time. Someday soon, she plans to complete her degree, but poker has too much to offer to turn it down. She is becoming very well-known for her analytical and intense style of play, and she is extremely focused on winning a major WPT or WSOP event.