Vanessa Rousso Bio | Poker Blog

Vanessa Rousso

Name: Vanessa Rousso
Nickname: Lady Maverick
DOB: 2/5/1983
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada

Vanessa Rousso Photo

Born in New York, Vanessa spent much of her early years living in her father’s homeland of Paris, France. By three she was reading and communicating in both American English and French. When she was 9 years old, her parents split and she moved to Florida, USA with her mother. There she excelled in school sports and intellectual activities. Not that this should surprise anyone who has ever played a hand or two of poker with her.

When 2001 rolled around she accepted a scholarship to Duke University, where she maintained a high grade point average. In her free time she studied game theory, strategy and actively played chess, backgammon, and poker online. Despite the busy and often chaotic schedule, sh received her economics degree in 2.5 years, and went on to post graduate law school at the University of Miami.

When she reached the U of M she found herself in a great position, she was legally able to play in land based casino’s, immediately after arriving, she began to exploit this. She played at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino every opportunity she had. During her first summer break in Law School, she entered her first major tournament event. Doing so she managed to cash in 7th place at the World Series of Poker Circuit Event in New Orleans. This significant accomplishment landed her a place in the record books as the youngest woman to cash at a final table in the WSOP circuit events. Keeping her WSOP success alive, she cased for more than 2 thousand in the WSOP No Limit Holdem Ladies event. What a way to break from Law, playing your way into the history books, and building an incredible bankroll to boot.
The following summer she found herself again at a Harrahs Casino for a WSOP circuit event, this time in Atlantic City. This time she finished in 5th place, cashing handsomely for her time. Some gossip it was due to the bathrobe she wore to the poker events, but at the final table, it was obvious that it was her skill that brought in the bankroll, not her incredible beauty.

At this point, she was inspired and focused on being a part of the 5 Star World Poker Classic held at the Las Vegas Bellagio annually. Being short funds for the 25 thousand dollar registration fee, she began selling shares in herself and success, 1000 dollars at a time, until she reached her goal. By the time she registered she realized there was a major schedule conflict with a crucial class. The day of the event open, she attended her class the left straight for the airport, arriving a mere 3hours late, only losing 5% of her chip stack to the blinds. That alone was an incredible accomplishment, but she didn’t stop there. In her first hand, she was head to head with the very skillful Liz Lieu, and by the end of the round she doubled her chip stack. This only steadied her pace to the final table, where she finished 7th cashing in more than 260 thousand dollars.
Adding to her already incredible achievements, she followed her success with another the following year, this time repeating her strides with the World Poker Tour (WPT) Season of events. She brought in her first live tournament victory in the Borgata Poker Open. As part of Team Poker Stars she entered the World Championship of Poker main event, cashing a solid 700 thousand dollars, proving she was one of the top poker women in the world. In 2008 she was featured earn in the series Poker After Dark, where she also brought home first place before an audience of millions watching on television.

On a more personal side, she has achieved all of these major accomplishments while attending Law School full time, with the intent and desire to graduate. It’s no wonder why she has received the title Lady Maverick. Although she is no married as of the date of this publication, that may not be long off, as Chad Brown, fellow poker player has managed to schedule himself into her already hectic life, and proposed.

Watch out poker world, Vanessa Rousso is aiming for the top position, and with her drive and focus expect she will reach it.