Vanessa Selbst

A winner of three bracelets in open WSOP events, Selbst also won back-to-back NAPT Mohegan Sun titles. Her career includes results in Hold’em, Omaha and mixed games.

Nationality

United States

Documented origin

Born in Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Games and formats

No-Limit Hold’em tournaments · Pot-Limit Omaha · Mixed games

Editorial review: 22/10/2026

Recorded live tournament earnings

US$11,946,107

Snapshot of the Total Live Earnings field shown by PokerNews on October 22, 2026. PokerNews attributes this figure to The Hendon Mob; the source consulted here was PokerNews. These are gross payouts, with no online results added and no guarantee of full career coverage. The source does not give a specific update date for the field.

Data reference: 22/10/2026

Career

Vanessa Selbst was born in Brooklyn, New York. She attended MIT and Yale, where she studied political science and later law. She discovered poker in games with classmates and began playing more regularly at Foxwoods. By 2006 she had reached a World Series of Poker final table. Two years later she won her first bracelet in a Pot-Limit Omaha event.

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Her next results came on several different circuits. In 2010 she won NAPT Mohegan Sun and the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event in Cannes. In 2011 she defended her Mohegan Sun title against a new field. Her 2012 bracelet in a ten-game mix and her 2014 bracelet in Mixed-Max Hold’em show the range of formats she played. She also produced instructional material and represented Team PokerStars Pro. In 2018 she announced that she was leaving the professional poker routine, which still allowed for occasional tournament appearances. Her career combines tournament achievements with a documented academic background.

Timeline

2006
Played her first WSOP final table.
2008
Won her first bracelet, in Pot-Limit Omaha.
2010
Won NAPT Mohegan Sun and the Partouche Poker Tour.
2011
Defended her NAPT Mohegan Sun title.
2012
Won the 10-Game Mix bracelet.
2014
Won her third bracelet in the US$25,000 Mixed-Max.
2018
Announced that she was stepping away from professional poker.

Career highlights

Three WSOP bracelets, all won in events open to men and women.
Back-to-back NAPT Mohegan Sun titles in 2010 and 2011.
2010 Partouche Poker Tour win for €1.3 million.

Related terms: ITM · bounty · heads-up. A bracelet is the trophy awarded for winning a WSOP event.

Top live results and milestones

Selected confirmed live results. This is not a complete career record.

Documented live results · selected career milestones
Date	Event and tour or platform	Game	Finish	Prize
2014	WSOP — US$25,000 Mixed-Max	No-Limit Hold’em	1st	US$871,148
2012	WSOP — US$2,500 10-Game Mix, 6-handed	Mixed games	1st	US$244,259
04/2011	NAPT Mohegan Sun — Main Event	No-Limit Hold’em	1st	US$450,000
2010	Partouche Poker Tour — Main Event, Cannes	No-Limit Hold’em	1st	€1,300,000
2010	NAPT Mohegan Sun — Main Event	No-Limit Hold’em	1st	US$750,000
2008	WSOP — US$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha	Pot-Limit Omaha	1st	US$227,933

Confirmed online results

Online coverage may be partial. Results from one site, account or period are not treated as career totals.

Not confirmed by the sources reviewed.

We could not compile a reliable selection of online results. This does not imply a lack of participation or payouts.

Online aliases

Verified public associations. Historical aliases do not confirm current use.
Platform	Alias	Period / context
PokerStars	`V. Selbst`	Historical use documented in an August 2010 interview.

Documented trivia

She studied political science and law at Yale.

She made Pot-Limit Omaha training videos for DeucesCracked.

She was the first woman to reach No. 1 in the Global Poker Index rankings.

Interviews and notable moments

Vanessa Selbst Interview — published in August 2010 ↗

About this profile’s data

A fully documented online career total is not confirmed.
The sources reviewed do not confirm a selection of online tournament results.

Dates with only a year or month reflect the source’s precision. The editorial review date shows when the text was checked. Sources have their own access and publication dates.

Sources and credits

Results, titles and payouts are checked against PokerNews, Mundo Poker and SuperPoker, according to each profile’s references. Other sources may confirm biographical details, online identities and image credits. Figures reflect the editorial review and do not update automatically.