“I wonder how long is it until people start asking, ‘Who do you think the best male tournament player is?’”
Those apt words were posted on Twitter by professional poker player Phil Galfond shortly after Vanessa Selbst won the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #52: $2,500 10-Game Mix Six-Handed Sunday night, the second WSOP bracelet of her career.
As poker has found its stride as a mainstream pastime over the last decade, we have often heard the debates over who is the best female poker player in the world. Most in the poker community consider this a dated concept, but nevertheless, if one must come up with an answer, it is clearly Vanessa Selbst. And it’s not even really close. With this win, Selbst becomes the first woman to earn a bracelet in an open, mixed gender WSOP event (read: not the casino employees, seniors, or ladies events) since 2008. That winner four years ago: Selbst, naturally. She also becomes just the sixth woman to win multiple bracelets, joining an elite class which includes Starla Brodie, Nani Dollison, Barbara Enright, Jennifer Harman, and Susie Isaacs.
But let’s forget all that categorization. Vanessa Selbst is one of the best poker players in the world, period. Before her rise in on the live tournament circuit, she was already well known as an intimidating online player, one reason she is a member of Team PokerStars Pro. But live tournaments are much easier to quantify, so let’s take a look at those.
Beyond her two bracelets, she has two North American Poker Tour (NAPT) championships, both at the Mohegan Sun. The first was in 2010 for $750,000 while the second came in 2011 for $450,000. She won the 2011 Partouche Poker Tour Main Event, scoring for over $1.8 million, and followed that up with 4th place finish in the High Roller Event at the European Poker Tour (EPT) London, good for $226,910. This past December, Selbst finished 3rd in the 2011 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Championship event ($338,351) then had a win and a runner-up finish in two $5,100 preliminary events at the 2012 L.A. Poker Classic.
She has three additional final tables in her WSOP career, including a 4th place finish this year, as well as two 3rd place finishes in the Heads-Up World Championship at the WSOP. One week away from her 28th birthday, Vanessa Selbst has earned $5,375,182 in live tournaments and now ranks 2nd behind Kathy Liebert ($5,845,352) on the women’s all-time money list.
The poker world appears to be universally happy for Selbst, which isn’t surprising, as she is extremely well liked. Poker players have been tweeting their praises for her:
Doyle Brunson (@TexDolly): “Why isn’t a lot more attention payed [sic] to @VanessaSelbst for her 2nd bracelet? A second for a young lady isn’t worthy of publicity? Wow!”
David Williams (@dwpoker): “Nice to wake up and see another one for the good guys. Congrats to @VanessaSelbst on her 2nd WSOP bracelet. You are amazing.”
Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker): “Women who attended @VanessaSelbst seminar are a lucky bunch. Picking that wild and crazy brain is worth a lot of money. She’s a smart cookie.”
Matt Glantz (@MattGlantz): “Big Congrats to @VanessaSelbst even though u beat my close friend Dr. Mike heads up. Who knew u knew 10 different games of poker?”
Selbst is already back at it, currently among the chip leader in the early stages of a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event. It would come as no shock to see her challenge for her third bracelet.
2012 WSOP Event #52: $2,500 10-Game Mix Six-Handed – Final Table Results
1. Vanessa Selbst – $244,259
2. Michael Saltzburg – $150,840
3. Tommy Hang – $97,884
4. Chris Bjorin – $64,649
5. Thomas Chambers – $43,099
6. Mike Gorodinsky – $30,169
