Vanessa Selbst made history Monday, becoming the winningest female in live poker tournament history after taking the crown at the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) $25,000 High Roller Event.
Selbst, clearly the best female tournament player in the world right now and one of the elite players of either gender, won $1,424,420 for the victory, taking her lifetime winnings up to $7,004,037 (figures courtesy TheHendonMob.com). She is now more than $1.1 million ahead of one of the all-time greats, Kathy Liebert, who sits in second place with $5,855,655 in total cashes. Annie Duke is third with $4,270,549, while the young Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad is fourth with $3,780,530.
Skilled pro Shaun Deeb was the chip leader going into final table play with 2.536 million, while Selbst (1.512 million) was part of a pack about a million chips behind with Vladimir Troyanovsky (1.625 million) and Mike Watson (1.62 million).
The eight-handed table was narrowed quickly, as three players were eliminated in less than two orbits. The shortest stack was the first to go. After Ole Schemion raised pre-flop with Q♠-Q♥, Micah Raskin shoved for 344,000 with A♠-J♦. He flopped a Jack but nothing else, resulting in his ouster in 8th place.
Schemion then got another pair a few hands later, this time 8’s, and again opened the betting with a pre-flop raise. Tobias Reinkemeier three-bet with A♣-K♣ and after some thought, Schemion moved all-in. Reinkemeier called for another 638,000 and it was go time. Reinkemeier got no clubs, no Kings, and no Aces, leaving him high and dry and out of the tournament in 7th place.
Schemion continued to play the role of the grim reaper on the next hand, finding two black Jacks under the gun and raising to 48,000 pre-flop. Once again, he found a taker, as Bryn Kenney moved all-in for 433,000 chips with 8♠-8♥. Schemion called, of course, and put a death lock on the hand when the flop came down 4♦-4♥-J♥. Kenney didn’t hit his miracle runner-runner quads and hit the rail in 6th place.
That series of knockouts launched Schemion into the chip lead with over 2.8 million, but his lead lasted just a few minutes. Selbst raised to 50,000 pre-flop with K♣-K♥ and Schemion made the call from the big blind with A♥-8♠. They both checked the K♦-T♥-6♥ flop, but on the T♣ turn, Schemion bet 67,000. Having turned a boat, Selbst raised to 141,000 and Schemion called. The river was the 2♦ and to Selbst’s joy, Schemion check-raised all-in after she bet 465,000. Selbst obviously called for over 1.2 million and took the chip lead at 2.951 million.
Selbst continued her run before the next break, flopping a set again and trips once to get her stack up to 4 million. Then, she found A♥-K♠ in the small blind and raised pre-flop to 75,000. Shaun Deeb called with A♦-T♣ and was likely loving the flop of T♠-3♥-2♣. Selbst apparently liked the flop, too, as they got into a raising war which ended with Deeb all-in and Selbst making the call. The turn was inconsequential, but the river produced the K♦. Selbst seemed almost embarrassed that she won the hand and knocked Deeb out, as she knew she made a bad call. But that’s poker and now she had 5.342 million chips, more than the three remaining competitors combined.
Right after the break, Schemion’s roller coaster ride came to an end. Troyanovskiy started with a pre-flop raise, Schemion three-bet with pocket 5’s, pot committing himself, Mike Watson called with Queens, and Troyanovskiy folded. Watson put Schemion all-in on the J♦-K♣-4♣ flop (well, not technically because he miscounted, but the last bit of chips went in on the turn) and Schemion couldn’t hit another 5, going out in 4th place.
Watson himself was next to go. He bet 80,000 pre-flop with K♥-J♥ and called after Selbst raised to 210,000 with K♠-Q♠. Selbst then bet 260,000 after the flop of A♥-9♠-8♠ and Watson called. On the turn card of Q♣, Selbst looked like she was going to bet, but instead opted to check. She called when Watson bet 320,000. The 2♠ on the river made Selbst’s flush and she checked again. To her delight, Watson shoved and she quickly called, springing her trap and eliminating Watson in 3rd place.
Going into heads-up play, Selbst had a huge lead on Troyanovskiy, 8.3 million to 1.9 million. She never lost the lead, and while she fell back a couple million at one point, Selbst never really let her opponent back in the match.
On the final hand, the two raised and re-raised pre-flop until Troyanovskiy was all-in for 1.735 million. He had pocket Kings, she had A-Q. Nothing on the flop, nothing on the turn, but Selbst caught an Ace on the river to win the 2013 PCA $25,000 High Roller Event and become the winningest woman in tournament history.
2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller Event – Final Table Standings
- Vanessa Selbst – $1,424,420
- Vladimir Troyanovskiy – $792,180
- Mike Watson – $462,320
- Ole Schemion – $354,860
- Shaun Deeb – $289,880
- Bryn Kenney – $229,900
- Tobias Reinkemeier – $174,940
- Micah Raskin – $129,940