Vanessa Selbst

Vanessa Selbst Profile Summary

Vanessa Selbst’s Net Worth in 2024: $6 million

Vanessa Selbst is one of the most successful female poker players in history. This Brooklyn-born genius played poker professionally for 12 years with total earnings of $11,906,246. Selbst is the only woman to win three WSOP bracelets while playing open field events. 

Not just a super successful poker play, she’s also a Yale graduate and the only woman to reach the number one spot globally on the Global Poker Index. Once a member of Team Pokerstars Pro, she’s moved on to becoming a trader for a hedge fund. Online sources say Selbst’s current net worth is $6 million. 

You can leave poker, but I don’t think poker really ever leaves you

What does Vanessa Selbst Do?

Most people know Vanessa Selbst for her live poker tournament success. However, she left the scene in 2018. Today, Selbst has taken on a new career after the hedge fund Bridgewater hired her to trade for them. She retired from playing professional poker in 2018 so she could focus on her family as poker was demanding of her time, especially when going on tour. 

In total, Selbst’s professional poker career spanned over 12 years and she was hugely successful, bringing in winnings of over $11 million. This isn’t to say that poker is completely out of her system. 

After being out of the game for the last five years, she teamed up with WSOP to be part of the WSOP Thrill Team, made up of a group of poker ambassadors who join live poker tables via the WSOP free-to-play app. On the app, Selbst played poker with a few lucky players. 

Aside from online events, Selbst also returned to the WSOP in 2023, playing the Main Event and other tournaments. 

How did Vanessa Selbst Make Her Money?

Vanessa Selbst graduated from Yale where she met the future poker star Alex Jacob. They would play at NYC underground poker clubs and she moved on to poker online. She perfected her unique style of play and went on to play professionally. Over the 12 years she played, she brought in $11,906,246 in winnings and three bracelets.

From 2008 to 2014, she won her three WSOP bracelets, which came with large winnings. In 2010, she won $1,823,430 at the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event. This was her largest win with other large wins throughout her history including:

• PokerStars NAPT $4,700 + 3—No Limit Hold’Em – 2010 - $750,000
• NAPT $5,000 No Limit Hold’Em – 2011 - $450,000
• PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller - 2013 - $1,424,420

• Borgata Poker Open $3,300 + 200 No Limit Hold’Em – 2013 - $492,569
• Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout - $100,000 No Limit Hold’Em – 2015 - $1,000,000

What’s Vanessa Selbst’s Game of Choice? 

Vanessa Selbst has always played poker and was a professional poker player and coach.

What’s the Most She Ever Won Playing Poker?

In 2010, Selbst won the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event. It was an $8,500 buy-in tournament and she won $1,823,430.

Why did Vanessa Selbst Retire From Professional Poker?

Black Friday in poker had a large influence on why Selbst retired. In 2011, PokerStars stopped offering real money play to US customers. This meant that Vanessa had to start traveling to play, which took up a lot of her time, time she rather would have spent building a family.

Selbst also said that poker became more competitive and it was much harder work to stay winning. She’s smarter than the average person and wanted to focus on pursuing a corporate career. With a net worth of around $6,000,000, she has the freedom to do other things beyond poker. Currently, she’s bringing up a family and is working with the hedge fund Bridgewater.

Key Gambling Stats

Add gambling stats about the person. Three would be ideal but it depends on what’s available.

• Biggest ever win - $1,823,430
• WSOP Bracelets won - 3
• WSOP Cashes - 29

Gambling Advice From Vanessa Selbst 

Selbst has spoken about how her success can be attributed to a natural ability to deductive reasoning and logic. These talents along with honing her skills were huge assets during her professional poker career. 

Selbst has plenty of advice for new players or players looking to perfect their skills. She says it’s important to pay attention to people’s tendencies. Pay attention to how quickly someone plays their hand when they’re bluffing or not. Be patient, mindful, and fierce. In the long run, your diligence will pay off.

Bluff Your Way to a Win 

Another piece of advice from Vanessa is how to deal with an aggressive player who continues to raise the pot. If you’ve played a tight game, make a big raise. Everyone is going to believe you have a good reason to raise. Even if you don’t have a great hand, you’re probably going to convince everyone you do.

She also says if you want to get good at playing poker, put in the time to play online. Take a few months and go play cash games in Canada, Mexico, or even Europe. When playing cash games, Selbst has responsible gambling advice too. She says you want to make sure you have 100x the buy-in for the stakes you want to play.

Selbst is an inspiration to the game with some great tips on how to play. Try some of her strategies playing online poker to hone your skills!