Winner at 2006 the Borgata Poker Open
Hopefully Vanessa Rousso will never have any legal trouble. But if she does, the bigger problem might be locating a jury of her peers. After all, how many 24-year-old, professional poker playing law students do you know who speak three languages, went to Duke on a full scholarship, graduated cum laude, and have impeccable fashion sense?
A dual-citizen of the United States and France, Vanessa's upbringing spanned two continents, four states, and half-a-dozen schools. Her original style and quirky charisma along with her entrepreneurial instincts have led others to describe her as the Lady Maverick of Poker.
As a child, Vanessa showed an early interest in puzzles and games and started playing poker when she was five. Her professional debut would have to wait several years, but then on summer break from law school she entered a WSOP Circuit event in New Orleans. By making the final table she became the youngest woman to place so high in a WSOPC event. In the fall, she went back to school, but started having second thoughts about diving right into a legal career.
In 2006, Vanessa monied in several tournaments, including a fifth-place finish in Atlantic City where she competed wearing nothing but a bathrobe. Though that made an indelible impression on everyone there, Vanessa's game would soon overshadow her fashion. Over the next seven months, she monied in eight tournaments, including seventh-place at the World Poker Tour Championship, eighth-place at the World Series of Poker, and in September she won a high-stakes event at the Borgata Poker Open and took home more than $280,000.
As a young, blonde female, Vanessa considers herself the master of low expectations at the poker table. But after seeing her accomplish so much in such little time, one wonders what she can't do.
