Vanessa Rousso is one of those people who like a challenge. Whether it’s in the classroom, at the poker table or at the end of a bungee cord, Vanessa likes to test herself, and this attitude has brought her success at pretty much everything she has tried. After attending the prestigious Duke University on a full scholarship and graduating with honors, she started at law school in Miami, but the excitement and potential rewards of poker put those plans on hold.

While at Duke, Vanessa became interested in game theory, a branch of applied math that deals with strategic situations. Much of this theory can be used in poker strategy and she began playing competitively in 2005. A year later she had her breakthrough result, finishing in seventh place at a tough WPT event in Las Vegas, collecting $263,625 in prize money. That result proved that she had the skills to play at the highest level, and Vanessa has cashed regularly in elite events both live and online ever since. She final tabled a WSOP event in 2006, before going on to win a WPT tournament and figure strongly in TV poker shows, further enhancing her reputation.

The 2007 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) provided one of her best results when she finished second in the Main Event, cashing for $700,782. The cashes kept coming before another defining moment - this time the high-profile televised NBC National Heads-Up Championship. With the poker world watching on, Vanessa beat some of the very best players in the game on her way to second place and $250,000 in prize money. That result set 2009 up nicely, and she went one better at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, when she won the High Roller €25,000 No Limit Hold’em event, collecting a huge $946,696. A look at her career highlights shows that Vanessa has found what many pros spend years searching for - consistency, and while she continues to play poker more success is guaranteed to follow.

Despite devoting much of her time to poker, Vanessa has a huge range of interests away from the table. She enjoys extreme sports, including bungee jumping and skydiving, and she’s also a pilot and experienced skier. She’s married to fellow Team PokerStars Pro Chad Brown, and the couple travel the world playing in PokerStars best tournaments. You can find Vanessa online at PokerStars playing under the User ID ‘LadyMaverick’.