Vanessa Rousso
Encyclopedia
Vanessa Ashley Rousso is a French American
law student at the University of Miami
and a professional poker
player. She is also known by her Pokerstars
online screen name Lady Maverick. Born in , Rousso has dual citizenships
with the United States and France. Rousso is a member of Team PokerStars, and a spokesperson for GoDaddy.com. She has earned money as a professional poker player since 2005. A photo of her appeared in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
. Rousso was her 2001 high school class valedictorian
and graduated from Duke University
in December 2003. She is the wife of Chad Brown
.
, Rousso had finished in the money in numerous live poker events and had earned over $2,900,000 in career earnings. She had placed in the money a cumulative total of thirteen times in the 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 World Series of Poker
. In the 2008 tournament, she placed 625th of 6844 entrants in the Main event. However, in 2007, she had earned over $700,000 with a second place finish in the main event of the World Championship of Online Poker
. At the age of 27, she ranks among the top five women in poker history in terms of all-time money winnings. In addition, she has become one of the game's foremost sex symbol
s. She has been a pro-gambling activist on both the national and state level.
, in her father's homeland until she was 10, when she moved briefly to Upstate New York
. After her parents divorced in 1992, her mother moved Vanessa to Florida
near her maternal grandparents. Rousso attended Wellington Landings Middle School. The oldest of three athletic girls, Rousso was active on the high school swimming
, lacrosse
and debate
teams. She also played softball
and basketball
for fun. In debate, Rousso excelled in national debate tournaments in policy debate. Her mother is a guidance counselor at Jupiter Community High School
. In 2001, Rousso graduated as valedictorian of her high school in . She maintained a 4.0 GPA at Wellington High School
while participating in the National Honor Society
, and French Honor Society. She founded the Environmental Club and served as its president. She was also active as a violin
ist, varsity swimmer, and volunteer for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. Rousso has two younger sisters: Tiffany a psychology master's student at Florida Atlantic University
and Leticia, a pre-med student at University of Florida
.
In college, she was on the Dean's list
. After studying some game theory
, she became proficient with the Rubik's Cube
and then chess
. However, because she considers both to be fairly objective static games, she began to prefer poker, which incorporated human psychology
that allows for inferior hands to win. She graduated early from Duke University
after two and a half years with a major in economics
and a minor in political science
in December 2003. Her collegiate duration of two and a half years was the shortest time to graduate in the history of Duke. At each stage of her life, her mother warned her that she would someday meet her proverbial Waterloo and at each stage she has avoided such downfalls.
Rousso began law school in 2004 and was the inaugural recipient of the Chaplin Scholarship from the University of Miami
. During Law School at the University of Miami School of Law
, she served on the editorial board of the University of Miami Law Review. A poker player since the age of five, Rousso began serious poker tournament
play during her summer break from law school. Rousso was in the top 5% of her law school class, but she did not finish law school. Now, excluding online winnings, she ranks among the top five women in poker history in terms of all-time money winnings. She currently resides part time in and part time in . Her nickname was given to her by a relative when she sold shares of herself to enter a $25,000 buyin event in a manner that was reminiscent of a storyline in Mel Gibson
's movie called Maverick
. As of year end 2009, Rousso drove a yellow Lamborghini
Gallardo.
and too young to play in the casino
s. Thus, she began playing online. This continued while she was in college. By the time she got to Miami law school in fall 2004, at age 21, she was able to play live poker at casinos and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino was within driving distance. She built her first stake at Hard Rock sit and go 10-player tables, where first prize was $250. From there, she was able to save for a $1,500 entry fee in Atlantic City in late 2005, which she parlayed into $17,500. This enabled her to afford entry into the World Poker Tour event at the Bellagio Vegas. She has been televised numerous times on both ESPN
and The Travel Channel
. She has made several appearances on the Poker After Dark
television program. She has also been televised as part of the World Poker Tour. She is known for wearing a cap
, headphones
and designer sunglasses
.
Her first win in a professional event came on June 13, 2005 in during the No-Limit Hold'em Summer Series. Rousso now has a total of thirteen WSOP in the money finishes (2010
-2, 2009
-4, 2008
-3, 2006
-3, and 2005
-1). At the 2005 World Series of Poker
, she placed 45th in a field of 601 in the Event 26, $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Texas hold 'em
event won by Jennifer Tilly
two weeks later (on June 26, 2005).
On February 12, 2006, Rousso placed fifth at the final table of the 195-entrant $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em WSOP Circuit event at Harrah's Atlantic City. This appearance at the final table established a record at as the youngest female player at the time to reach a World Series of Poker circuit final table.
Rousso joined the professional poker tour in April 2006 and by October was among the top 80 in earnings that year. In her first year of playing, Rousso had multiple in the money tournament finishes, including a seventh place finish in a field of 605 at the $25,000 April 26, 2006 World Poker Tour
(Season four) No-Limit Hold'em championship event in which she earned $263,625 in prize money. She met her future husband Chad Brown
at the final table of this event. By that time she was spending Tuesday through Thursday taking her law school classes, spending the rest of the week playing in poker tournaments and fielding endorsement offers from online poker clubs. On September 13, 2006 she won $285,450 with a first place finish at the 173-entrant $5,000 no limit hold 'em event at the 4th Borgata Open
. At 2006 World Series of Poker
she had three in the money finishes. She finished 80th in a field of 1068 in Event 4, $1,500 Limit Hold'em, 63rd in a field of 824 in Event 5, $2500 Short Handed No-Limit Hold'em, and she placed 8th of 507 in the Event 30, $5000 Short Handed No-Limit Hold'em event.
By 2007, Rousso was a notable poker star. In October 2007, Rousso was part of a contingent of poker industry representatives and leaders of the 800,000-member Poker Players Alliance
who flew to Washington, DC to attempt to convince the United States Congress
to overturn the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The law compels financial institutions to monitor and stop their customers' cash transfers to unlawful online gaming sites. The group met with both the United States House Committee on the Judiciary
and the United States House Committee on Financial Services
. She spoke in favor of a proposal by Barney Frank
to license and regulate online gambling. The alliance also spoke in favor of the Skill Game Protection Act proposed by Robert Wexler
to exempt poker, mah-jongg, chess, bridge and other games where contestants compete against each other rather than the "house" from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. In May 2009, Frank, who had become the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services in 2007, continued his efforts to "establish a framework to allow licensed gambling operators to process bets from players in the United States," with the support of the Poker Players Alliance and Harrah's Entertainment
among others.
In 2007, she earned $700,782.50, her largest career payday at that time, during the World Championship of Online Poker
NL Hold'em Main Event with a second place finish in the 2998-entrant field. She had originally placed third in the event, but the winner was found to have violated the Pokerstars terms of service, which caused a disqualification ruling and caused all contestants to be elevated one place in the rankings. The tournament is run online Rousso's sponsor, PokerStars, and she had originally earned the third place prize of $463,940.50. At 2008 World Series of Poker
she again had three in the money finishes. She placed 57 of 605 in Event 38, $2000 Pot Limit Hold'em, placed 44 of 2693 in Event 52, $1500 No Limit Hold'em, and 625 of 6844 in the Main event 54, $10,000 No Limit Hold'em.
In January 2009 Rousso just missed the televised six-handed WPT final table while playing at the World Poker Tour Season VII Southern Poker Championship, She finished in seventh place and earned $79,117. She was engaged to Brown in 2008, and the couple eloped in early 2009, making them the first married couple to be featured on the same major online poker team. In the head-to-head single-elimination 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship
tournament, Rousso made it to the finals of the 64-person field before losing to Huck Seed
. Along the way to her runner-up finish, she defeated Doyle Brunson
, Phil Ivey
, Paul Wasicka
, Daniel Negreanu
and Bertrand Grospellier
. Previously, Shannon Elizabeth
's 2007 semi-final appearance had been the best female finish in the annual event. The March 6–8 tournament was broadcast on NBC
over six consecutive Sundays from April 12 – May 17, 2009. , her tournament winnings exceed $3,100,000. In May 2009, Rousso won the 79-entrant €25,000 EPT High Roller Championship, which had a first prize of 720,000 Euro
s. However, at the final table, the three final contestants elected to chop chips at €420,000 and leave €150,000 for the winner. The €570,000 win, which converts to $749,467, represents the highest payday of her career. The win propelled Rousso to sixteenth place on the 2009 earnings list as of May 5.
In 2009, Rousso spoke in favor of changes to Florida gambling laws that would remove caps on buy-ins and wagers on poker in the state. She felt the gambling limitations precluded more strategic skilled deeper stack competition and said that Florida gamblers "don't have enough chips in front of them to play out the bets and raises that are required in the skillful aspect of the game". In 2007, a $100 cap replaced a $2/bet limit. This cap still prohibits large tournaments with multi-thousand dollar buy-ins from occurring in Florida.
Rousso had her own April 2009 poker instructional camp in South Florida. The camp related poker playing and strategies to the strategies of military conflict in Sun Tzu
's book, The Art of War
. She called her camp "Big Slick boot camp" and charged a $399 participation fee. The camp's website makes the analogy of the Art of War and the Art of Poker.
At the 2009 World Series of Poker
she had four in the money finishes: She placed 27 of 201 in Event 2, $40,000 No Limit Hold'em, placed 17 of 147 in Event 8, $2500 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball, placed 19 of 770 in Event 31, $1,500 H.O.R.S.E., and 15 of 275 in the Event 45, $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em. In the main event, she busted out on day 6 (officially known as day 2B). Rousso will be hosting Stars of Poker in France. On January 9, 2010, she finished first among 91 entrants to earn $24,725 at the $ 1,000 No Limit Hold'em – Ladies Event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
At the 2010 World Series of Poker
she has had two in the money finishes: She placed 421 of 4345 in Event 3, $1,000 No Limit Hold'em, and was eliminated in the quarter-final round of 256 entries, earning $92,580 in the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship. On December 8, 2010, she finished 3rd in a field of 438 at the $10,000 World Poker Tour
No Limit Hold'em Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic and won by Antonio Esfandiari
, earning $358,964.
online poker
cardroom under the screenname LadyMaverick as part of their Team PokerStars. Despite the scheduling difficulties of professional poker, Rousso attempts to maintain her physical fitness
. Pokerstars approached Sports Illustrated
about including a poker player in their Swimsuit edition. Rousso was sent to the Bahamas to be photographed by Sports Illustrated, but she appears in an advertisement in a bikini
bottom and cutoff wetsuit
top rather than in the editorial portion of the magazine. Rousso announced on her January 4, 2009 vblog that Sports Illustrated
asked her to be a part of its Swimsuit Edition and a photo shoot took place at time of the 2009 EPT PCA event in Nassau, Bahamas
. Rousso confirmed on January 15, 2009 that she would appear in the February 10, 2009 issue. Rousso's thoughts on the Sports Illustrated publicity was that "It was a great opportunity for poker in general and for me in particular." Rousso had previously been featured in Maxim
, written game theory
in American Poker Player, and flown to to teach poker to the Forbes
100 Most Powerful Women.
On March 6, 2009 ThePlayr.com reported that Rousso had been signed to promote internet domain names by GoDaddy
, who was a sponsor of the 2009 National Heads-Up Championship. Rousso had signed with GoDaddy on March 5, which was the day before the tournament began. Rousso, along with IndyCar racer Danica Patrick
, will be an official GoDaddy Girl and act as a spokesperson for the site. GoDaddy's full lineup of spokespersons includes Rousso, Patrick, Candice Michelle
, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Anna Rawson
and Brad Keselowski
. Rousso and Keselowski replaced Amanda Beard
and Chad Johnson as spokespersons.
Rousso has appeared on Million Dollar Challenge
. She is a celebrity judge on Bank of Hollywood
where she helped award some of her own money to contestants.
French American
French Americans or Franco-Americans are Americans of French or French Canadian descent. About 11.8 million U.S. residents are of this descent, and about 1.6 million speak French at home.An additional 450,000 U.S...
law student at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
and a professional poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player. She is also known by her Pokerstars
PokerStars
PokerStars is the largest online poker cardroom in the world. PokerStars' satellite tournaments produced the 2003 World Series of Poker champion, Chris Moneymaker. 1983 champion Tom McEvoy, 2005 champion Joe Hachem, 2009 champion Joe Cada and 2010 champion Jonathan Duhamel and others also represent...
online screen name Lady Maverick. Born in , Rousso has dual citizenships
Multiple citizenship
Multiple citizenship is a status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen under the laws of more than one state. Multiple citizenships exist because different countries use different, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, citizenship requirements...
with the United States and France. Rousso is a member of Team PokerStars, and a spokesperson for GoDaddy.com. She has earned money as a professional poker player since 2005. A photo of her appeared in the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by Sports Illustrated. It features fashion models wearing swimwear in exotic locales. According to some, the magazine is the arbiter of supermodel succession. In addition, the issue is a media nexus that in 2005 carried in advertising....
. Rousso was her 2001 high school class valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
and graduated from Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
in December 2003. She is the wife of Chad Brown
Chad Brown (poker player)
Chad Lewis Brown is an American actor, poker player and color commentator, based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life & acting career:...
.
, Rousso had finished in the money in numerous live poker events and had earned over $2,900,000 in career earnings. She had placed in the money a cumulative total of thirteen times in the 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...
. In the 2008 tournament, she placed 625th of 6844 entrants in the Main event. However, in 2007, she had earned over $700,000 with a second place finish in the main event of the World Championship of Online Poker
World Championship of Online Poker
The World Championship of Online Poker is an online poker tournament series sponsored by PokerStars. It is played on the PokerStars site in September....
. At the age of 27, she ranks among the top five women in poker history in terms of all-time money winnings. In addition, she has become one of the game's foremost sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
s. She has been a pro-gambling activist on both the national and state level.
Background
Her parents are Marc Rousso and Cynthia Bradley of Hobe Sound. Rousso began talking and reading at early ages says her mother, Cynthia Ferrara. Born in New York, she moved with her family to France at age 3. She lived in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, in her father's homeland until she was 10, when she moved briefly to Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
. After her parents divorced in 1992, her mother moved Vanessa to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
near her maternal grandparents. Rousso attended Wellington Landings Middle School. The oldest of three athletic girls, Rousso was active on the high school swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
and debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
teams. She also played softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
for fun. In debate, Rousso excelled in national debate tournaments in policy debate. Her mother is a guidance counselor at Jupiter Community High School
Jupiter Community High School
Jupiter High School, also known as Jupiter Community High School, is located in Jupiter, Florida, which is the most northern school of Palm Beach.There are over 3000 students enrolled in the school...
. In 2001, Rousso graduated as valedictorian of her high school in . She maintained a 4.0 GPA at Wellington High School
Wellington High School (Florida)
Wellington High School is a public school located in Wellington, Florida, in central Palm Beach County.- Schedule :School begins at 7:23 AM and ends at 2:50 PM. The school is run on a block schedule. "Odd days" consist of periods 1, 3, 5, and 7. "Even days" consist of periods 2, 4, 5, and 6...
while participating in the National Honor Society
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
, and French Honor Society. She founded the Environmental Club and served as its president. She was also active as a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist, varsity swimmer, and volunteer for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. Rousso has two younger sisters: Tiffany a psychology master's student at Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...
and Leticia, a pre-med student at University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
.
In college, she was on the Dean's list
Dean's List
A Dean's List is a category of students in a college or university who achieve high grades during their stay in an academic term or academic year. In secondary schools, or high schools, the term Consistent Honor List or Honor Roll is more common, but Dean's List and Consistent Honor List are...
. After studying some game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
, she became proficient with the Rubik's Cube
Rubik's Cube
Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik.Originally called the "Magic Cube", the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980 and won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle that...
and then chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
. However, because she considers both to be fairly objective static games, she began to prefer poker, which incorporated human psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
that allows for inferior hands to win. She graduated early from Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
after two and a half years with a major in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and a minor in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
in December 2003. Her collegiate duration of two and a half years was the shortest time to graduate in the history of Duke. At each stage of her life, her mother warned her that she would someday meet her proverbial Waterloo and at each stage she has avoided such downfalls.
Rousso began law school in 2004 and was the inaugural recipient of the Chaplin Scholarship from the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
. During Law School at the University of Miami School of Law
University of Miami School of Law
The University of Miami School of Law, founded in 1926, is the law school of the University of Miami, located in Coral Gables, Florida, in the United States. The school graduated its first class of 13 students in 1929.- Academics :...
, she served on the editorial board of the University of Miami Law Review. A poker player since the age of five, Rousso began serious poker tournament
Poker tournament
A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table , and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tables...
play during her summer break from law school. Rousso was in the top 5% of her law school class, but she did not finish law school. Now, excluding online winnings, she ranks among the top five women in poker history in terms of all-time money winnings. She currently resides part time in and part time in . Her nickname was given to her by a relative when she sold shares of herself to enter a $25,000 buyin event in a manner that was reminiscent of a storyline in Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
's movie called Maverick
Maverick (film)
Maverick is a 1994 Western comedy film based on the 1950s television series of the same name, created by Roy Huggins. The film was directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by William Goldman and features Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner, as well as several cameo appearances...
. As of year end 2009, Rousso drove a yellow Lamborghini
Lamborghini
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini , is an Italian car manufacturer. The company was founded by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963, with the objective of producing a refined grand touring car to compete with established offerings from marques like...
Gallardo.
Poker career
When Rousso began playing poker seriously, she was a minorMinor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
and too young to play in the casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s. Thus, she began playing online. This continued while she was in college. By the time she got to Miami law school in fall 2004, at age 21, she was able to play live poker at casinos and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino was within driving distance. She built her first stake at Hard Rock sit and go 10-player tables, where first prize was $250. From there, she was able to save for a $1,500 entry fee in Atlantic City in late 2005, which she parlayed into $17,500. This enabled her to afford entry into the World Poker Tour event at the Bellagio Vegas. She has been televised numerous times on both ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
and The Travel Channel
Travel Channel
The Travel Channel is a satellite and cable television channel that is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, US. It features documentaries and how-to shows related to travel and leisure around the United States and throughout the world. Programming has included shows in African animal safaris,...
. She has made several appearances on the Poker After Dark
Poker After Dark
Poker After Dark was an hour-long poker television program on NBC. The show made its debut on January 1, 2007, and was cancelled as another victim of the "Black Friday" criminal case due to the show's sponsorship by Full Tilt Poker, one of that case's defendants. on September 23, 2011 For its first...
television program. She has also been televised as part of the World Poker Tour. She is known for wearing a cap
Cap
A cap is a form of headgear. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head and have no brim or only a visor. They are typically designed for warmth and, when including a visor, blocking sunlight from the eyes...
, headphones
Headphones
Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, held close to a user's ears and connected to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio, CD player or portable Media Player. They are also known as stereophones, headsets or, colloquially, cans. The in-ear...
and designer sunglasses
Sunglasses
Sunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can sometimes also function as a visual aid, as variously termed spectacles or glasses exist, featuring lenses that...
.
Her first win in a professional event came on June 13, 2005 in during the No-Limit Hold'em Summer Series. Rousso now has a total of thirteen WSOP in the money finishes (2010
2010 World Series of Poker
The 2010 World Series of Poker was the 41st annual World Series of Poker , held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 28 to July 17. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship that began on July 5...
-2, 2009
2009 World Series of Poker
The 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker . It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 27 to July 15. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event...
-4, 2008
2008 World Series of Poker
The 2008 World Series of Poker was the 39th annual World Series of Poker . Held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, the series began on May 30, 2008, and featured 55 poker championships in several variants. All events but the $10,000 World Championship No Limit Texas hold...
-3, 2006
2006 World Series of Poker
The 2006 World Series of Poker began on June 25, 2006 with "satellite" events, with regular play commencing on June 26 with the annual Casino Employee event, and the Tournament of Champions held on June 28 and 29...
-3, and 2005
2005 World Series of Poker
The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15 marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports and/or television history at the time was awarded to the...
-1). At the 2005 World Series of Poker
2005 World Series of Poker
The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15 marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports and/or television history at the time was awarded to the...
, she placed 45th in a field of 601 in the Event 26, $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Texas hold 'em
Texas hold 'em
Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
event won by Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...
two weeks later (on June 26, 2005).
On February 12, 2006, Rousso placed fifth at the final table of the 195-entrant $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em WSOP Circuit event at Harrah's Atlantic City. This appearance at the final table established a record at as the youngest female player at the time to reach a World Series of Poker circuit final table.
Rousso joined the professional poker tour in April 2006 and by October was among the top 80 in earnings that year. In her first year of playing, Rousso had multiple in the money tournament finishes, including a seventh place finish in a field of 605 at the $25,000 April 26, 2006 World Poker Tour
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...
(Season four) No-Limit Hold'em championship event in which she earned $263,625 in prize money. She met her future husband Chad Brown
Chad Brown (poker player)
Chad Lewis Brown is an American actor, poker player and color commentator, based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life & acting career:...
at the final table of this event. By that time she was spending Tuesday through Thursday taking her law school classes, spending the rest of the week playing in poker tournaments and fielding endorsement offers from online poker clubs. On September 13, 2006 she won $285,450 with a first place finish at the 173-entrant $5,000 no limit hold 'em event at the 4th Borgata Open
Borgata
The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa is a luxury hotel, casino, and spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by Marina District Development, a joint venture between Boyd Gaming and a divesture trust established by MGM Resorts International...
. At 2006 World Series of Poker
2006 World Series of Poker
The 2006 World Series of Poker began on June 25, 2006 with "satellite" events, with regular play commencing on June 26 with the annual Casino Employee event, and the Tournament of Champions held on June 28 and 29...
she had three in the money finishes. She finished 80th in a field of 1068 in Event 4, $1,500 Limit Hold'em, 63rd in a field of 824 in Event 5, $2500 Short Handed No-Limit Hold'em, and she placed 8th of 507 in the Event 30, $5000 Short Handed No-Limit Hold'em event.
By 2007, Rousso was a notable poker star. In October 2007, Rousso was part of a contingent of poker industry representatives and leaders of the 800,000-member Poker Players Alliance
Poker Players Alliance
The Poker Players Alliance is an American nonprofit Interest group formed "to speak with one voice to promote poker, and to protect the players' rights." The PPA formed to serve as an advocacy group to Washington to establish rights and protections for U.S. poker players. Within the first year of...
who flew to Washington, DC to attempt to convince the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to overturn the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The law compels financial institutions to monitor and stop their customers' cash transfers to unlawful online gaming sites. The group met with both the United States House Committee on the Judiciary
United States House Committee on the Judiciary
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement...
and the United States House Committee on Financial Services
United States House Committee on Financial Services
The United States House Committee on Financial Services is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees the entire financial services industry, including the securities, insurance, banking, and housing industries...
. She spoke in favor of a proposal by Barney Frank
Barney Frank
Barney Frank is the U.S. Representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, he is the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and is considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States.Born and raised in New Jersey, Frank graduated from Harvard College and...
to license and regulate online gambling. The alliance also spoke in favor of the Skill Game Protection Act proposed by Robert Wexler
Robert Wexler
Robert Wexler is the president of the Washington-based S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.Wexler was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing , from 1997 until his resignation on January 3, 2010.-Early life:Wexler was born in Queens, New York to Sonny and...
to exempt poker, mah-jongg, chess, bridge and other games where contestants compete against each other rather than the "house" from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. In May 2009, Frank, who had become the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services in 2007, continued his efforts to "establish a framework to allow licensed gambling operators to process bets from players in the United States," with the support of the Poker Players Alliance and Harrah's Entertainment
Harrah's Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment Corporation is a private gaming corporation that owns and operates over 50 casinos, hotels, and seven golf courses under several brands. The company, based in Paradise, Nevada, is the largest gaming company in the world, with yearly revenues $8.9 billion...
among others.
In 2007, she earned $700,782.50, her largest career payday at that time, during the World Championship of Online Poker
World Championship of Online Poker
The World Championship of Online Poker is an online poker tournament series sponsored by PokerStars. It is played on the PokerStars site in September....
NL Hold'em Main Event with a second place finish in the 2998-entrant field. She had originally placed third in the event, but the winner was found to have violated the Pokerstars terms of service, which caused a disqualification ruling and caused all contestants to be elevated one place in the rankings. The tournament is run online Rousso's sponsor, PokerStars, and she had originally earned the third place prize of $463,940.50. At 2008 World Series of Poker
2008 World Series of Poker
The 2008 World Series of Poker was the 39th annual World Series of Poker . Held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, the series began on May 30, 2008, and featured 55 poker championships in several variants. All events but the $10,000 World Championship No Limit Texas hold...
she again had three in the money finishes. She placed 57 of 605 in Event 38, $2000 Pot Limit Hold'em, placed 44 of 2693 in Event 52, $1500 No Limit Hold'em, and 625 of 6844 in the Main event 54, $10,000 No Limit Hold'em.
In January 2009 Rousso just missed the televised six-handed WPT final table while playing at the World Poker Tour Season VII Southern Poker Championship, She finished in seventh place and earned $79,117. She was engaged to Brown in 2008, and the couple eloped in early 2009, making them the first married couple to be featured on the same major online poker team. In the head-to-head single-elimination 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship
National Heads-Up Poker Championship
-2006:- 2007 :-2008:In additional to the poker professionals, several poker-playing celebrities from other fields were invited: Gabe Kaplan, Don Cheadle, Jennifer Tilly, Shannon Elizabeth, Jason Alexander and Orel Hershiser. Also invited was Alisha Kunze of Greensburg, Indiana, who won her seat...
tournament, Rousso made it to the finals of the 64-person field before losing to Huck Seed
Huck Seed
Huckleberry Seed is an American professional poker player best known for winning the main event of the 1996 World Series of Poker.-Early Life:...
. Along the way to her runner-up finish, she defeated Doyle Brunson
Doyle Brunson
Doyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to...
, Phil Ivey
Phil Ivey
Phillip Dennis "Phil" Ivey Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables...
, Paul Wasicka
Paul Wasicka
Paul J. Wasicka is a professional poker player, based in Las Vegas, Nevada who was the runner-up at the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event and the winner of the 2007 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship....
, Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu is a Canadian professional poker player. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles. He is currently ranked second in the all-time career earnings list and is the star of poker game show Million Dollar Challenge. He plays a big...
and Bertrand Grospellier
Bertrand Grospellier
Bertrand Grospellier , also known as ElkY is a poker player and former pro gamer from France who has won a World Poker Tour , a World Series of Poker bracelet and a European Poker Tour title...
. Previously, Shannon Elizabeth
Shannon Elizabeth
Shannon Elizabeth is an American actress and former fashion model. Elizabeth is well known for her roles in comedy films such as Scary Movie, American Pie, and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. She is also well known for her work in horror films such as Thirteen Ghosts, Cursed, and Night of the Demons...
's 2007 semi-final appearance had been the best female finish in the annual event. The March 6–8 tournament was broadcast on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
over six consecutive Sundays from April 12 – May 17, 2009. , her tournament winnings exceed $3,100,000. In May 2009, Rousso won the 79-entrant €25,000 EPT High Roller Championship, which had a first prize of 720,000 Euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s. However, at the final table, the three final contestants elected to chop chips at €420,000 and leave €150,000 for the winner. The €570,000 win, which converts to $749,467, represents the highest payday of her career. The win propelled Rousso to sixteenth place on the 2009 earnings list as of May 5.
In 2009, Rousso spoke in favor of changes to Florida gambling laws that would remove caps on buy-ins and wagers on poker in the state. She felt the gambling limitations precluded more strategic skilled deeper stack competition and said that Florida gamblers "don't have enough chips in front of them to play out the bets and raises that are required in the skillful aspect of the game". In 2007, a $100 cap replaced a $2/bet limit. This cap still prohibits large tournaments with multi-thousand dollar buy-ins from occurring in Florida.
Rousso had her own April 2009 poker instructional camp in South Florida. The camp related poker playing and strategies to the strategies of military conflict in Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu
Sun Wu , style name Changqing , better known as Sun Tzu or Sunzi , was an ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher who is traditionally believed, and who is most likely, to have authored The Art of War, an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy...
's book, The Art of War
The Art of War
The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise that is attributed to Sun Tzu , a high ranking military general and strategist during the late Spring and Autumn period...
. She called her camp "Big Slick boot camp" and charged a $399 participation fee. The camp's website makes the analogy of the Art of War and the Art of Poker.
At the 2009 World Series of Poker
2009 World Series of Poker
The 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker . It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 27 to July 15. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event...
she had four in the money finishes: She placed 27 of 201 in Event 2, $40,000 No Limit Hold'em, placed 17 of 147 in Event 8, $2500 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball, placed 19 of 770 in Event 31, $1,500 H.O.R.S.E., and 15 of 275 in the Event 45, $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em. In the main event, she busted out on day 6 (officially known as day 2B). Rousso will be hosting Stars of Poker in France. On January 9, 2010, she finished first among 91 entrants to earn $24,725 at the $ 1,000 No Limit Hold'em – Ladies Event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
At the 2010 World Series of Poker
2010 World Series of Poker
The 2010 World Series of Poker was the 41st annual World Series of Poker , held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 28 to July 17. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship that began on July 5...
she has had two in the money finishes: She placed 421 of 4345 in Event 3, $1,000 No Limit Hold'em, and was eliminated in the quarter-final round of 256 entries, earning $92,580 in the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship. On December 8, 2010, she finished 3rd in a field of 438 at the $10,000 World Poker Tour
World Poker Tour season 9 results
Below are the results of season nine of the World Poker Tour - WPT Grand Prix de Paris:* Casino: Aviation Club de France, Paris, France* Buy-in: €10,000* 5-Day Event: May 8 – 15, 2010* Number of Entries: 247...
No Limit Hold'em Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic and won by Antonio Esfandiari
Antonio Esfandiari
Antonio Esfandiari is a professional poker player, known for his elaborate chip tricks.-Early life:When he was 9 years old his family moved to San Jose, California...
, earning $358,964.
Endorsements
Rousso is sponsored by the PokerStarsPokerStars
PokerStars is the largest online poker cardroom in the world. PokerStars' satellite tournaments produced the 2003 World Series of Poker champion, Chris Moneymaker. 1983 champion Tom McEvoy, 2005 champion Joe Hachem, 2009 champion Joe Cada and 2010 champion Jonathan Duhamel and others also represent...
online poker
Online poker
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of poker players worldwide...
cardroom under the screenname LadyMaverick as part of their Team PokerStars. Despite the scheduling difficulties of professional poker, Rousso attempts to maintain her physical fitness
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
. Pokerstars approached Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
about including a poker player in their Swimsuit edition. Rousso was sent to the Bahamas to be photographed by Sports Illustrated, but she appears in an advertisement in a bikini
Bikini
The bikini is typically a women's two-piece swimsuit. One part of the attire covers the breasts and the other part covers the crotch and part of or the entire buttocks, leaving an uncovered area between the two. Merriam–Webster describes the bikini as "a woman's scanty two-piece bathing suit" or "a...
bottom and cutoff wetsuit
Wetsuit
A wetsuit is a garment, usually made of foamed neoprene, which is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports, providing thermal insulation, abrasion resistance and buoyancy. The insulation properties depend on bubbles of gas enclosed within the material,...
top rather than in the editorial portion of the magazine. Rousso announced on her January 4, 2009 vblog that Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
asked her to be a part of its Swimsuit Edition and a photo shoot took place at time of the 2009 EPT PCA event in Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
. Rousso confirmed on January 15, 2009 that she would appear in the February 10, 2009 issue. Rousso's thoughts on the Sports Illustrated publicity was that "It was a great opportunity for poker in general and for me in particular." Rousso had previously been featured in Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
, written game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
in American Poker Player, and flown to to teach poker to the Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
100 Most Powerful Women.
On March 6, 2009 ThePlayr.com reported that Rousso had been signed to promote internet domain names by GoDaddy
Go Daddy
Go Daddy is an Internet domain registrar and Web hosting company that also sells e-business related software and services. In 2010, it reached more than 45 million domain names under management. Go Daddy is currently the largest ICANN-accredited registrar in the world, and is four times the size of...
, who was a sponsor of the 2009 National Heads-Up Championship. Rousso had signed with GoDaddy on March 5, which was the day before the tournament began. Rousso, along with IndyCar racer Danica Patrick
Danica Patrick
Danica Sue Patrick is an American auto racing driver, model and advertising spokeswoman. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing, being the only woman to win in the IndyCar Series as well as holding the highest finish by a woman at the Indianapolis 500 of 3rd...
, will be an official GoDaddy Girl and act as a spokesperson for the site. GoDaddy's full lineup of spokespersons includes Rousso, Patrick, Candice Michelle
Candice Michelle
Candice Michelle Beckman-Ehrlich better known as Candice Michelle or just Candice, is an American model, actress, and professional wrestler best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment....
, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Anna Rawson
Anna Rawson
Anna Rawson is an Australian professional golfer and model. She currently plays on the LPGA Tour.-Amateur and modeling career:...
and Brad Keselowski
Brad Keselowski
Bradley Robert Keselowski is an American auto racing driver currently competing in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger in the Sprint Cup Series and the #22 Discount Tire Company/Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger in the Nationwide Series for Penske Racing...
. Rousso and Keselowski replaced Amanda Beard
Amanda Beard
Amanda Ray Beard is an American swimmer and a seven-time Olympic medalist . She is a former world record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke ....
and Chad Johnson as spokespersons.
Rousso has appeared on Million Dollar Challenge
Million Dollar Challenge (poker)
Million Dollar Challenge is the most watched poker show in television history. It is sponsored by PokerStars. The show, which airs on the Fox Broadcasting Company, debuted on October 11, 2009. The show is hosted by Chris Rose and features Daniel Negreanu...
. She is a celebrity judge on Bank of Hollywood
Bank of Hollywood
Bank of Hollywood is an American reality television series. Hosted by Bryan Callen, the show airs on E!. It is based on the U.K. series Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway, in which contestants must appeal to a celebrity panel in order to receive money, and produced by Ryan Seacrest.The panel consists...
where she helped award some of her own money to contestants.
External links
- Official site
- Rousso profile at Bluff MagazineBluff MagazineBluff Magazine is an American magazine specializing in the game of poker. Separate editions are also published for Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Australasia....
- Rousso profile at TheHendonMob.com
- Rousso profile at Card PlayerCard PlayerCard Player magazine is an industry publication and web portal specializing in poker media, poker strategy and poker tournament coverage. The magazine was founded in 1988 by June Field. In 1998 it was bought by Barry Shulman, who is the current publisher and CEO...
- Rousso profile at WSOP.com