Vanessa Selbst Making History -- Again -- in the Big One for One Drop
The excitement has been building around The Big One for One Drop ever since it was announced as part of the 2014 World Series of Poker schedule. The $1 million-dollar buy-in tournament was last played in 2012 and made history as the biggest buy-in poker tournament in historever to be held. Antonio Esfandiari walked away with the first-place prize of $18,346,673 and the tournament was deemed a success.
Today, Esfandiari was back to kick off the tournament with the ceremonial “shuffle up and deal” and when he did history was made again — this time by Vanessa Selbst, the first woman to play in the Big One for One Drop.
Making history isn’t new for Selbst, as she has been doing it for most of her career. She recently became the first female to reach the number one spot on the Global Poker Index, a ranking of the live tournament poker players around the world. With her third bracelet win earlier this summer in Event #2: $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold’em, she became the only woman with over $10 million in live tournament earnings.
Selbst has made it very clear that she doesn’t just want to be known as the best female poker player — she wants to be known as the best player, period. That doesn’t mean achieving anything with “female” as the qualifier isn’t important and meaningful, it’s just that in a game where men and women compete equally and on the same level, her goal is to be the best of the best.
Today, her name is definitely one that is mentioned in any conversation that discusses “who is the best poker player” — not because of her entry in today’s Big One for One Drop and not because of her third-bracelet win earlier this year, either. She is mentioned as one of the best because she thrives at competing — and beating — the best. She is fearless, consistent, focused, and dedicated to a game she loves.
Just prior to start of today’s Big One for One Drop, our own Sarah Grant caught up with Selbst to talk about the field, whether she has all of her action in the event, and #wherespapi on Instagram.
Make sure and follow Selbst’s quest to become the winningest player of all time by checking the Event #57 live updates straight from the tournament floor.
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