Vanessa Rousso

Vanessa Ashley Rousso (born February 5, 1983) is an American professional poker player, attorney, DJ, and television personality. Rousso was a member of Team PokerStars from 2006 to 2015, with the online name Lady Maverick, and was a spokesman for GoDaddy.com from 2009 to 2013. She has earned money as a professional poker player since 2005. Between 2005 and 2011, Rousso finished in the money in numerous live poker events and accumulated nearly $3.5 million, but has been less active since, earning just $83,000 in live tournaments between 2012 and 2017. She has placed in the money seventeen times at the World Series of Poker. In 2007, she won over $700,000 with a second-place finish in the main event of the World Championship of Online Poker. , having not cashed at a tournament since 2017, Rousso still ranks among the top ten women in poker history in terms of all-time money winnings. Rousso has been a pro-gambling campaigner and activist. She has appeared on television in several cash or charity poker competitions, and finished in third place as a contestant on the 2015 season of Big Brother. Early life and education Her parents are Marc Rousso and Cynthia Bradley of Hobe Sound, Florida. Rousso began talking and reading at early ages says her mother, Cynthia Ferrara. Born in White Plains, New York, she moved with her family to France at the age of three. She lived in Paris, in her father's homeland until she was 10, when she moved briefly to Upstate New York. Rousso holds dual citizenship with the United States and France. After her parents divorced in 1992, her mother moved Vanessa to Florida to be 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 debating teams. She also played softball and basketball for fun. In debating, Rousso excelled in national debating tournaments in policy debating. Her mother is a guidance counselor at Jupiter Community High School. In 2001, Rousso graduated as valedictorian of her high school in Wellington, Florida. 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 violinist, varsity swimmer, and volunteer for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.