Poker Stars Adds Selbst and Williams
July 12, 2010
Poker Stars has announced the addition of professional players David Williams and Vanessa Selbst to its sponsored Team PokerStars Pro.
Twenty-five-year-old Selbst is a native of Brooklyn, New York, and already has a World Series Of Poker bracelet and around $1.5 million in live tournament wins to her name.
According to Poker Stars, Selbst graduated from Yale University with a degree in political science and is currently studying at Yale Law School. She made her first World Series Of Poker final table in 2006 after finishing in sixth spot during a $2,000 no-limit hold'em event for a cash reward of $101,285. She returned the following year and won $128,968 for finishing third in the $5,000 Championship Heads-Up event before walking away in 2008 with a bracelet and $227,993 in cash for triumphing against a tough field of 759 in a $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event.
"She's been a lifelong fan of games including anything from cards to Pac-Man and her love of poker grew from there," read a statement from Poker Stars.
"She began taking the game seriously during her time at university and it's proving to be a lucrative extra-curricular activity that's seen Vanessa rake in more than $1.5 million in earnings.
"When she isn't playing poker, Vanessa concentrates on her studies and also gets involved with political issues such as the fight for social justice. She also likes playing basketball and tennis and games like pool and darts."
At only 30, Williams is one of the most successful poker players of all time with millions of dollars in tournament and cash game earnings after being introduced to the sport through competing professionally at Magic: The Gathering.
His live tournament career started off with a bang in 2004 when he nearly won the main event of the World Series Of Poker against Greg Raymer after prevailing against a giant field on Poker Stars to win his seat via a satellite.
The Texas-born player eventually finished second to walk away with $3.5 million before he took home $573,800 for a similar finish at the World Poker Tour's Borgata Poker Open. Williams then returned to the World Series Of Poker in 2006 and bagged his first bracelet along with $163,118 courtesy of winning a $1,500 seven-card stud event.
"He's become one of the biggest stars in poker since, earning the respect of both the fans and the other major pros on the circuit," read the statement from Poker Stars.
"The results have kept on coming including a huge cash of $1,530,537 for winning the World Poker Tour's $25,000 Championship event in 2010. David has also posted some big results online at Poker Stars including a World Championship Of Online Poker title in an eight-game tournament for a cash of $107,800.
"Outside of poker, David still plays Magic: The Gathering regularly with other poker pros that live in the same Las Vegas apartments as him. He also enjoys travelling, watching television and collecting sneakers. He's already close friends with many of the biggest names on the team and is pleased to be playing alongside them as he looks to take down his next major title."
Poker Stars revealed that Williams will compete online using the screen name 'DWilliams' while Selbst is set to take on challengers using the pseudonym 'V. Selbst'.
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