The night before out professional poker player Vanessa Selbst beat out an all-male field of competitors to take home first place in the $25,000 PokerStars High Roller Tournament, she made a risky bet: She asked her girlfriend to marry her.
"I thought if I did it the night before the Super High Roller, that would make me, like, extra lucky," Selbst told PokerStars.TV. "So far it's been working, so I think that was a pretty good strategy."
Selbst's girlfriend said yes, and set up her new fiancee to keep the good news coming.
On Monday, Selbst won the entire poker tournament, taking home more than $1.4 million in prize money and making history as the highest-earning woman in poker, with more than $6 million to her name. The 28-year-old kept her poker face on lock, and cooly stepped away from the table with some serious cash.
Selbst, who says she plays for the joy of the game — and the money — welcomes more female challengers in the male-dominated world of professional poker.
"There's plenty of room for women to get involved in the game, to get really good at it, and to beat all the guys," Selbst told PokerStars.com.
Watch a brief video below where Selbst describes the impulsive nature of her proposal, and coyly notes that she's got the competition already trounced.
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