EPT Deauville: Pick Vanessa Rousso

NOTE: This article has been released prior to the start of Day 2 play at EPT Deauville. Although this player has confirmed her participation, please be sure to check if she officially entered the event and survived Day 1 play.

It was in the Spring of 2006 that then relatively unknown Floridian (by way of France) stunned the poker world as she was running deep at the prestigious 25K WPT Championship in Las Vegas. From that day on, Vanessa Rousso (GPI #950) became a huge star in the poker world.

But, life on the live tournament circuit hasn’t been too kind to Rousso in the past few years. Ranked #950 on the GPI, Rousso enters dangerous grounds where she could fall off the Top 1000 in the next little while – something absolutely unthinkable for such a great poker mind.

However things seem to be looking up for Lady Maverick. She recently won two huge matches at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, defeating Yevgeniy Timoshenko (GPI #110) in Round 1 and SCOOP master Shaun Deeb (GPI #91) in Round 2. Rousso would go on to lose to Scott Seiver (GPI #48) in the Sweet Sixteen. Despite the third round exit, this was a very positive start to 2013 for Rousso.

She also recently participated in a made-for-TV event in Canada with fellow PokerStars pros Daniel Negreanu and Jonathan Duhamel where each pro was matched with current and former National Hockey League players. Rousso ended up winning the event dominating the poker amateurs at the table – she destroyed the table.

Now I understand that Rousso was playing many amateurs with varying skill levels – but EPT Deauville has attracted 645, 768 and 891 players the past three years – many of these players amateurs – so, is it too much of a stretch to say that Rousso’s game might be exactly where she wants it to be? Perhaps, but it’s not too much of a stretch knowing that her confidence level may very well be at a peak, or, at least, the highest it’s been for a few years.

I think Rousso could be a great pickup for your GPI Fantasy Poker Manager team – especially at a current market price of 9,000, you could be adding a real threat for very, very cheap.

Why should I add Rousso to my team?
– Paying only 9,000 for a proven successful pro with still tons of poker left in her is almost criminal
– She can easily fit into your team’s plans no matter what strategy you’re using
– Rousso has had a good start to 2013, confidence meter riding high
– Lady Maverick has ties to France and may feel at home on the Deauville felt

What about you? Will you dare Make the Move and add Lady Maverick to your lineup? Go to Facebook now and make your picks and challenge your friends to play while you’re at it!