Poker players can be some of the pettiest people on the planet; there is nothing wrong with this. If you can watch somebody else win without dying a little on the inside perhaps you should give up on poker and take up something less competitive, like needlepoint. So with that in mind, most of us experience the euphoria of schadenfreude when somebody takes an early exit from a big tournament like the World Series of Poker. With that said, I take absolutely no pleasure in reporting that Vanessa Rousso’s Main Event experience has come to an end on Day 2b.
Vanessa has always been one of the really good people in this sport. From the perspective of a poker writer, she has always been accessible, friendly, and very tolerant of deadlines that have more to do with us and nothing to do with her. She once did an interview with me on her cell phone while going presumably way to fast on a Florida highway; she was in between commitments, but still did her best to help me with my deadline. This is in complete contrast to one particular player, who, after coming in second in a big tournament, and taking away a couple million dollars for their runner up finish, refused to talk, but rather directed us to his “person”. The representative who we were forced to deal with simply informed us that the player would be releasing a statement the next day. In most cases this would be fine, but at the article I needed his quotes for were for a publication he was contractually obligated to speak with. In other words, the guy was an a$$hole. There are far too many of him, and far too few Vanessa’s in the world.
A lot of us are sorry to see her out of the Main Event, but there is very little doubt that she will someday have a WSOP bracelet.
