Vanessa Rousso Reveals Secrets to Heads-Up Championship Success

On Sunday, Vanessa Rousso advanced to the finals of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will air on six consecutive Sundays on NBC starting in April. Rousso ultimately fell to poker pro Huck Seed in the featured match-up, but still pocketed $250,000 in the process.

Before the tournament started, Rousso was named as the newest Go Daddy Girl, joining race car driver Danica Patrick and original Go Daddy Girl Candice Michelle. Go Daddy, which serves as the presenting sponsor of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, was undoubtedly pleased with Rousso’s performance. The member of Team PokerStars Pro sat down with Poker News Daily to talk about her run through the event, which was held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas:

Poker News Daily: Congratulations on finishing as the runner up in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Talk about your match against Huck Seed.

Rousso: There’s a reason why Huck has the best heads-up record in that tournament. He’s a tough opponent. He played a completely different style against me than he did in the rest of the rounds. My game plan was to let my opponents be aggressive early and develop a tighter image. Then, I’d open up. Huck did that against me. He let me take the lead and become the aggressive player. I gave him too much credit and ran into two bad spots to shove. His win was well-deserved.

PND: You had a tough road to the finals, having to defeat Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Paul Wasicka, Daniel Negreanu, and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. You outlasted opponents with a combined $40 million in career tournament earnings.

Rousso: It was definitely a tough group of guys. You have three of the toughest players in the world, Ivey, Doyle, and Daniel. The others have won WPT and EPT titles. Paul Wasicka finished as the runner up in the 2006 WSOP Main Event. It was an extremely tough draw. It was really interesting that I was able to use the game plan I came in with to my advantage. I know that Daniel is willing to make big calls when the story of someone’s betting patterns doesn’t add up. I pushed all-in when I had the stone cold nuts. I didn’t think that Daniel would give me credit for it. I knew that if I made a hand and told a betting story that didn’t add up, I’d get called. That’s exactly what happened.

PND: Talk about competing as a Go Daddy Girl in an event sponsored by the company.

Rousso: I had some pressure to do well. I wanted to do well for Go Daddy in my first event with them. It was an experience going up against people who every poker player wonders what it’s like to play heads-up with. I took it as a personal challenge and an opportunity to rise to the occasion. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I executed my game plan well. The only person I didn’t have a game plan against was Huck because I didn’t have time to research him. My heads-up strategy is dependent on research.

PND: Talk about your heads-up strategy, then. What made you so successful in this tournament?

Rousso: You have to go into it with a plan. You can’t just sit down and wing it. I try to take advantage of the fact that I am a blank state for many of these players. They don’t have much of an image of me.

PND: Explain the background of signing with Go Daddy. When did it take place and what’s the allure of being a Go Daddy Girl?

Rousso: It was a super exciting opportunity. We needed to make some poker-themed commercials for the Heads-Up Championship and they needed a woman to be the lead. I realized that our brands worked well together. We signed a one year deal with a potential one year extension. We signed the deal last Thursday and it’s a great opportunity for poker. I hope to represent the industry in positive way and show the rest of the world that poker is an international sport.

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Poker talk:

INSIDE STRAIGHT - Four cards to a straight, where only one rank will complete the hand. E.g., 4-5-6-8 is an inside straight since only a 7 will fill (i.e., complete) the hand. Often called a GUT-SHOT. Compare: BOBTAIL STRAIGHT, OPEN-ENDED STRAIGHT.
RUNNER-RUNNER - A hand made using both of the last two cards dealt.
STAND OFF - To call a raise. "Opener raises, I stand off".
FLAT CALL - To call a bet. Emphasizes that the caller did not raise.
WALK - A pot won by the last blind when no one opens.
SEMI-BLUFF - To bluff with a come hand that figures to win if it hits.

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