Selbst now has $7,280,075 in lifetime tournament winnings, which puts her over a million clear of former leader Kathy Liebert.
It was an emphatic victory for Selbst as she got past noted grinders Shaun Deeb, Tobias Reinkemeier, Bryn Kenney and Ole Schemion in the incredible finale of the $25k High Roller event.
Schemion was active early and busted Micah Raskin, Reinkemeier and Kenney in rapid succession over the first few hands.
The tables turned much later in the final table, however, when Schemion was eliminated by Mike Watson in fourth place. Watson then just missed out on heads-up play when he shoved king-high into a rivered flush to bust in third.
Perhaps the highlight hand, however, occurred when Deeb was dusted in fifth place thanks to a horrific bad beat.
Vanessa Selbst Shocks Shaun Deeb with Sick Three-Outer
Just when it looked like online MTT master Shaun Deeb might finally be on his way to his first major live score he received a sickening bad beat from Selbst.
Deeb had Selbst dead to rights with A♦ T♣ on a T♠ 3♥ 2♣ board versus Selbst’s A♥ K♠.
Selbst bet 60,000 on the flop, Deeb raised to 208,000 and Selbst re-raised to 465,000. Deeb moved all-in for about 1.5 million chips more.
Selbst surprisingly called, only to have Deeb show her top-pair.
“I leveled myself into calling,” said Selbst after the hand.
The 9♣ turn changed nothing but the river stunned the room when it came K♦ to give Selbst a superior top-pair and send Deeb packing.
Deeb received $289k for coming in fifth but will have to wait for another day to win a major live tournament.
Selbst also got incredibly lucky in the final hand of the tournament when she rivered a pair of aces with ace-queen against Troyanovskiy's pocket kings.
The final-table payouts:
1. Vanessa Selbst – $1,425,420 2. Valadimir Troyanovskiy – $792,180 3. Mike Watson – $462,320 4. Ole Schemion – $354,860 5. Shaun Deeb – $289,880 6. Bryn Kenney – $229,990 7. Tobias Reinkemeier – $174,940 8. Micah Raskin – $129,940Visit www.pokerlistings.com