Andrew Feldman, ESPN.com 10y

Selbst wins $25,000 Mixed Max event

Poker

The World Series of Poker kicks off the most prestigious tournament series in a significant way. The second event, after the $500 Casino Employees championship, isn't designed to get the biggest field, but instead create an event that includes the best in the game and offer a mind-numbing prize pool. The $25,000 Mixed Max championship event accomplished all goals, and resulted in Vanessa Selbst adding another bracelet to her collection. Selbst earned $871,148, her third six-figure score of 2014, and is now tied with Barbara Enright on top of the female all-time bracelet list with three. She is currently ranked third in ESPN.com's poker rankings.

"There's no feeling like having your first gold bracelet," she said to the WSOP. "But there's no feeling like having your third, either. They're all pretty incredible."

Selbst is a graduate of Yale Law and up until a few years ago, hadn't focused on poker full-time. Since turning her all her attention to the game she's been a consistent presence on "in the money" lists around the world.

The Mixed Max format featured four different variations of no-limit hold 'em. Day 1 is played nine-handed, Day 2 six-handed, Day 3 four-handed and lastly, the final four play heads-up. Selbst made it into the finals after coming back from a 7:1 deficit to business owner Al Decarolis, then made another comeback to defeat Jason Mo in the finals, a player who had tweeted earlier in the tournament that Selbst was "so bad." Selbst shook off the comment and happily posed with her her dogs with the bracelet after her victory.

"I really thrive in the 25K fields where the competition is really tough," she said after her victory to PokerNews. "I think I play them really well and I think my results represent that. I love these events. To get the bracelet in an event with such a tough field is extra special."

This was Mo's second WSOP runner-up finish in the past three years. He typically plays high stakes online, but had faced Selbst before ... in the 2012 Ladies Event when they were seated at the same table. The WSOP adjusted their Ladies' Event policies in 2013 which aimed to reduce that from happening again.

Mo defeated 2013 November Niner JC Tran to advance to the finals. Tran now has $4.2 million in WSOP earnings coming from 42 cashes.

Below are the complete results of Event 2 at the 2014 World Series of Poker:

Event 2: Mixed Max Championship
Buy-in: $25,000
Entries: 130
Prize pool: $3,111,250
Players in the money: 16

1. Vanessa Selbst ($871,148)
2. Jason Mo ($538,308)
3. Al Decarolis ($290,622)
4. JC Tran ($290,622)
5. Matt Giannetti ($171,461)
6. Robert Tepper ($171,461)
7. Ryan Fee ($112,752)
8. Aaron Jones ($112,752)
9. Darren Elias ($85,342)
10. Brian Green ($85,342)
11. Richard Lyndaker ($72,617)
12. Kevin Song ($72,617)
13. Nick Schulman ($63,158)
14. Calvin Anderson ($63,158)
15. Barry Hutter ($54,945)
16. Noah Schwartz ($54,945)

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