Though she placed behind first place winner, Antonio Esfandiari, who took home $870,124; and Andrew Robl, who came in second at $549, 003; Rousso’s final winnings were an impressive $358,964. She has definitely earned her reputation as a powerful player and a force to be reckoned with in a game that predominantly consists of men.

So who is this player who seems to always have the fates smiling down upon her? She’s a Duke University economics graduate, former law school student and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. What? Yes. That’s right; she has both beauty and brains. At Duke University, she had a full scholarship and graduated with honors. It was there that she was first introduced to game theory, which mathematically examines an individual’s behavior and success in strategic situations. Upon graduation, Rousso went off to law school at The University of Miami, where she initially wanted to become a securities litigator. Though she was in the top five percent of her class, poker caught her attention and she never looked back. And it looks as though she made the right decision.

Be prepared to see more of this multi-talented, well-educated woman. She won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, you will probably be seeing a lot more from her in the upcoming months.

Photo by Davide Guglielmo

Image via Wikipedia

Want to help PokerStars test their online poker software innovations and get something for yourself to boot? Then try TestPokerStars.com.

TestPokerStars.com is a beta site that allows you to try out the latest version of the PokerStars software, so you can evaluate their new game features before they go live on PokerStars.com. All games pay out play money only but the play poker chips you win on the test site can be transferred to the main PokerStars site, at a special bonus conversion rate currently set at two chips for every one you win. How’s that for good poker odds? That rate is subject to change, though, so get ‘em while you can.

You must have an account on the regular PokerStars site to access the test software. And because the site was created for beta testing, it might not be available all the time. If you find it’s down, though, come back a few hours later and try again; it may well be back up by then. Keep in mind that you may or may not get an answer if you contact support. Because it’s a beta site, they reserve the right to not answer every e-mail.