Vanessa Selbst Repeats as NAPT Mohegan Sun Champion

Vanessa Selbst completed a rare feet in the poker world Wednesday. By winning the North American Poker Tour’s Mohegan Sun tournament, Selbst became the first player in the tour’s history to win the same tournament in back-to-back years.

Selbst entered the final table second in chips, but was clearly one of the favorites to win the event given her excellent results in the past two years. For a while though, it appeared that things wouldn’t be going her way; with five players remaining, Selbst had fallen to last in chips, and her dream of repeating as champion at Mohegan Sun seemed to be out of reach.

But Selbst used a combination of her well-known skills and the always necessary luck to fight her way back into contention. With three players left, she stayed alive when her A5 outdrew the AK of Tyler Kenney, who was soon eliminated by chip leader Dan Shak.

Shak went into heads up play with a 3-1 chip lead over Selbst. However, Selbst took the lead for good when Shak’s middle pair ran into a set for Selbst, after which she never looked back. Shak was eventually eliminated when he pushed with a pair, only to find that Selbst held top two pair, which was more than enough to win.

For her victory, Selbst took home $450,000. Shak earned $254,000 as the runner up.

Selbst has been on a tear in recent years, winning a variety of high profile events that have made her one of the most successful players in tournament poker. Recent wins include victories in 2010 on the Partouche Poker Tour, last year’s edition of the NAPT event at Mohegan Sun, and a 2008 World Series of Poker bracelet win. With her most recent victory, Selbst’s lifetime winnings have now surpassed the $4 million mark.

Here are the results from the final table, as reported in Bluff Magazine:

1st: Vanessa Selbst - $450,000
2nd: Dan Shak - $254,000
3rd: Tyler Kenney - $170,000
4th: Thomas Hoglund Jr - $120,000
5th: Vincent Rubianes - $90,000
6th: Joe Tehan - $70,000
7th: Aaron Overton - $50,000
8th: Steve O’Dwyer - $32,330