Vanessa Rousso Has Won How Much Playing Poker?!

When it comes to Big Brother contestants, there haven’t been many who have entered the house with as much cash money as Vanessa Rousso. For many of the players, the game is a way to walk away with money, fame, and some serious notoriety. But Big Brother 17 contestant Vanessa Rousso is the second-highest ranked female poker player in the world, and has already won over $3.25 million playing the cad game. In light of that, you have to wonder why she’s playing the Big Brother game at all. I mean, it makes complete sense that someone like Jason — who lives in his mom’s basement — or James — who has a kid back home — would subject themselves to 24-hour surveillance, grueling physical challenges, and some sludge like thing that you have to eat for an entire week. But Vanessa? Why exactly is a millionaire putting her life on hold for three months just to take a stab at $500K?

Well, for one, I’m pretty sure she’s just as much in love with playing the game as she is with winning it. As a student of game theory and a long-time poker player — she has been playing online poker since she was a teenager — she clearly is in the Big Brother house because she loves games of strategy. And what better strategy-based game is there to play than Big Brother? It seems like it would be the ultimate challenge for someone who loves playing games and trying to read people for sport.

And then there’s the fact that, just because she’s won $3.25 million from poker, doesn't mean that the Big Brother money isn't still a huge draw for Vanessa. OK, fine. Her biggest poker win in her entire career was $900K, but, other than that huge windfall, her biggest takehomes have been in the $300K range. Which, granted, is nothing to shake a stick at. But still. That means the $500K take home from Big Brother would be the second highest payout she’s ever received!

So, yeah. Sure. She’s a millionaire. But she’s amassed those earnings more from smaller wins like the $1,957 she won the most recently than from huge takeaways. Winning $500K on Big Brother might not make as big of an impact as it would on, say, Jason’s life, but it would still be a huge pot for Vanessa to walk away with. One of the biggest she has ever won.

Things change so quickly in the Big Brother house, it can be hard to keep up. To keep track of everything going on in the Big Brother house, check out Bustle’s very own Big Brother podcast, The Diary Room. Listen to the latest episode below, and be sure to check out future episodes on Bustle’s SoundCloud page and iTunes.

Image: CBS (2)