Vanessa became a professional poker player in 2005. She has earned over $3 million playing poker. She won more than $700,000 finishing 2nd in the World Championship of Online Poker in 2007. Her earnings put her in the top five women in poker history. She was featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. She has taught poker to the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women. Vanessa was formerly married to fellow poker player Chad Brown. Her poker nicknames are Lady Maverick and Pokerness.