Vanessa Selbst is the first female player at the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas to beat out the men for a championship gold bracelet.

She has won Event #19, a $1,500 buy-in, pot-limit Omaha tournament that had 758 entrants, a total prize pool of about $1 million and paid off the Top 72 finishers.

The event, like all WSOP events except one, is open to men and women. The lone exception is the WSOP women’s tourney, held earlier this month and guaranteed to have a female winner.

Selbst, 23, from the Brooklyn section of New York City, New York, USA, is a student. She graduated from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, and now plans to attend Yale Law School, the same law school attended by Bill and Hillary Clinton. She describes herself as a professional poker player.

For the big win, Selbst collects an even bigger $227,933 and her first WSOP championship gold bracelet.

Finishing second in the tourney was Jamie Pickering of Surfer’s Paradise, Australia, picking up $145,459.

Third was Stanley Statkiewicz of Chicago, Illinois, USA, whose stats show he won $88,063.

Fourth was Thomas Schultz of Littleton, Colorado, USA, who won more than a little, $72,004.

Fifth was Eugene Todd, also from Brooklyn, garnering $59,054.

Sixth was Craig Natte of Hudsonville, Michigan, USA, netting $46,621.

Seventh was Mel Randolph of Waikiki, Hawaii, USA, who snagged $36,261.

Eighth was Jamie Robbins of San Diego, California, USA, who nabbed $28,491.

Ninth was Ken Lairson of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, who snared $20,721.

Tenth was Calen “Big Wheel” McNeil of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, who rolled in $12,950.

As for Selbst, she is the first woman to win an open-to-all WSOP event since Katja Thater won a razz tournament at last year’s WSOP, and the 19th woman in WSOP history to win a gold bracelet in an open-to-all WSOP event.

Selbst now joins an exclusive list that includes just 18 other women: Cyndy Violette, Annie Duke, Nani Dollison, Vera Richmond, Maria Stern, Jen Harman, Linda Johnson, Kathy Liebert, Thater, Jerri Thomas, Barbara Enright, Starla Brodie, Juanda Matthews, Dani Kelly, Donna Doman, Lynn Harvey, Sandy Stupak and Clare Miller.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)