Hailing from Houston, Texas, Melanie discovered poker through her younger brother’s success online and decided that she wanted to learn the game. At the time she was studying musical theatre at NYU and began her poker career by playing low-stakes ring games online. Overcoming plenty of struggles to master the game, including massive stubbornness, less-than-enthused roommates, and the limitations of Apple computers at the time, she discovered multi-table tournaments and finally was able to develop a successful style in the game, and after winning a $3 tournament she devoted herself to learning MTT strategy and never looked back.
Learning mainly on her own through experience, Melanie climbed the MTT ranks with multiple wins in increasingly prestigious online tournaments. Alongside the MTTs, Melanie developed an affinity for heads-up poker and the amplified dynamics involved. She became a formidable presence in one-on-one battle and is currently both a tournament pro as well as a heads-up specialist. She has previously held the #1 ranking for heads-up sit-and-go players across all ranked sites, and has amassed over $1.2 million in online tournaments winnings.
Entering the live arena, Melanie has had an increasing number of deep runs in live major events around the globe, with five cashes in the last year’s WSOP and multiple EPT Ladies’ Event titles. She won the inaugural WPT South Africa six-max event in November 2012 for $42,000. Her live tournament winnings exceed $625,000 and at age 27, this is just the beginning for this rising star.