Vanessa Kade

Vanessa Kade is a Canadian professional poker player best known for winning the record-breaking PokerStars Sunday Million Anniversary in March 2021 for $1.5 million.

She has since recorded more than $1 million in live tournament cashes, including a fourth-place finish in the 2022 Wynn Millions Main Event for $527,000 and three PokerGO High Roller final tables during the summer of 2022. Her results took her to #1 in the Global Poker Index women’s rankings, and she has earned more than $4 million USD in lifetime tournament winnings.

Before poker became her career, Vanessa worked as a producer in the video game industry, including roles at BioWare, Disney and LucasArts. She began playing poker full-time in live cash games before eventually shifting her focus to tournaments, both live and online.

Originally from British Columbia, Vanessa has spent much of her life travelling. She moved to New Zealand as a teenager, later lived for several years in Singapore while exploring Southeast Asia, and continues to travel extensively both for poker and for fun. The tournament circuit has taken her everywhere from Brazil and the Bahamas to Barcelona, Monaco and Las Vegas.

Outside of poker, Vanessa has an eclectic collection of interests and a tendency to pick up new hobbies whenever something catches her attention. She grew up equally interested in math and science, art and music, and over the years her hobbies have included photography, piano, stained glass, cooking, video games, gymnastics, scuba diving and archery. She speaks French, holds an advanced scuba certification, and is generally happiest when there’s somewhere new to go or something new to learn. More recently, she has developed a particular interest in quantum physics and has begun learning electronic music production, Spanish and violin.

Her real loves, though, are travel and animals. She doesn’t currently have any pets since her beloved cat Cero passed away in 2024, but has recently become interested in fostering animals in Kelowna.

Vanessa has also been an outspoken advocate for women in poker and has regularly spoken about sexism, representation and inclusivity within the game. She has shared much of her poker career and life online through social media, streaming and other poker media.

She currently lives in Kelowna, British Columbia, while travelling regularly to play tournaments around the world.