Annette Obrestad’s win in the first World Series of Poker Europe Main Event should come as no surprise. Is it amazing? Yes. Exciting? Of course it is, but surprising? Not a bit. She may be the youngest WSOP bracelet winner ever, the first female main event champion, and the first ever WSOP European champion, but anyone who has played a $100 rebuy with her knew it was just a matter of time. This win has made headlines around the world, and poker now has a great new ambassador in Annette Obrestad. This is a great win for Annette and a great win for poker. <READMORE>

The superlatives that go with this win are not all that make it special. First, there is the small matter of the $2,000,000 first prize as well as a World Series of Poker bracelet. I am sure Annette will tell you the bracelet is much more important to you, but any way you slice it, two million dollars is a life changing amount of money. For those of us watching online the win is special because we feel we know Annette so well, although most of us have never met her in person.

The outpouring of support and congratulations from the Pocketfives community over the past few days has been overwhelming. The community always gets excited when a member makes a major final table, but there was just something extra special about this. I think alfieo sums it up nicely, “It is funny how a girl that most of us will never meet has had such an impact. Would the reception be as great if lilholdem, or Imperium, or SCTrojans won the event? I think maybe, but probably not. We love those guys too, but this young girl is like everybody's little sister. We have no envy, no jealousy. We love seeing her do well.”



In a short time Annette has gone from playing freerolls and grinding micro stakes to dominating the biggest tournaments online and now to winning one of the biggest tournaments on the planet. The WSOPE main event featured a buy-in of £10,000 which at the current exchange rate is double the American counterpart. Only two major tournaments feature a higher buy-in, the WPT Championship at $25,000 and the WSOP H.O.R.S.E tournament at $50,000.

With the growth of poker around the world, I would not be surprised to see WSOP Europe grow in leaps and bounds over the next few years. This tournament drew 362 entrants for a prize pool of over seven million dollars. By the time Annette Obrestad makes her U.S. live poker debut we may be discussing the “Annette Affect” in the same way we do the Moneymaker Effect today. Not only does her win raise the profile of poker in Europe, but it is a huge boost to the standing of women in the poker community.

The consensus is that Annette is a great player, period. She has already been ranked #1 in the world by Pocketfives, a title she earned as much by her results as by winning the respect of her peers. That fact that she is female should neither add nor detract from her accomplishments, but it does have an impact on the world around her. Great players like Barbara Enright, Kathy Leibert, Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman and many others have been around for years, but when it comes down to it, poker is still perceived as very much a man’s game.

Out of curiosity, I conducted an informal poll of some female members of Pocketfives. I asked the question, “Does Annette’s win have any special significance to you as a woman?” I received some interesting and diverse responses:

“…maybe now people won’t look down on us at the poker table. That distinction is just stupid, it’s not like we’re lifting weights.” – Maridu

“It was a tremendous accomplishment, that’s for sure, but I can’t say it has any extra significance to me as a woman.” – Jennifear

“Hell yeah, it does! Maybe the boys will start giving us a little more credit as players. Not all of us are just eye candy at the table. Some of us are very serious about our game and Annette proved that gals CAN play poker!” –SusieQue

“It is special because it levels the playing field a little. Hopefully it will help us all to garner a little more respect at the tables. She is fantastic. I was fortunate to spend time with Annette at the WSOP in July in a training format, so I got some very valuable information from her. Listening to her talk about poker is a privilege.” – SassyTexan

And perhaps my favorite, “Zero. She wins too often to be real.” – ranchgirl

Obviously Annette’s win has added meaning to some of the women of Pocketfives, and it will certainly mean something to millions more around the world. Maybe next time the guys sit down for the weekly poker game, the ladies won’t be scared to ante up and join the fun.

As she is in all things, Annette was generous enough to spare some time after her big win to answer some questions.

Lenny: You have said you are not very good at reading people. How important do you think that is compared to just situational play?

Annette_15: Well, I do think that reading people is very important live. I had people come up to me during breaks to tell me that they had tells on certain players, and I never would have picked up on what they noticed. It’s something I need to work on.

Lenny: People were pointing out tells they saw, did anyone ever say you were giving anything away?

Annette_15: No, I think everyone had problems reading me, which is obviously great, but just imagine how much better it would be if I were able to pick up tells on them as well.

Lenny: Come on, that just wouldn’t be fair! Did you wear those giant glasses the whole time?

Annette_15: Yup. [laughs]

Lenny: What was it like knocking Annie out? Just another pot or was it special at all?

Annette_15: Nothing special really. I didn’t think too much about it. I knocked out Jennifer Harman too, and Beth Shack, and Paul Wasicka, just to mention a few.

Lenny: Do you feel like you made history today? Or has it sunk in at all?

Annette_15: Wow, I still can’t believe it. I really started to feel the pressure at the beginning of the heads up match.

Lenny: Which lasted quite a while, yes? Did you settle in after awhile, or did the pressure/excitement/nerves build?

Annette_15: I tried not to think about it too much and just play my game, but I knew I would be disgusted if I didn’t win and I’d never have been able to forgive myself. No matter what happened, I think I played my best game the entire tourney and have no regrets for once.

Lenny: You started the day with a healthy stack, but well back of the chip leaders. Did you go in confident you could win, or what were you feeling when you sat down nine handed?

Annette_15: I was pretty confident when we started. I knew I was just going to start out tight and take it from there. That worked out great for me, because the table was nuts.

Lenny: Meaning aggressive, loose, or both?

Annette_15: There were a lot of Scandies who loved to play pots. They would call all raises, float, reraise, squeeze, and just be involved. They were very hard to play against.

It is clear that Annette was also quite the difficult foe, as she outlasted the other Scandinavians, the Americans, and the Britons to claim the first ever World Series of Poker European Championship. This young woman has impressed everyone she has come in contact with, not just for her skill at the table, but for her maturity, generosity and kindness away from it. The Pocketfives community is lucky to have Annette_15 as a member and we couldn’t be more proud or happier for her in her big win. Oh, and Happy Birthday!

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