Annette Obrestad
Norwegian poker player Annette Obrestad was born on September 18, 1988. She has accumulated much success playing online under her screenname Annette_15, which is a reference to the fact that she started playing online poker at the tender age of 15.
Annette Obrestad was raking in the cash by playing at online poker sites, where she was known as a skilled and fierce competitor. However, the whole world would come to recognize her talent when she won the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event on September 17, 2007, becoming the youngest player ever to win a WSOP bracelet. This occurred after some stellar play that was capped when Annette Obrestad knocked out John Tabatabai in second place, her pocket sevens beating his 5-6 off suit. This victory earned Annette £1 million, which at the time was a little over $2 million. The slightly more than $2 million also set a new record for largest payout won by a female poker player in a single event. Annie Duke had held the previous record with the even $2 million she won at the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions.
Soon after Annette Obrestad would again prove her mettle in a live tournament, as in November of 2007 she finished as runner-up to Reuben Peters in the European Poker Tour Dublin Event. This performance added €297,800 to her live poker tournament winnings.
Although Annette Obrestad was able to play in the WSOP Europe, she had to wait until turning 21 years old on September 18, 2010 to compete at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, due to her age. No matter the tournament, Annette Obrestad’s track record of success will make her a feared opponent the instant she finds her seat in a major poker tournament.
Annette Obrestad has racked up a long list of online poker accomplishments, including a win in the Full Tilt Poker $500,000 guaranteed tournament as well as an impressive victory in the PokerStars $4 dollar 180 person sit and go. What makes this victory impressive is the fact that Annette Obrestad had placed a piece of paper over her hole cards, playing the poker tournament blind. Annette Obrestad admits to peeking at her hole cards once, when she was facing an all-in bet from an opponent. Annette played the poker tournament blind in order to show the importance of position play and the ability to read one’s opponents.
Annette Obrestad is a member of Team Betfair, which is Betfair Poker’s team of professional poker players. The two other members of the team are Sorel Mizzi and the man she defeated for the WSOPE Main Event title, John Tabatabai.
As young as she is, Annette Obrestad already has a list of victories and accomplishments that many older poker pros would love to have.
