Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad

Better known by her online alias of Annette_15, the story of Annette Obrestad is simply remarkable.

On September 16 2007 at the age of 18, Obrestad won the inaugral Betfair World Series of Poker Europe winning a cool $2 Million. And while the success surprised many followers of the 'live' game, to those in the online world her win in a major tournament seemed almost inevitable.

Her poker career started at the age of 15 (hence her nickname). She got lucky (her words) in a freeroll tournament and won $9 from which she built up a bankroll to enable her to play at higher stakes. She had asked to borrow her mum's credit card but Mrs Obrestad refused.

As she became more experienced and her stakes increased she was forced to change her playing style to be a more aggressive player.

Annette seems to be constantly striving to improve through practice and reading about the game and has set her sights on conquering the United States.

However, she will not be allowed to play until September 2009 as US law says people should be over 21 to play poker.

A regular player on TV and the professional circuit, she has been likened to Tiger Woods in her determination to win every tournament entered and her progress is being closely watched by players and her fans around the world.

In March 2008 Annette entered a 20,000 player tournament paying just $11 to enter. Incredibly she won the tournament proving once again that poker is more about skill than luck and showing she is not adverse to 'stepping down a league' to improve her game.

Fun Annette fact

She once won a 180 players Multi-table tournament without looking at her cards! - ok she did peek once.

Annette_15 Quotes

"I play mostly by feel, and I don't really care if I have the pot odds to call. I don't call much, anyways."

"I find cash games online kind of boring."

"You shouldn't quit school just because you have one good week playing poker!"

"The beauty of poker is that EVERYONE can play, no matter where they're from, how they look or how old they are."

Quotes about Annette

"This young girl is like everybody's little sister. We have no envy, no jealousy. We love seeing her do well."

Annettte Interview Timeline

Annette_15 gives plenty of interviews and the remarkable thing is how
level-headed she is as well as what a nice person she sounds. Here are
some of the best examples in date order.

Pre-WSOP Europe win
October 2006 Psmoney interview
August 2007 Cardplayer interview

Post-WSOP Europe win
Betfair bio September 2007
September 2007 Pocketfives interview
November 2007 Cardplayer interview
November 2007 Total Gambler interview
November 2007 EU Poker News interview
December 2007 Pokerpages interview

Recent interviews
January 2008 Cardplayer
July 2008 PT Poker

Other pages of note

Mark's blogspot at plan3tgongpoker has gathered his excellent Annette strategy articles all in one place (at last!) and they make interesting reading for those wanting to look deeper at her game play. Also, check out her hand histories.

Shirley Rosario has written a nice Annette profile at (the horribly-named) Poker Babes.

One of the best blogs for poker cartoons is +EV and they made me laugh with their Annette cartoon shortly after her wsope win and check out this fun video from the guys at Siktilt while those who are really, really interested should check out her poker blog or check out my Annette Obrestad Video Lens.