Won the inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event. Once won a 180-player online sit & go without looking at her hole cards. Youngest player ever to win a WSOP bracelet.
how the hell did she beat 180 without looking at her hole cards
Joined: Feb '11
Location: Canada
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 1660
I would just question the validity of the claim, the rumor is a result of her own testimony, no one can confirm it or deny it. The message she's sending is valuable though, and I might just have to try it out myself as an educational adventure. She's a poker player after all, maybe she's bluffing.
Joined: Mar '10
Location: Greece
Age: 54 (M)
Posts: 505
i'm sure i've heard this one from other players too, meaning that it's more important to "play the player" than play the cards. Which brings up the most original definition of poker:
All other card games are "games of cards, played by people" Poker is "a game of people, played with cards"
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
Jibberish is right, i think those were the main things that she did...
OP, if you want to learn more about this you could do some google searches, i think she recorded the entire game and posted it online, at least this is what i remember.
Joined: Feb '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 1886
I have heard this before but it's true that we only have her word for it. Still it's perfectly possible and of course she may have done it several times and only boasted about the time she won.
It does show that playing the player is more important than the cards. And that being card dead is no excuse for being blinded out in a tourney. In the past playing both live and online I have decided in my head what I'm going to do in the next hand regardless of my cards. So for instance I was card dead for a while and the table have surely noticed that I've been tight, so I decide if it's not raised before me I'm going to raise, I expect the ultra-aggressive big blind to reraise and I plan to shove any two on top of him, of course he won't know I'm blind and 9 out of 10 times he will fold.
I have never played a hand blind when my current strategy was working or when I was winning, but it can help to mix things up. In fact too often I've decided my play, then seen my cards and backed out when I should have continued. I think we could all learn from Annette, as I think my play could definitely be improved if I didn't always wait for the cards to do the work for me.
I wouldn't fold any cards blind though as you could end up folding aces or kings. And it's obvious that Annette was lucky in her win. You can't beat 179 players without luck even looking at your cards and she would have had to have been all-in at some point, where her random cards must have held up. Once she got down to heads up she must have relied on being big stack or gone all-in every hand and just got lucky.
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
It is important to play the player and that's why I usually only play one game or two at a time. It seems like I place in the money more often if I've played slow and observed how my opponents play. To get a good read on someone can go a long way. I play a lot of 9 player SnG due to these specific reasons.
Posted by Greenmohave: It is important to play the player and that's why I usually only play one game or two at a time. It seems like I place in the money more often if I've played slow and observed how my opponents play. To get a good read on someone can go a long way. I play a lot of 9 player SnG due to these specific reasons.
the easiest players to play are those that have at least some understanding of the game, since they at least know enough to be trying to play good poker and it's possible to bluff or slow play them.
the most frustrating payers are the all-in on any two cards donks and since you actually need to play the cards to beat them.
the toughest are the experienced poker players since at least some of them will be better they you are and one must always be cautious when playing them but not too cautious or they will run roughshod over you then.
Joined: Feb '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 5712
This is an entertaining strategy. I've done it a couple of times and while I can't claim a victory, it's a cool way of learning how to play the board and reading other players. Give it a go on the basis that you won't win, but will learn a lot!
Joined: May '08
Location: Lithuania
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 10090
well BeMyATMplz posted the links to youtube where u can see this is true...surely it can be done, the question is this- whether it's profitable? i mean she had a goal to win the tourney playing blind (probably knew that this would be great publicity) and she went for it, maybe she busted a lot of rolls before actually achieving her goal, so ultimately she won the tourney , but it's a good chance that she lost money by doing so...
Joined: Sep '12
Location: India
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 335
Good day everyone Thanks for posting those links ... yes it surely shows she was playing without the knowledge of the hole cards ... in the vid she folds a lot of good hands and a lot of 3 betting did the job to her ... she has surely lost some good amount of money doing this ... but she cant win all the time doing this ..a good bankroll busting idea
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Greece
Age: 47 (F)
Posts: 14136
I have seen her play for a couple of times in tv, (it was recorded shows about a year ago) and she is one of the most aggressive poker players i have ever seen so far.
