Annette Obrestad is a Norwegian poker player. Obrestad is the youngest person to ever win a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet and in 2007 was considered to be one of the best online multi-table tournament players in the world.
Annette Obrestad started her poker career online when she was only fifteen years old using the online screen-name "Annette_15". She claims she never had to deposit money on any online poker site. Instead she made her initial online bankroll by winning freeroll poker tournaments from which she went on to amass several hundred thousand dollars in winnings. Between September 2006 and February 2007, she won over $500,000 on Pokerstars, $200,000 on UltimateBet, and $136,000 on Full Tilt Poker.
In 2006, as "Annette_15" she finished in seventh place on PokerStars' World Championship of Online Poker's $2500 main event. This seventh place finish turned into a minor controversy when Obrestad admitted on a poker blog that she let somebody else play for her.
In July 2007, Obrestad won a $4 buy-in 180 person online sit-and-go where she claims to have played almost the entire tournament without looking at her cards. She claims she peeked at her cards once during the tournament, when she was faced with an all-in bet. She did this to show "just how important it is to play position and to pay attention to the players at the table."
On September 17, 2007 Obrestad won the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe Main Event the day before her 19th birthday. By winning the one million-pound sterling (US$2.01 million at the time of the event) first prize she edged the record for a single-event payout to a female player set previously by poker professional Annie Duke when she won $2 million at the 2004 Tournament of Champions. Prior to the 2007 WSOPE, Obrestad had only cashed in four other live poker tournaments.
Obrestad will not be old enough to compete in the World Series of Poker events that are held in the United States until 2010. Under the gaming laws of Nevada, where the main WSOP is held, players must be at least 21. Although she will turn 21 in 2009, the WSOP is held in June and July, before her September birthday.
