A teenager from a country where it is illegal to
play live poker for money has become an overnight millionaire and broken a
string of records by winning the main event at the World Series of Poker in
London.
Norwegian Annette Obrestad, 18, beat a string of professionals
in a five-day £10,000 buy-in no-limit hold 'em event, winning a prize of
£1 million, the biggest-ever single payday for a female player.
Live games for hard currency are banned in Norway and the few poker
clubs that existed in Oslo were recently closed but Obrestad started playing
five-card stud with her father and became a regular online at the age of 17.
She is well-known by her playing
alias, Annette_15, but it seems her online playing days may soon come to an end
because she has agreed a sponsorship deal with a poker site that will make her
a regular on the live tournament circuit.
She said: "I never expected
to win. I'm speechless. I really don't know what to say."
Obrestad and
Londoner John Tabatabai, 22, were the last two players left at the table and
her final hand of three sevens beat his two pair.
She also won a World
Series of Poker bracelet, one of only 50 awarded each year.