Interview with New Full Tilt Pro Annette “Annette_15″ Obrestad

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Annette Obrestad announced as the newest Full Tilt pro
Photo credit: Bluff Magazine

We had huge news today when Annette Obrestad was announced as the newest Full Tilt pro bringing along her impressive resume, legendary accomplishments, and high expectations. She will come into the 2010 World Series of Poker as one of the most talked about participants with more pressure than any other first time player walking down the long halls of the Rio. She won the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe Main Event in 2007 just one day before her 19th birthday and the world will now get to see her on the biggest poker stage.

Long before she set foot in a London casino for the WSOPE Main Event, “Annette_15″ had cemented her reputation on the virtual poker tables. With her tournament results she was already considered one of the top online players and was near the top of every respectable leaderboard. She became an online legend in the summer of 2007 when she famously won a 180-player SnG with her hole cards covered by a post-it using nothing but position and player tendencies. Obrestad joins Full Tilt with career online tournament earnings well over 7 digits.

Her introduction to the rest of the poker world came that September in London. 362 players entered the first World Series of Poker Europe Main Event but in the end everyone was talking about the youngest WSOP bracelet winner in history. Obrestad earned £1,000,000 and a reputation as one of the best new players in the game. After the tournament Annie Duke wrote on her blog;

“If she is this good now, at 18, I shudder to think how good she will be in 5 or 10 years. I don’t think I have ever seen someone that young with that much talent and feel. She never loses her composure at the table and has amazing instincts.”

She followed up her victory with a second place finish in the EPT Dublin event shortly afterwards and continues to impress. Obrestad will come into the 2010 World Series of Poker with a lot of pressure and expectations but past history leads us to believe she will continue to add to her reputation. I look forward to spending the summer telling her stories.

Earlier this week there began a rumble from the halls and our overlords came to us with the news. An exciting addition coming soon, it was time to dial up our game and welcome the newest member of Full Tilt. The biographical information was easy enough, if we don’t know the resume of Annette “Annette_15″ Obrestad by heart we probably shouldn’t be in the business. What we needed was to talk with her, get an idea of how she’s feeling ahead of the announcement and heading into the 2010 World Series of Poker.

Emails were passed around, text messages, and phone calls were planned. This was an interview I was really looking forward to. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with the best poker players in the world and this was pretty spectacular. Instead I found myself sitting in the swamps surrounding Atlantic City with spotty cell coverage and a steady stream of cursing.

Fellow blogger Dave McCarthy stepped up and called Annette in Las Vegas to get the answers to our questions.

An Interview with Annette Obrestad
by Dave McCarthy

The plan was for Al and me to do a joint interview with Annette. I’d call Al, we’d conference call Annette, and then Al would ask most of the questions while I typed the answers. Al is a smooth operator. I am not. Al has done tons of interviews in his career. I have done two, and they were both via email.

Long story short: Al goes to help a friend whose truck has broken down on the Atlantic City Expressway – and then disappears. His last communiqué, sent from his phone a couple minutes before we’re supposed to call Annette, is: I can see your calls but not hear anything when I answer. Do you have her? Shaky access at the moment. Swamp land.

At this point I’m really nervous so I do a bunch of push-ups to try and tire myself out, hoping that maybe a little exercise would release some endorphins and I’d be more relaxed. I call Annette a few minutes after our appointed time.

The first question on our list was one of Al’s from an email he sent. I had copied and pasted it incorrectly and didn’t really understand it. Halfway through a panicked attempt at asking it, I call it a “stupid question” and ask Annette if she is alright skipping it. While I’m asking the next question, all I can think about is how bad it’s going to look when I go to Full Tilt and say “Well…I know Annette likes poker…but that’s about all I got for you…she definitely likes playing poker…”

Luckily, Annette is smart (obviously), patient, and charming as hell. She’s a real professional, and she carries the interview.

Dave McCarthy: What WSOP events do you really want to play?

Annette Obrestad: Hmm…very good question. I haven’t even looked at the schedule yet. I should probably do that. Laughs. Most of the no limit holdem and PLO events. Maybe a few of the smaller horse events, but I suck at those.

DM: How does it feel knowing you are just a few shorts weeks away from sitting down at your first (non-Europe) WSOP event? Are you…*idiotic pause by DM*…excited?

AO: Of course! Laughs. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting. Well, pretty much 3 years. And I’ve been in Vegas every year watching my friends play, hearing about how bad the players are. It was terrible!

DM: This is something of a polarizing subject. How do you feel about the WSOP Ladies event? Do you plan on playing it?

AO: I have nothing against the ladies event. I guess it’s kind of like saying “Women suck at poker” but I guess that’s true for the most part. I’m not saying everyone sucks, ‘cause there are certainly girls who knows how to play. In general I just feel like they are weaker. Maybe they don’t play enough…maybe they’re not aggressive enough…I don’t know…But yeah, I’ll play it. Why not?

DM: You famously won a $4 180-person sit-n-go only looking at your cards once. Was that your first attempt at playing completely blind, or did it take a few tries?

AO: Laughs. I was tilted. I had probably blown about $5k in tournaments that day and just wanted to mess around in a $4 sit-n-go. I think I started 2 tables at once and busted out of one and then won the other. I posted it on the forums and people got a kick out of it.

DM: Any rituals when you play poker? It seems like you’re usually wearing sunglasses and listening to music?

AO: I do feel more comfortable in sunglasses. Kind of like you’re hiding and nobody can see you. I don’t wear them in cash games when I’m just having a little fun. And, yeah, always music. The WPT event in Niagara Falls doesn’t allow iPods. I won’t be going back.

DM: How often do you go on tilt? What usually sets you off?

AO: I do it sometimes, but I don’t think it affects my game as much as other people’s. Probably one of my bigger strengths. I usually still play pretty well. Bad beats don’t bother me, they’re just part of the game and you don’t want to let that affect your game. What tilts me is when I make a mistake, like I’ll miss an opportunity where I should have bluffed but didn’t.

DM: Now that you can play in Vegas, do you have any favorite card rooms or casinos?

AO: I love the Venetian, that’s where I’ve been playing the most. I like the tournament room at the Bellagio where you can see the fountain show outside every hour. The poker room is another story. Don’t like the atmosphere there. Too packed and has this “serious” feel about it.

I haven’t actually played at that many places. I’m sure there are some really cool ones in Vegas you don’t hear much about. I played 1-2 at Red Rock the other night. I was with a friend who lives pretty close to there and he said, “Hey, wanna go play some poker?” so we went.

DM: They’ve got a bowling alley at Red Rock. Did you get to bowl?

AO: I did not go bowling. I used to be good at bowling but I haven’t played in 4 or 5 years. I used to have a ball and everything. I didn’t have my ball with me…you just don’t feel right without your ball…

DM: If you could pick your opponent when you’re playing heads up for another bracelet, who would it be?

AO: Somebody that I have a really good read on and isn’t very good. Can’t say a name cause I don’t want to offend anyone. But definitely someone I’ve played a lot before and someone whose game I don’t respect. Laughs.

DM: Same situation. Heads up for a bracelet. Would you rather outplay Phil Ivey or suckout on Phil Hellmuth?

AO: Laughs. That’s a close one. I guess it would look better to beat Ivey but sucking out on Phil is always fun. In our heads up poker match [the NBC heads up championship] he called my all in with like 4th pair and he just stood by the table staring at the board for five minutes. I was like, “Phil, what are you doing?”

DM: If you were playing a fantasy sit-n-go, not so much for money but for entertainment value, who would get the other seats?

AO: Negreanu definitely. He’s funny and I like him. Hellmuth’s always entertaining. Viffer – I’ve been watching him on Poker After Dark and he’s crazy. Durrrr. Ivey, ‘cause I’ve never played against him and I want to see what makes him so special, why he’s so much better than everyone else. Matusow maybe. I definitely wouldn’t want any donkeys in there ‘cause that’s no fun.

DM: Ok. On to some non-poker questions. What’s your favorite city in the world?

AO: I’d have to say Vegas. After that, Melbourne. I’ve done well in tournaments there and it’s a beautiful place.

DM: Australia! Did you see any kangaroos there?

AO: Laughs. I saw some at the zoo but they were sleeping. They were probably drugged.

DM: Do you have any weird or hidden talents?

AO: I’m pretty good at Playstation games. Anything competitive that’s not too physical – I suck at all that. Wii…Singstar (a karaoke game). I own people at that.

DM: Who/what is your favorite: Author, Movie genre, TV Show, Animal?

AO: Stephen King, horror movies, King of Queens, the cat.

DM: Growing up, were you a troublemaker in school?

AO: I was not. I’ve always been a wonderfully good girl. My friends and I never did anything we shouldn’t. The teachers always liked us…I did as I was told.

DM: Final question: What was the last dream you can remember?

AO: Have you ever stayed at the Wynn? They have these painting in the rooms that are all flowery and Andy Warhol inspired and I dreamed that I was going to buy one of the originals. Weird. There’s something about those pictures…they’re creepy…

Also, this wasn’t a dream, but two weeks ago, two of my closest poker friends and I went out at night and then came back to our hotel room. One of them and I went to sleep, and I guess the other one stayed awake. The next day, he told us, “Man, you guys talk a lot in your sleep. You were talking about check-raising and drawing dead the whole time…” I was like, “Yeah, well, of course I talk about poker in my sleep. What else would I talk about?”