In 2007, Norwegian poker player Annette Obrestad made mainstream headlines by winning the first-ever WSOP Europe Main Event. The £1,000,000 top prize ($2,013,733 at the time) was the largest prize ever won by a woman, beating Annie Duke’s previous record of $2,000,000. That record stood until December 2024, when Liv Boeree finished fourth in the WSOP Super Main Event for $2,800,000.
Obrestad then doubled down the following month, finishing second in the EPT Dublin Main Event, proving to the world that her success was not a fluke.
Obrestad also got famous for winning a 180-player Sit N Go (SNG) tournament without ever looking at her cards.
Where did Annette Obrestad go?
Despite having the whole world laid out before her, she significantly reduced her volume in 2010 before stopping altogether in 2018. In fact, she didn’t play a single hand of poker for about eight years. Despite this, Obrestad remains in 11th place on the women’s all-time money list, having earned just under $4 million.
At 18 years and 364 days, Obrestad remains, to this day, the youngest WSOP bracelet winner of all-time. However, Obrestad disappeared from the poker world, trading cards for a YouTube channel, “Annette’s Makeup Corner”, where she focused heavily on eyeshadow palettes.
Although the channel was highly popular, with nearly 50,000 subscribers, she stopped posting content about a year ago. In her last video, the comment section is flooded with fans who are begging her to come back.
Although she stopped playing poker, Annette Obrestad continued to live in Las Vegas. The itch finally came back in the oddest of places: The Orleans, a popular off-strip poker room in Las Vegas, known for hosting low buy-in tournaments.
On January 22nd, Obrestad played a $150 Monster Stack tournament, finishing sixth out of 56 entries for $431. Many in the poker world heard about this and were curious whether she was coming back. The answer is a resounding yes.
In the latest episode of PokerOrg’s: The Interview, Obrestad announced that she’s officially making her poker comeback. She also explained why she left poker, citing both personal issues and having trouble dealing with the media.
“It was other things outside of poker that I found a bit overwhelming,” Obrestad told Craig Tapscott.
“I was a very shy Norwegian girl who just stumbled across this game and then won a million dollars (actually two million). Now what? People are asking me to go on TV and do interviews. Who, me?
“It’s very complicated. I stopped playing, and I tapered off quite a bit. During that time, I developed an eating disorder, which was one of the reasons that I lost focus on the game. I could no longer pay attention to the tables.
“It’s hard to explain if you’ve never experienced it before, but I basically had to take a break from the game. My passion wasn’t there anymore. Why am I doing this if I’m not enjoying it? So, I just decided that maybe it’s just not for me anymore.”
“Yeah, I’m back.”
Obrestad’s sudden appearance at The Orleans can be attributed to one thing: a midlife crisis. Having achieved so much success in multiple areas of life at a very early age, Obrestad is looking to find her identity at the poker table again.
However, she’s going to take it nice and slow, starting at the lowest of stakes. She won’t be focused on getting big results; she just wants to have fun.
“One of the reasons why I’m getting back into poker is that I’m having an early midlife crisis. What do I want to do with my life? I needed to get out of the house, meet some new people, and try some new things. And honestly, it’s one of the best things I’ve done in a very long time.
“Yeah, I’m back. But I want to start slowly because I don’t know where my skill level is right now. I want to prove to myself first that I can beat the stakes I’m playing, and then maybe I’ll move up.
“I’m not going to take playing so seriously. I want to have fun. I don’t want to force it. I don’t feel like I need to prove anything to myself or anyone else. It’s okay to, you know, not be the best anymore.”
Annette Obrestad’s big results
With $3,942,664 in earnings, Obrestad in 671st on poker’s all-time money list. Here’s a list of her top-five cashes:
- 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event: 1st, $2,013,733
- 2007 EPT Dublin Main Event: 2nd, $429,181
- 2011 Wynn Classic Main Event: 2nd, $215,922
- 2010 EPT London Heads-Up Championship: 1st, $187,788
- 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event: 7th, $161,518
