With all the excitement behind the WSOPE, most of us expected a classic duel between some of poker’s best. It was no secret that many of the world’s top players made the trip to London, but the final table ended up being a group of locals. So why didn’t any big names make the final table?
Just because some the world’s best are there, it doesn’t mean that they will win. Not to mention the effect that travel and jet lag can have on a player. With only three events being played at the WSOPE, the North American players weren’t there long enough to get used to the time change.
That’s not an excuse; Europe (and the rest of the world) is producing great players. And let’s not forget that the number of pros at the tournament was still less than the average Vegas high-profile event.
Read an exclusive interview with Matt McCullough who lost to 18-year-old Annette Obrestad and placed third…and still walked away with close to US$800,000!!
Annette Obrestad from Norway has won the 2007 WSOPE main event. Never before has a female won such a prestigious championship, and many people are wondering if her success will attract more women to the game. The Norwegian poker prodigy has had a great deal of success online, and now she has already made her mark in the upper echelon of poker’s elite. Until now the game has been dominated by men and only a handful of women play professionally.
The impact this victory could have will depend on the promotion behind Obrestad. This will certainly help the poker boom currently going on in Europe; the same way Chris Moneymaker’s 2003 WSOP main event championship sparked the North American boom over four years ago. If Obrestad promotes herself in a manner that appeals to young women, the effect could be huge. It all depends on how her image is structured into the future, but is she plays her cards right it could mean women come flooding into the competitive ranks.
What do you think? Does this make poker a woman’s game? Drop me a line!!
Well it’s all over at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), and a poker prodigy has had her coming-out party in London. Eighteen-year-old Scandinavian online poker prodigy Annette Obrestad stunned the world when she outlasted the world’s best players to win a million pounds ($2,013,102). She also broke two WSOP female tournament records held by Annie Duke; one for the most money ever won in an event by a female, and the other for the most WSOP winnings by a female.
The tournament was dominated by Europeans and most of the final table was from over there. No big-name players made the final table, but the “Great Dane” Gus Hansen went out in the No. 10 position, just before the last two tables formed the final one. He managed to take home over 41,000 pounds for his efforts. Both Annie Duke and Eric Lindgren made it into the top 25 for a good payday of over 30,000 pounds.
