Annette Obrestad, born September 18, 1988 in Sandnes, Norway, discovered the game of poker when she was 15 years old. While underage and unable to deposit funds to an online poker account, she built her initial bankroll by playing free roll tournaments and rapidly developed her signature hyper-aggressive play style. In short order, Obrestad – playing under the moniker of 'Annette_15' – became one of the top online regulars and proved her dominance in the online multi-table tournament arena.
In 2007, Obrestad cemented her place in online poker legend when she won a 180-entrant, $4 Sit & Go tournament while playing almost entirely blind – only peeking once behind the sticky note covering the space on her computer monitor that displayed her hole cards. The Norwegian took up the self-imposed challenge to prove that an understanding of table position, betting patterns, and player psychology was more important than the cards she held.
When Obrestad turned 18, she began traveling to live poker festivals and wasted little time in announcing herself on one of the poker world's biggest stages. On September 17, 2007 – just a day before her 19th birthday – Obrestad won the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe Main Event in London, outlasting a field rife with top-level professionals to claim her first bracelet and the £1,000,000 first-place prize. With the victory, Obrestad became the youngest player to ever win a WSOP bracelet – a record that still stands today and is unlikely to be broken given the 21+ gambling laws in Las Vegas where the majority of the tour's events take place.
Obrestad proved her WSOPE Main Event win wasn't a simple one-off when she finished runner-up in the European Poker Tour Dublin Main Event the following month, banking another €297,800 for her efforts.
In and around 2012, Obrestad's passion for poker began to wane. Gradually, she moved away from the game – citing burnout from the tournament grind as a factor in her decision.
During her time away from poker, Obrestad launched a YouTube channel titled Annette's Makeup Corner. The Norwegian channeled her creative efforts into the videos she made and built a community of nearly 50,000 subscribers. With her creative outlet secured, Obrestad needed an outlet for her competitive side. And she found one in Scrabble. In 2022, she began competing on a serious level and quickly rose up the ranks to become one of the top players in North America.
In 2026, Obrestad made a triumphant return to poker. 19 years after her historic Main Event win, she returned to the WSOPE in Prague. And she picked up right where she left off – trusting her reads and instincts en route to a 34th place finish in the WSOPE 2026 Main Event for €40,000.
