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Las Vegas, Nevada (March 24, 2026) - WSOP Europe 2026 is less than a week away, and while the yearly poker tournament series is already shaping up to be one of the biggest yet, the anticipation for WSOPE 2026 just became more palpable.

After 8 years away from the felt and nearly 20 years since she set the still-standing record for the youngest poker player to ever win a WSOP bracelet, Norwegian poker player Annette Obrestad is set to make her WSOP return at WSOP Europe 2026.

With both Obrestad and the WSOP team incredibly excited for her return at Prague, we got caught up with Annette to discuss the early days of her poker career, her historic win in 2007, what she has been up to over the past 8 years, and, of course, what we can expect from her at WSOP Europe 2026.

The Early Poker Days of Annette_15

Born and raised in a small town in Norway, Obrestad had always had a love for games that continues to this day. During a family outing at a bowling alley in Norway when she was just a teenager, Obrestad saw an ad for an online poker site at the establishment.

“I was playing a lot of bowling at the time,” Obrestad said. “That was one of my hobbies, and I was really into it. I was bowling one day and across the lanes I saw an ad for one of the poker sites.”

With the ad piquing her curiosity, Obrestad would visit the site and create an account, but still being under the legal age to gamble, she would start by playing freerolls on the site.

“I used to play cards with my Dad growing up. I thought it sounded fun and wondered what this poker thing was about.”

Being under the legal gambling age, Obrestad started with freerolls, getting her start playing Stud Hi-Lo 6-Max Sit-N-Go’s.  

Despite being a newcomer to the realm of online poker, her natural ability, paired with the online player pool, resulted in her slowly building her bankroll and entering low-stakes tournaments.

“I had no idea what I was doing, but it turned out I just kept winning,” Obrestad recounted. “The players were so bad. I eventually saw that there were other games, and started playing a little bit of Hold’em.”

“I asked my Mom one day, ‘Can I deposit some money on this website? I think I can start making some money.’ And she was like ‘No, absolutely not.’ So I started playing some of the bigger freeroll tournaments because I knew I could win entry into the real money tournaments.”

Winning a $100 tournament ticket that came with $9 in rakeback, Obrestad took that $9 and started firing $1 sit-n-go’s, eventually building a bankroll that allowed her to directly enter into real money events.

Climbing stakes at a rapid rate reflective of her talent, Obrestad’s love for poker and playing the game remained her sole motivator even with significant wins.

“I just enjoyed the process so much,” Obrestad explained. “I really enjoyed playing. I love the game so much, and it’s all I wanted to do. If I could do something I loved while still making money, how could it get any better?”

Transitioning from Online to Live Poker at 18 years old

Still attending high school while at the same time racking up four, sometimes five-figure wins, Obrestad would eventually quit school to pursue poker full-time.

Citing the support of her Mother throughout the early days of her poker career, her results, and the trust of a parental figure was enough to jump into the world of professional poker.

“I was very open with her about it. I remember when I was playing a lot, I would always update her every time I won a tournament. She was just the most supportive person ever. I was playing the big Sunday tournaments, and being in Norway, all of the tournaments started at 6 P.M., so I would stay up all night playing. I’d still be awake when my Mom woke up, and she’d come down and ask ‘How did you do last night?”

“Most of the time, I’d say ‘Mom, I won $1,200, $2,000, or $30,000’ at one point.”

“I was still in school at the time, so I had only so much time to play because I had to be up at 6 in the morning, and didn’t come back until like 2 or 3 P.M. There was a moment where I was like ‘I can do this for a job and be pretty good at it.’ “

“When I said I wanted to drop out of school, I was 17 or 18 at the time, and my Mom was okay with it, which was honestly shocking because I thought she’d want me to finish high school and get a degree first, but she trusted me.”

Now pursuing poker full-time, Obrestad eventually transitioned to live tournament poker, competing at series across Europe.

Often accompanied by her Mom, Obrestad journeyed to places like Aruba, Monte Carlo, and Ireland as she pursued professional poker at just 18 years old. Leaving the comfort of her computer room to the surroundings of casinos filled with fellow poker players, Obrestad recalls the initial nerves that came with entering the live arena.

“I remember the first table I was on. I was so nervous, like I was shaking and didn’t really know how to handle my chips. I didn’t know how to do all of these live things that people are used to, I saw people around me shuffling their chips and was intimidated.”

“I’m looking around asking myself ‘what am I doing here?’, and then as time goes on, I warmed up. I’m watching people play and I’m like ‘I can do okay’. You start composing yourself, playing your game, and you realize people make just as many mistakes as they do online, maybe even worse.”

Annette Obrestad makes history at WSOP Europe in 2007

With the Poker Boom in full swing and the WSOP rising to global prominence, the World Series of Poker held the first ever WSOP Europe in 2007 at Empire Casino in London, England. As a young professional poker player from Norway, naturally, Obrestad looked to compete at the first-ever WSOP Europe.

Even with the significance of the event, Obrestad saw it as just another tournament series, as she journeyed to London to compete in the series’ Main Event.

“I hadn’t been following live poker too much when I was playing online,” Obrestad explained. “They didn’t really show a ton of that on T.V. in Norway and we didn’t have access to streaming services. For me, WSOP wasn’t really that big of a thing. I was still so young and barely even dipping my toes into playing live poker. I didn’t see it as being that big of a deal like other people did, to me, it was just another tournament in Europe I could play in.”

Arriving in London, Obrestad was ready to play the biggest buy-in event of her burgeoning poker career. While the result of the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event would prove historic, Obrestad remembers the early setbacks she had in the tournament.

“On the first day, some of the people from the WSOP and Betfair introduced themselves to me and I had a meeting with them. I started talking to them about doing a deal or a sponsorship, but they wanted to see how I did first. There was a lot of pressure on me to do well in the tournament.”

During Day One of the tournament, Obrestad recalled her 20,000 starting stack quickly dwindling down to 10,000 due to a few mistakes early in the day. With it being the largest buy-in tournament at that point in her career, and the potential sponsorships she had on the line, the young poker pro had to refocus herself before eventually making a run at the final table.

“I went to the bathroom and I was on the verge of crying because I was so disappointed in myself,” Obrestad said. “I told myself ‘I can do better than this’ and got my s*** together.”

Rallying back and carrying a stack slightly over average through the majority of the tournament, the 18 year old found herself at the first ever WSOP Europe Main Event final table.

Having a potential shot at setting a new record for the youngest WSOP bracelet winner in history and securing a career-changing score, Obrestad remembers the buzz of the tournament floor as she inched closer to history.

“I did many interviews throughout the tournament with the T.V. crew that was filming and they obviously brought (the record) up. I knew what I was playing for at that point and was playing for the win.”

“The money to me was fun, but I felt coming this far, I wanted to prove to everyone that someone like me can do this. I didn’t back down because I wanted to win so badly.”

As fellow poker players at the final table were slowly eliminated one by one, eventually, Obrestad faced John Tabatabai heads up for the first WSOP Europe Main Event title, with history on the line.

Recalling her heads up match with Tabatabai, Obrestad remembers the epic duel they took part in, and how much she enjoyed facing him.

“I had never played against him before that tournament. (Tabatabai) was a young kid from London and the nicest guy. He was hilarious, I was rooting for him the whole time, and we had some battles before the heads up match.”

“We were both in each other's heads and wanted to come after each other. The heads-up match I know was very aggressive, that’s why the final hand ended up being a cooler either way. There was absolutely no chance the money wasn’t going in on that hand.”

Holding six-five offsuit, Tabatabai likely thought he was about to gain the chip lead when the flop came 7-6-5 two toned. Little did he know he was drawing nearly dead as Obrestad held pocket sevens for top set.

After a bet from Obrestad first to act, Tabatabai would execute a raise, which was then met with an all-in from the Norwegian. Taking some time to think, Tabatabai would make the call, and after the turn and river ran clean, Obrestad was declared the WSOP Europe Main Event champion, becoming the youngest poker player ever to win a WSOP bracelet.

Recalling the moments that followed her historic win, Obrestad remembers the shock she felt sitting there at the poker table.

“I just remember being so overwhelmed and being like ‘Did I just win this? What the hell just happened? What is this going to mean for the game?’ I always knew people were rooting for me just by the way they responded when I won hands. It was a strange feeling because I knew that things would change after that, but I didn’t know just how much.”

Annette Obrestad’s hiatus from professional poker

Following her win in the WSOP Europe Main Event in 2007, Annette Obrestad officially arrived on poker’s biggest stage.

With the life-changing score and the profile that came with it, Obrestad became one of the game’s rising young stars, with her poker career reaching new heights despite being in its early stages.

Continuing to compete at live events around the world and making her debut at the summer WSOP, Obrestad was a mainstay in the poker scene, appearing on major productions like Poker After Dark and NBC’s Heads Up Championship.

While being one of the game’s biggest young stars comes with money, acclaim, and endorsements, those aspects can often overshadow the struggles they come with.

“I signed a sponsorship deal with (Betfair) and it basically allowed me to go to any live tournament that I wanted to enter. They paid for my flight, hotel, and my buy-ins. I was basically freerolling for two or three years, and it was absolutely insane. I remember checking into these nice hotels, and I would just look out the window and shake my head, being like, ‘How am I here?’ I was so grateful, I could not believe that that was my life; absolutely insane.”

“Obviously, it came with a lot of media attention that I wasn’t expecting. This was probably the worst part of winning that tournament, because I was a very shy girl back then, and I did not like to have all of those eyes on me. To be thrown in the deep end and having to do interviews all the time and do all of these things I didn’t really want to do and have people recognize me, come up to me, and want to talk. Like I said, I was very shy.”

“It was overwhelming at times. Of course, a lot of good came out of it, but it wasn’t why I got into the game to begin with. I didn’t want the fame, I just wanted to play poker. I tried to be grateful for it, but it was definitely tough.”

In 2018, after more than ten years of playing poker professionally, Obrestad would leave the poker world entirely. Sharing the reasons why she decided to leave the game of poker in her rear view, Obrestad opened up on the personal struggles she was facing at that point in her life.

“I realized I was not in the right headspace to play anymore,” Obrestad explained. “I developed an eating disorder pretty close to when I stopped playing. People probably noticed I was losing weight. I was obsessed with food, fitness, and counting calories and macros, and my mind wasn’t in the game anymore. I would sit at the poker table and wonder what I was going to eat for dinner.”

“It just got really bad at some point, and I couldn’t focus. I was like ‘I need to take a break’. I tried to come back to the game for a little while after, and my passion just wasn’t there anymore.”

Prioritizing her health and well-being, Obrestad embarked on an eight-year hiatus from poker, which saw her explore the other things she enjoyed in life.

Based in Las Vegas, Obrestad entered the world of Scrabble tournaments, where she not only competes but plays an active role in the community. Twice a week, Obrestad can be found playing and spending hours with the local competitive Scrabble community in Sin City.

“I'm very grateful for the people that I've met, and the people that I hang out with here in Vegas, they are truly my family now. We hang out all the time, they're not just my Scrabble buddies, they're my true friends.”

Obrestad also entered the world of content creation, where she shared her passion for makeup tutorials, as well as reviewing many of Las Vegas’ iconic casinos and hotels, with her most popular video surpassing 600,000 views.

Annette Obrestad makes her return at WSOP Europe 2026

Two years ago, after undergoing a divorce from her husband of ten years, Obrestad was at a crossroads in life, contemplating what was to come next.

Looking to start a new journey, Obrestad contemplated a return to poker.

“My marriage ended, and I feel like for the past two years have just been like ‘What the f*** do I do with my life?’ I felt like I just needed to get out and do something, that’s why I started playing poker again. I wanted to meet new people and get a change of pace.”

Finding her way back to the poker rooms of Las Vegas, Obrestad can be found playing cash games throughout the Las Vegas Strip, but her biggest return of all is set to take place at WSOP Europe 2026.

“It's been nice to feel so welcome again,” Obrestad said. “I wasn't sure what it would be like to get back into poker. I didn't know if I would still know how to play this game. I'm surprised how many people still recognize me and know who I am when I go sit down at the local $1/$3 game; it's been kind of crazy. Everyone's just been super nice.”

Today, the WSOP confirmed that Annette Obrestad is set to make the trip to Prague, making her official return to not only the WSOP but the series in which she made her mark on poker history.

When asked about how she felt about her return to WSOP Europe, Obrestad shared how being back at the poker table is what excites her the most.

“I’m just looking forward to playing. I’m looking forward to being back on the felt in a big tournament atmosphere again. Just remembering how the atmosphere is, right before the tournament starts, with all the tension in the air, and how excited people are.”

“It’s going to be a really fun time. I think my Mom is going to fly out for a couple of days, so I’ll get to hang out with her for a bit. Meeting new people who have gotten into the game and seeing what the community is like will be fun.”

When asked what events she plans to play, as well as what her goals were for the series, Obrestad emphasized having a grind mindset, but also having fun and enjoying her return to the WSOP.

“I’m going to play the Main Event and the Ladies Event for sure. I also really want to play the $1,000 Double Board Bomb Pot PLO.”

“I’m still rusty, I don’t know how I’m going to do in these big tournaments. I don’t know how people play anymore, but I’m not going to do a bunch of studying leading up to it. I’m just going to go into it with the knowledge I have and hope that’s enough.”

“I’m just going to have fun, and not put too much pressure on myself.”

A special thank you to Annette Obrestad for taking the time to share more about her career, time away from poker, and her highly anticipated return at WSOP Europe 2026. If you want the chance to face Annette on the felt in Prague, read and learn everything you need to know about using WSOP+ at WSOP Europe 2026.