Norwegian poker prodigy in Melbourne for motza

Annette Obrestad tries out her poker face at Crown Casino. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Among a group of men huddled around a poker table in Crown Casino sits a 20-year-old Norwegian woman named Annette Obrestad.


She is short, confident and stylish; her hot-pink leggings and shiny black boots stand in stark contrast to the T-shirts and beer bellies of her competitors.


And if things go her way during the month-long Aussie Millions Championship, she will leave our shores a couple of million dollars richer.


Obrestad is a poker phenomenon: a high-school drop-out and under-age gambler who has become a record-breaking champion.


"I realised I was talented after I started winning more through poker than my mum was earning in her job," she says during a short break from play. "I've made lots of money. I'm not going to say how much, but it's quite a bit."


According to some reports, she has won at least $US3.3 million, including $US2 million in the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOP) tournament and $US500,000 from various Pokerstars online tournaments.


Obrestad got her start after seeing an advertisement for an online poker website.


"It sounded like fun, so I played a few games and did pretty well," she says. "I was only 15 at the time, so I guess what I did was technically illegal. But I never deposited the money, so I don't feel like I did anything wrong."


At 18, Obrestad became the youngest ever winner of the WSOP Europe tournament, and her $US2 million prize is the biggest single-event payout to a female player. She has since won several other live and online tournaments. Not bad considering she can't even compete in WSOP events

in the United States until she turns 21.


"I dropped out of high school when I was 17," she says. "I just didn't see the point of getting a degree. All it would have done is stopped me from doing what I really want to do for another three years."


Not surprisingly, nearly all her competitors are men