Why Play Blind?
Obrestad's decision to play the tournament blind was based on her growing understanding No-Limit Hold'em is more about position and reading your opponent than the actual cards you hold.
At low-limit poker she also expected to deal with a lot of “loose-passive limpers” who would fold every hand post-flop if they don’t hit.
Obrestad said later about the challenge: “I had done that on a regular basis before playing $30, $40 and $50 sit-and-gos. But the tournament that was recorded was actually the first and only time I did it for the public.”
Annette_15, which was her online nickname, stuck a post-it sticker to the monitor where her hole cards were so she couldn't see them.
She actually did check her cards one single time when someone put her all-in and she contemplated whether to call or fold.
After the tournament, she posted the complete hand history on the coaching site PokerXFactor.com.
As it turns out she had laid a couple of really lucky suck-outs on some of her opponents but she had also folded pocket kings and aces pre-flop.
In the coming years Annette showed that she knew how to play with and without checking her hole cards.
The woman from Sandnes in Southern Norway is now leading her national money ranking list with $3.9 million in live tournament winnings.
Rules of the Challenge
Play one single $4 SnG with 180 players. Do not check your hole cards.
Annette broke that rule once to decide whether she should call an all-in or not.
At the World Series of Poker this past summer Obrestad spoke with PokerListings about how she sees that challenge today:
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