Arguably one of the best players in the game today is Germany’s Katja Thater. A former marketing director and dressage equestrienne, Thater’s start in the world of poker was, in part, thanks to her husband NOT playing a hand of poker! Thater’s husband, poker professional Jan von Halle, stepped away from the Stud table one evening to attend to business and, rather than let his ante slip away, Katja stepped in to play the hand. While she had never played before, Katja used the skills she had observed in Jan and was able to win the hand. With that, her desire to play the game of poker was ignited.
A long time cash game specialist, Katja truly made inroads into the tournament poker world in 2007. She made the final table at the European Poker Tour stop in Warsaw, where she finished fifth, before becoming the only woman to win an open tournament bracelet at the 2007 World Series of Poker in Razz. All of these achievements led to her being named “Europe’s Leading Lady” at the 2007 European Poker Awards over such competition as 2007 WSOP-Europe champion Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad and Isabelle Mercier.
Poker News Daily recently sat down with Katja to discuss her beginning in the world of poker and what is in store for her in 2009.
PND: The story of how you started is amazing. Was there something in your background that helped you to step into poker that easily?
KT: In poker you have to deal with yourself. I guess I have/had the right mixture of characteristics. I also was grown up and knew myself very well when I started playing. My experience with horses helped a lot also. A horse doesn’t talk to you – you have to find out by yourself what comes next. You need to be very quick and make the right decisions.
PND: As a female player in the game, did you ever suffer from the same backlash that many top female American players have talked about?
KT: Well, in poker you have to suffer a lot. I guess that’s not a male/female question, though. Everyone is fighting with their own weapons. Men like to dominate, that’s nature. And a woman can seem – at the first glance- easy to dominate. Sure, men try to push a woman around at the poker table. I can live with this and have my own answers.
As a female player, you are always being watched. Everyone remembers you and if you make one single mistake, you will hear it for the rest of your life. It’s a special situation and you can’t hide yourself. You never, ever can play poker “unwatched”. If you play poker, you don’t want to give away information you can’t control. That’s the downside.
PND: What style of player do you still have a great deal of trouble against?
KT: I normally don’t have a “great deal of trouble.” I really don’t care who is sitting in front of me…why should I? As a female player you are used to being hunted, no matter WHO is hunting you.
PND: How did winning a WSOP bracelet change your life, and what was most special about winning it?
KT: Of course, winning a bracelet is a cool thing. I am one of a handful of women who have been able to win an open event at the WSOP. My life doesn’t change, though. It would be very sad if I needed a bracelet to change things in my life.
I enjoyed beating such a strong field in that tournament. It’s like an Oscar in Hollywood; winning it is beautiful, but the Oscar itself…it has more of an idealistic value. I do have a small tip for Harrah’s: when a woman wins a tournament at the WSOP, please have some bracelets in your drawer that fit us! (Laughs)
PND: Which do you find more difficult to do: go from a cash game to a tournament or from a tournament to a cash game and why?
KT: I am a cash game player and have played tournaments now for about two years, since I joined PokerStars. For me, it was a totally new experience and game. I had to change strategies – things that work in a cash game don’t always work in a tournament.
I still love my cash games because it’s more calculable. If you have one or more bad situations in a tournament you are out, there’s no mercy. In a cash game, I can smile after a beat and reload. It’s the safer way to make money.
PND: How does your strategic thinking differ between cash games and tournaments?
KT: In a tournament, you need a bit more luck because you have fixed parameters which you can’t change or control. Your good run must happen “on time”. This is a fact you cannot manipulate.
PND: What has the European Poker Tour done for the poker community on the European continent? It seems that the tournaments there are seeing incredible growth.
KT: PokerStars is truly hosting a great thing with the EPT. These are some of the biggest live tournaments around and they happen pretty much every month. You can qualify online for less money and be a millionaire in four days. In tournament poker, everything is possible and a lot of people like to take their chance.
PND: How does online play differ for you from live poker and do you find that you sometimes will use tools you have used from each side of the equation?
KT: Sure, each part has its own advantage. Especially as a German citizen, I have the chance to play games like Omaha 8 or Badugi or H.O.R.S.E. online. These games are not available in German casinos, so it is great that I can practice them online.
Normally I prefer live games. I can apply more of my tools in those situations. This has nothing to do with the “female thing”, it’s more an ability to have direct eye contact.
PND: What can be done in the near future to continue to expand the game of poker globally?
KT: Making it legal everywhere, whether it is online or live, and for the casinos and tournaments to listen to us poker players.
PND: What are your plans for 2009?
KT: Representing PokerStars in events around the world whether it is in tournaments or cash games and supporting the PokerStars online poker school “IntelliPoker”. When I am away from the game, I want to spend more time with my husband, my family and my horses. I am still working on a clone to be able to do it all!
PND: How long do you see yourself involved in the poker world?
KT: I played my first poker hand in 1999. As long as I like to see cards, flops and boards, I will play. The intensity can change but I guess poker has me…I will play it for the rest of my life.
