Living the pokerdream
The recent poker boom has gone through several stages. First the World Series of Poker increased in popularity in the late 90s, and the media started to show an interest by covering the feature table. And not to forget, we also saw the movie Rounders with Matt Damon and Edward Norton. After this the WSOP 2003 got prime air time all of that fall, and people showed a massive interest when it became clear that «the guy next door», Chris Moneymaker, had a chance at $2.5 million just by playing cards.
Scandinavia and the Internet was the next breakthrough for poker. These countries are at the top of all the charts when it comes to online poker. But in the last couple of years the market has looked to expand and to find new areas to market itself, and Germany is now the focus of attention. This has become evident to Katja Thater. She is a fulltime pro sponsored by PokerStars, in spite of only ever raking in about $10,000 in her entire career. She is verbal, well liked and sponsored by the world’s biggest poker site. How did she get involved with poker? – I worked in PR for a long time, and my biggest hobby, horses, took up a lot of my time. But when my husband started to get more and more serious about poker in the 90s, I got curious. I started off by reading some books on the subject, but soon moved on to sitting behind my husband, Jan Van Haller, when he was playing, to pick up some tips. So I guess you could say that my husband got me into poker. He has played for more than two decades. I played a Limit 7 Card Stud tournament in 1999 and did quite well there. That got me even more into it, but I was still kind of on the fence with poker. My husband would always encourage me to try it, he thought poker would suit me perfectly. But I thought the money was scary, and also I didn’t know whether I would fit in this world of men, Katja says.
– The turning point came during a poker game when my husband was in a Pot Limit Omaha game and I was watching, as usual. After a few hours he turned to me and said ‘Katja, play this hand for me while I go to the bathroom’. I was in shock, and not a little bit scared, but I got into the chair to play. I must have done something right, because I won a few pots and made some money. I thought that if poker is this easy, I might as well try it. At that point I started reading a lot of books, Mason Malmuth, Dan Harrington and David Sklansky. Seven years ago there were hardly any online games, so I could only try at live games in Germany. After a while I started doing well, and succeed in my strategies.
– I am very proud of PokerStars contacting me and asking whether I wanted to join their team. That was an easy thing to accept. It gave me the opportunity to travel around Europe and the world and play some of the biggest tournaments and the best players around. Accepting that challenge was not difficult at all.
When Thater joined PokerStars, it gave her yet another reason to get more serious about her game. – I went through all my strategies and developed a tournament style that was more thought through. ABC poker is not sufficient when you’re playing major tournaments like the European Poker Tour or the World Series of Poker.
And this seems to have paid off. She was in the money twice during the WSOP last summer, and was very happy about her debut. – I was so proud to be a member of Team PokerStars, so it was very important to me to make a good start during the WSOP this summer.
Katja also brings color to the EPT tables. With her bright blonde hair and cheeky smile, she sort of stands out in the EPT crowd. – Although I didn’t do well on day 2 in Barcelona, and had to leave the game that day, I felt that I had really learned a lot by playing my very first EPT. Sitting there, playing hand after hand is very different from what I had imagined beforehand. It‘s not even close to what it’s like to play the smaller tournaments I’m used to playing. The EPTs have a really good standard.
Katja Thater first became famous in Germany after participating in a TV featured tournament called Poker Nations Cup. She was picked to play for the German “national team» by the team captain Michael Keiner. – The fact that I was picked by five other players to represent Germany in this tournament, gave my confidence a boost. I knew that I could get to beat some of the best.
And among the players she beat are Thomas «Thunder» Keller, Tony Bloom and Christian Grundtvig, before a badbeat landed her 2d in her heat.
7 Card Stud is the favorite
Even if she plays more No-limit Texas Hold ‘em these days, she is determined about Stud being her primary game. – 7 Card Stud is definitely my favorite. That’s where my edge is, and I’m more comfortable playing it.
That became clear during last summer’s World Series of Poker, when she finished in 29th place in a 7 Card Stud tournament. – Just two nasty badbeats stood between me and a top position. Maybe I even could have wound up at the final table, says Katja. Her best result is also in this game, from the 2002 Austrian Classics, when she came in 4th. – But no matter how much I want to play Stud, I need to focus on Hold ‘em. That’s the game played in all the feature tournaments I play, so it’s important to always brush up on the skills of that game.
This is why Katja also plays a lot of cash games: – I play 7 Card Stud on a fairly good level, and I’m not scared of anyone in that game. The level of the players is worse now that H.O.R.S.E is so popular, because people tend to try it to soon and aim a little high, she says. Even though cash games is where she wins the money, she really wants to make it in tournaments. – I always try to observe the good players at my table to pick up any tricks, she says.
EPT Dublin turned out to be a very strange tournament for Katja. – It was a real roller coaster for me. Usually the game will be quite steady and without the big ups and downs, but in Dublin it was different. One minute I was down half a stack, and the next I was up 30,000, before plummeting back down again.
What do you think is the most important trait of a successful player in a tournament like an EPT? – It’s important to take advantage of the structure, so with 10,000 chips and an hour to go you can really just sit back and wait for the good hands and profitable situations. At least that’s the strategy I’m the most comfortable with, and it works for me, says Katja, and mentions her good friend Marcus Golser: – His game is very different from mine, we discuss a lot of poker and I’m learning a lot from his strategies. Marcus is a player who will play a lot of hands in the beginning, and is really good at building a stack fast.
A lot of players travel around Europe for the EPTs, and with everyone sharing that one common interest, it’s easy to make friends on the tour. – We’re like a big family going from town to town, Katja says. She will often sit down and chat with players like Marcel Luske, Willie Tann, Barney Boatman and Andy Black.
She is also very excited about Germany getting a tournament this year. – Dortmund is a beautiful city, and I can’t wait to play an EPT on a home court, says Katja with a huge grin.
Katja Thater I undoubtedly very talented, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see her succeed in a major tournament. Maybe that will happen at home in Germany?
