It was in 1999 when Katja Thater was seated behind her husband, who was playing in a big seven-card stud game. When he left for a quick bathroom break, he said: "Katja, you play." Despite the fact that she had never touched cards before, let alone in a casino atmosphere, she wound up winning the first hand that she had ever played - and instantly caught the poker bug.
Eight years later, this same Katja Thater is the new face of German poker, and living proof of the fact that poker in Germany is booming. She is one of the most popular players in her country, where she has become a TV celebrity, and she had her international breakthrough two years ago when she signed with prestigious Team PokerStars. All of that was reason enough to find out the story behind one of poker's rising stars. (After this interview was conducted, Katja won a $1,500 razz event at the World Series of Poker, making her the first woman to win an open-field event since Annie Duke in 2004. The event was Katja's second final table of the series; she finished in fifth place in the ladies event.)
Katja's story is not a standard one, by any means, and it especially differs from the majority of the sponsored female players. Many female players who are part of a team have relatively little playing experience, and almost without exception, they are very young. Katja, on the other hand, is what many people consider to be "middle-aged," and, most importantly, she first built a serious and successful cash-game career before switching to tournament poker. In other words, it was only
after proving herself as one of the better cash-game players in Germany that she started focusing on tournament play - a decision that would ultimately lead to her joining Team PokerStars.
Also, in contrast to many "new" players, Katja plays a wide variety of poker games. She plays seven-card stud, is an avid Omaha player, and actually prefers pot-limit as a betting structure over no-limit (hold'em), which has become the standard in today's poker world. And it's not as if her tournament career started with a bang, either. In 2005, she got very far in many
World Poker Open events in Tunica, Mississippi. And while this
seemed like a good start, she received the dubious nickname "Bubble Girl" for busting out just short of the money in no less than five events. From there, she improved to the point where she had two small cashes at the 2006
World Series of Poker, and then had her real international breakthrough at the 2007
European Poker Tour event in Warsaw, where she finished fifth.
Biggest Result So Far
About the event in Poland, she said, "Well, I guess I didn't play any better or worse than in any other tourneys; the only difference was that maybe I just didn't run into much bad luck. I liked Warsaw. It being the only
EPT event that was not televised, things weren't as hectic as usual, and unlike other events, I didn't have any people from magazines standing behind me or following me. I played the second flight of day one. When I entered the room, I noticed one seat in the back of the room, situated in the far right corner, that seemed so nice and quiet. I thought, "Gee, I wish I could draw that seat," and as fate would have it, that is exactly what happened. It was a 200-to-1 shot, and probably not all that important, but it still helped me feel good. And, indeed, I started out well, quickly working my way up from 10,000 to 15,000. I then had a few tough hands, but I had enough chips that these pots didn't cripple me
too much.
"I started the second day with about 11,000, clearly below the average of 30,000, but I didn't push any panic buttons. I have the ability to wait for very long even when my stack is fairly short. I quickly doubled through, and then took quite a few chips off big-stack Andreas Hoivold; for example, one time he gave me an awful lot of action with just a pair of deuces. Another time, I got very lucky. I made a move from the button, raising big with just a K-Q. That was not so bad in itself, but I hadn't noticed that one limper was already in the pot - someone who had his cards somewhat hidden behind his chips. I then made the mistake of opening my cards prematurely, and as it turned out, I was facing someone with aces! Fortunately for me, the flop came with two queens and this doubled me up, meaning that I was in good shape now - even with the 10-minute penalty that I got for my mistake. Not much later, the final table started, and I could profit from the fact that some players with a lot more chips than me were playing a bit too overaggressively. In fact, a few actually blew themselves up. This led to me finishing fifth, for about €65,000 - and I consider that to be a more-than-decent result."
Breakfast With World Champions
It needs to be said that when Katja was introduced as a member of Team PokerStars, quite a few eyebrows were raised. Critics said that she hadn't gotten that position because of her abilities at the poker table, but simply because she's a charming and good-looking woman. Katja countered, "Well, most of these critics of mine are simply jealous. After all, who
wouldn't like to be in the position that I am in? I am in the spotlights, a fantastic site pays me to play in prestigious tournaments, I travel to all kinds of beautiful places, and I can have breakfast with all of the world champions who are part of our team. Tell me, who
wouldn't like to lead a life like that? Of course, I fully understand that the sole fact that I'm a woman has helped me. And I also recognize that the fact that I'm rather big in Germany, one of
the booming markets in Europe, may have had a lot of influence. After all, both of these things have made
me very marketable for the sponsor, and in return I can represent PokerStars, especially for the German market. So, I fully understand that my poker abilities have not been the
only reason for PokerStars to sign me - but that doesn't mean I can't play."
Getting Married
While her partner, Jan von Halle, has always been referred to as her "husband," the fact is that they have not yet tied the knot. Well, at the time of the interview, they hadn't. Because they had planned their marriage to take place in Vegas during
World Series time - this means that as you are reading this, Miss Slick may indeed have just turned into Mrs. Slick.
Assuming that everything has occurred just as planned, this is Katja's second marriage. She was married before to someone she really loved, and someone she would never leave; at least that's what she thought. Then she met Jan, someone who - just like her - had been married for about 10 years. It was a Sunday night in the winter when Katja was riding around on one of her horses. (That's not uncommon for her, as she is a professional horse breeder.) When Jan and Katja accidentally met that night, they went to a café together - and liked each other so much that they decided not to waste any time. Within two weeks, they were living together, and within six months, both were divorced and ready to continue their lives together.
Katja explained: "The reason for all of this was simple. Both of us knew from the very start that this was not just an affair. It was something much more worthwhile than that, and we both acknowledged it as such. Nowadays, we lead a great life, travelling around together and making a great living out of the game that we both love - poker. Both Jan and I love playing the game, and in addition, I enjoy a lot of success because of my TV activities in Germany. And then when I think it is time to lay low for a while, I simply go back to my horses, and enjoy the serenity and peace of living in the country. All in all, I lead a great life - and right now, I just don't think I could be any happier."
