Hey Annette Obrestad, Want Some Cheese With That Whine?
Norwegian poker pro Annette Obrestad has been engaged of late in a public war of words with Amercian poker legend Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson, starting the brouhaha by slamming Brunson's poker talents in a magazine interview.
Brunson responded testily, and the war was on.
But what is the real reason behind Obrestad's unprovoked verbal attack on the Texas poker icon?
It appears to be sour grapes, as simple as that.
Obrestad, 21, can't beat the 76-year-old Brunson.
Every time the two have faced each other in head-to-head competition, Brunson has emerged victorious.
Obrestad started poker's version of an uncivil war when, in a recent intereview with ESPN the Magazine, she said she could beat ego-driven Brunson at offline poker because she plays online poker too and he doesn't and that makes her a superior overall poker player.
"I would much rather sit at a table of Doyle Brunson's," Obrestad told the magazine. "Online players process information so much faster and don't let their egos get in the way of becoming a better player. No disrespect to Doyle, but I'd rather play him."
Not long after, Brunson responded via Twitter, saying: "Must be a bad tme of the month for Annette what's-her-name. By the way, I'm at Bobby's Room almost every day if she really wants to play...I wasn't offended. Annette always looks like she has a stick up her ass anyway..."
Why all the hostility?
Let's check the record.
Obrestad and Brunson have played three heads-up contests and Brunson has won all three.
In 2008, at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) in London, England, broadcaster ESPN arranged an exhibition heads-up match between longtime legend Brunson and newcomer Obrestad, who had won the Main Event at the initial WSOPE the year before.
The made-for-TV exhibition match was a best two-of-three games.
Brunson easily won the first game and then just as easily won the second game, sweeping the match 2-0.
The pair squared off again this year, at the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, a made-for-TV, 64-entrant, single-elimination heads-up tournament held at the Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas.
Brunson and Obrestad met in the third round of the six-round event, and, once again, Brunson easily won the game.
Clearly, Obrestad's 0-for-3 lifetime mark against "Texas Dolly" in head-to-head competition has left a sour taste in her mouth, and by blasting the Texan in a national mag, she hopes to remove some of that sourness.
Yo, Annette, here's a better idea: Buy Brunson's book and read it!
Brunson wrote the definitive book on all things poker years ago--it's called "Super System."
Buy it, read it, learn it, digest it.
If you do, you'll learn something about how Doyle plays poker, and maybe, just maybe, you might have a shot at beating him some day.
It's better than than whining to ESPN like a bratty bitch about how you're a better player than Brunson, even though he's kicked your ass every time he's played you.
By Tom Somach
Gambling911.com Staff Writer
