Katja Thater

Before turning to the green felt, German player Katja Thater bred horses and competed successfully in dressage tournaments. She also worked as the director of a marketing company and would go to casinos with her husband in her spare time to watch him play poker. Little did she know that doing so would change her life completely.

In one of those sessions spent watching husband Jan von Halle, Katja stepped in to play a hand of Stud for him while he went to the bathroom. Although she had never actually played before, she’d picked up enough from her partner to make the correct moves and went on to win the hand. From that point on, Katja officially caught the poker bug and has played ever since. Originally focussing mostly on cash games, Katja started to become a familiar face on the live tournament circuit in 2006, making two cashes at the World Series.

It was in 2007 though that Katja really made her breakthrough. In March, she made the final table at the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Warsaw event, finishing in 5th place. She then went back to Vegas for the World Series of Poker*, this time making an incredible impact. After a small cash in an earlier event, Katja made the final table of the World Championship Ladies event and finished in 5th. All those years playing Stud paid off just seven days later when she won a Razz event, beating a tough field of seasoned pros in the process. The money was good, but more important to Katja was the bracelet and all the respect that comes with it. The year was capped off in style at the prestigious European Poker Awards, where Katja was awarded the title of ‘Europe’s Leading Lady’ at the ceremony in Paris. In addition to her tournament record, Katja is also proud of the success she has found in the high stakes cash games that she still plays on a regular basis.

When not playing, Katja works as a commentator and presenter on German TV and contributes frequently to IntelliPoker, an online poker school presented by PokerStars. She also co-wrote the poker strategy book ‘Poker Matrix’ with several other top German players. In what spare time she does have, Katja enjoys spending time with family and riding her horses.

With bracelets, huge prizes and awards, Katja is truly Germany’s biggest poker export and no doubt has her sights set on winning more events as her life on the pro circuit continues. Katja Thater is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and plays cash games in a range of different poker variants, under the screen name ‘KatjaThater’.

For more information, visit www.katja-thater.de.