It was by sheer chance that the world of professional poker opened for one of the sexiest embers of PokerStars Pro, Katja Thater.

The beautiful blonde is married to a professional poker player, Jan von Halle, from whom she learned the secrets of the game. Although she had never played poker before, Katja’s big moment came in 1999 when she had to replace her husband at the Stud table, at the European 7 Card Stud Championship in Austria, just for a little while and when he returned she had already won a hand. That was the moment that Thater, now nicknamed Miss Slick or, to her dissatisfaction, Lady Horror, decided that it is smarter and in fact more profitable to spend her time at the poker table instead of behind it.

ROOTS

Thater was born in Hamburg, Germany, the place that to this day she refers to as “home”. Long before discovering poker, Katja was a successful horse breeder and her competition spirit she got by participating in horse training tours. For the rest of the time, Thater was also the director of a marketing and events company.

The only moments that Katja stepped inside casinos were when she wanted to be next to her husband.

In 2000, she began playing professional, for cash, and then the tours came along. In 2006, Katja was already an unmistakable figure at poker tours hosted by various casinos and had won significant amounts in two events within the World Series of Poker. Moreover, at the Nations’ Cup at Poker 888.com, in Cardiff, 2006, Katja competed for Germany’s team, placed second, after Great Britain.

Also in 2006 Katja became a member of the PokerStars team.

THE BIG BREAK

Katja true break in the world of poker would come in 2007, when she reached the final table at Poker Stars European Poker Tour, in Warsaw, finishing fifth. Then came the World Series of Poker, the competition for women, where she also finished fifth and several days later Katja won her first World Series of Poker bracelet, at Razz. That was her greatest achievement in a world dominated by men, making her richer by $132,653. This prize made Katja the first woman to win an WSOP event in the last three years. This prize is all the more important as Razz is considered to be a poker game for players who think for real, but also one of the most frustrating games for those playing it. “To win a bracelet is awesome and I am one of the few women who were able to win a WSOP event. I am happy I won such a prize at that tour, it’s like Oscar in Hollywood.

However, I do have some piece of advice for the staff at Harrah: when a woman wins a WSOP tour, please have some bracelets that can fit us…”said Katja. During the same year she also received the prize Europe’s Leading Lady, at the European Poker Prizes, within a ceremony that took place in Paris. As a holder of this title, Thater now represents PokerStars at the biggest and most difficult poker tours in the world.

SHOW SOME PATIENCE!

The first quality for Katja is patience, otherwise her secret weapon with which she managed to handle her often irritable partners, almost always older and almost always men. Her patient yet aggressive style is the one that brought her respect in the world of poker professionals.

Beside her participation in poker tours, Katja’s involvement in the world of poker is wider: she makes comments and is host for the German television and works for the website IntelliPoker, an online poker school founded by PokerStars. Altogether, she also has brought he contribution to the strategy book Poker Matrix, written by other German players. The chapter she signed refers to her true passion – cash games.

In the world of poker, Katja is a relatively new presence and so is Germany for poker. Nonetheless, back home, Thater is regarded as the future of poker.

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