Interview with Katja Thater
April 23, 2007 - James Hardy
Chicksnchips.com: Katja Thater, likely the best known female poker player in Germany, the unofficial “Bubble Girl” of Tunica, member of Team Poker Stars, thank you for taking the time to answer questions for our readers! Wie gehts? (Let me quickly point out that I don’t speak or read German, and that was just a cheap shot at sounding cool.)
Katja Thater: Yeah, that sounds cool. Thanks, I am fine.
CNC: Is it true that you owe your career as a poker pro to your husband’s need to use the bathroom?
KT: Oh well, that´s so true. I was cheerleading him during a cash game, and then he turned around and said. "Go ahead, honey. Here is my stack. I need to go to the bathroom.”
CNC: Were you surprised at how well you picked up the game and your early success?
KT: No, it was not a surprise. In my first poker hand I tried to look at the guys in the same style as I like to look at my husband when he is kidding me. That worked. I think I figured out very early the real basics for successful poker.
CNC: What was it that attracted you to the game that kept your interest long enough for you to decide it was something you wanted to master?
KT: As I realized that poker is not only a card game but also psychology, I decided I wanted to master the game because I want to beat myself.
You always have to beat yourself in poker. The enemy is not sitting in front of you – he is sitting in your own head.
CNC: You are known by the nickname “Miss Slick”, which we can likely guess the origins of, but please tell us more about “Lady Horror.” Hang on while I get my popcorn…
KT: Well, nicknames in poker are a given. That was not my choice … I hate this “Lady Horror”. One guy in a cash game gave me this name as I beat him the whole night. And the other guys were listening and watching to that. A few days later I entered the poker room again and was welcomed with this name.
CNC: You ran the cash game circuit in Hamburg for a while when you first started out, right? What was the action like? Was it a seedy, underground kind of environment, or was poker in 2000 Germany already out in the light of day?
KT: We have had cash games for years in casinos here in Hamburg. In my first casino years we had only 1 or 2 tables running with PL 7-Card Stud. All rich Persian and Turkish guys, but poker is growing from year to year and since 2003 we play Holdem as well.
First we had mixed games (Stud/Holdem), and now we have more or less 4-6 tables in 2 casinos here in Hamburg. The new game here is PLO (Pot Limit Omaha). I have played this for years so I have a little advantage.
CNC: What caused you to go from attending poker tourneys for side game action to playing in the events themselves?
KT: Well, the first years I attended the tourneys for my husband (Note: Katja's hubby is poker pro, Jan von Halle). We didn't have enough money for a “double buy-in”. Tourneys are expensive and to get into the money is hard so I played only the side action - the cash games. In 2005 I tried to qualify myself by satellites and so I had a chance to play some big tourneys.
My first big tourney was WPT Tunica where I was playing 5 events, and I was 5 times on the bubble. That was hard but I said to myself, "Ok sweetie, that was ugly. But it shows that you can stay a few times in a row very long in a WPT tourney. You are doing something right."
Cash game is still my “Baby,” and I am very happy that PokerStars give me the chance to play EPT & WSOP events.
CNC: You’ve had some pretty nice cashes on the tournament circuit, including fifth place at the EPT Warsaw this year, but no major victories. How long before Miss Slick comes out in first?
KT: LOL. I am working on it. Last year I played my first WSOP. In seven events, I placed in the money twice and came close to it four more times. I am doing good, and I hope I will win one bracelet this year.
CNC: You’ve had a number of TV appearances in Germany, you are a member Team PokerStars and your own website has a good amount of glamour shots in the photo section – did you ever expect to become a “poker personality” when you started out as a pro?
KT: Of course. I am always a personality. It's the same in my horse business. If I decide to do something, I go for it 100%.
CNC: You are a horse breeder when you are not raking in pots and cashing in tourneys - could you tell us a bit about that life and what drew you to it?
KT: I swear that sounds funny for you but working with a horse is more or less the same. You have someone in front of you who is not talking clear and directly to you. You have to feel what is the best decision for this moment. You always need to manipulate your horse/opponent. You need to get him to do what YOU want.
CNC: What’s next for Katja Thater?
KT: As far as poker goes, I'm looking forward to the 2007 World Series of Poker.
CNC: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, and best of luck at the tables and the stables!
KT: It was a pleasure.
Editor Note: Want to join Katja at the World Series of Poker this summer? Head on over to her online home, PokerStars, for a chance at a $12,000 Main Event prize pack.
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