Norwegian teenager Annette Obrestad, who caused a sensation last September when she won the Main Event at the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe, will attract much interest again this year, writes Steve Boniface.

She triumphed ahead of several established gold bracelet winners at the seven day £10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'Em event. Obrestad, a member of Team Betfair, will this year return to London's Leicester Square to defend her title and could well grab the headlines. 

Obrestad's winning purse of £1m inched her ahead of the previous record for a single ever payout to a female player. The online prodigy‘s achievement, a day before her 19th birthday, ensured she became the youngest ever player to win a coveted WSOP gold bracelet and she is hungry for more success.

Annette secured her victory at the final table by conquering Team Betfair stablemate, John Tabatabair. Her opponent matched her all the way until his two pair fell to Obrestad's three sevens in the final hand. Local boy Tabatabai, earned a career best £570,150 for his second place finish.

Poker heavyweights from around the world were thwarted by the young Europeans, many of whom had established themselves as online successes. Matthew McCullough, the only American to make it to the Final Table, eventually finishing third, collecting £381,910 for his endeavours. This year, the US big hitters will seek to make more of an impact at the Final table.

Last year, 362 entries featured at the Main Event, with the top 36 players collecting prize money starting from £27,150. This year's Main Event resumes with the next qualifiers taking place on Sunday (June 21).

The tournaments are anticipated to be popular with the standard, as in all WSOP events, expected to be very high. Regular Betfair freerolls and satellite schedules will give online punters an opportunity to achieve WSOP glory.

Continuing on from last years success, the WSOPE will feature a three day £2,500 H.O.R.S.E event and a two day £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament.

German Thomas Bihl became the first player to win a gold bracelet outside the United States when he won the H.O.R.S.E event. Two days later, Italian Dario Alioto saw off the competition to claim first prize in the Omaha tournament, before Obrestad made it a clean sweep for the Europeans.

Obrestad will be hoping for more of the same this year.