Team PokerStars players have been storming this years World Series final tables, but the only player to seal the deal so far is the Team PokerStars member from Germany, Katja Thater.

Katja survived a 13 hour final table to finish first in the $1,500 Razz tournament at the Rio Casino in the early hours of Wednesday morning. A beloved game of the Vegas pros, you can be sure there was no dead wood among the 341 runners in the Razz event, and among those who cashed in were legendary rocks such as Men 'The Master', Mickey Appleman and David Sklansky.

It's been a successful few months for Thater, who finished fifth in the WSOP women's tournament only a week ago for a prize of $49,151, and fifth in the EPT Warsaw event last March for $85,024.

The WSOP title represents a hugely significant victory for Katja. She is the first woman from outside the United States to win a bracelet; the 11th woman in the 34 year history of the World Series to win an 'open' WSOP event, and only the fourth German WSOP bracelet winner after Matthias Rohnacher (1997), Eddie Scharf (2001&2003) and Michael Keiner (2007).

Katja Thater started playing serious poker just eight years ago when she sat in for her sweetheart Jan Von Halle in a high stakes game. Since then, Katja has become a player with a talent all her own.




Brad "Otis" Willis is in Vegas to report for PokerStars, and was there to see Katja's win. Here's how he saw it unfold:

'Once heads-up with a 4-1 chip lead, I noticed something amusing. Both Katja and Jan are very stoic Germans. No matter whether they have just busted out of an event or tripled up, the most emotion you'll see out of them is a shrug that says, "Well, how about that?"

However, with two players remaining, Jan's eyes lit up. He pressed on the rail hard enough that I feared he might crash down on the table. And when Katja got Larry St. jean all-in, Jan started his scramble toward the floor. By the time the final cards hit the table, Jan was pushing his way to Katja.

The look on his face was better than if he had just won a bracelet himself.

And then there was Katja. She stepped back from the table, took a deep breath, and then turned to a group of us assembled beside the table.

"Well, that's nice," she said.

I watched Jan dance around a little more, and then couldn't help asking, "Nice? You just won a World Series bracelet and all you've got for us is 'nice?'"

She shrugged. "Yah, nice."


Katja takes a deep breath after her win

There's a lot that happens when you win a bracelet here. There are a couple of ceremonies, a photo shoot, and a series of interviews and appearances. Through it all, Katja remained as stoic as she had been at the table all day long. When ESPN pressed her to talk about her role as a woman in poker, she politely rebuffed them. "It doesn't matter of you are black or white, young or old, man or woman. In poker, it's all the same."

I remembered she had been the same way in the Ladies Event. While other women broke down in tears when they survived an all-in, Katja never betrayed any emotion. Maybe, I thought, it was the nature of Razz. She spent three days working to make the worst possible hand and succeeded. She was, in a way, the winningest loser.


Katja receives her bracelet from WSOP Commissioner Jeffery Pollack


Katja gives an interview to ESPN

When it was all said and done, though, I saw Katja take a moment to herself. She had just defeated more than 300 other players and scored her first World Series victory for a cash of $132,653.

Although I don't have a picture, and though I wouldn't stake my bankroll on it, I swear...

I saw her wipe one tear from her eye.'


Katja reluctantly shows off her new bracelet

Congratulations to Katja Thater for becoming the first member of Team PokerStars to win a bracelet in the 2007 World Series.