Croatia’s Poker Face

Online poker games are currently being played by millions of people all over the world over the internet. Online poker has been big business for a while, with some of the world’s top players earning millions a year. More and more Croatians are now making a living out of the game, and one of those is Croatia’s premier female player Hana Šoljan…

Šoljan (above), who is currently in Prague playing in a European Poker Tour (EPT) event, was a previous winner there in 2010 in the Ladies event, and has had huge success all over Europe in recent years. Šoljan is the face of poker in Croatia, and has played an instrumental part in creating the first ever ladies poker tournament in the country, and also the formation of the Croatian team. The growing online casino scene is attracting a number of new players from Croatia to take up the game with some incentives such as bonuses and promotions at Red Flush.

Šoljan, who was a star of Big Brother Croatia back in 2005, has won a number of tournaments in Europe and has forged a reputation that has caught the attention of many on the international poker scene, leading to her being made a ‘Poker Ambassador’ with one of the world’s leading online poker sites. As well as taking out the 2010 EPT event in Prague, Hana also won a PCA event the year before, and earlier this year claimed the prestigious EPT ladies event in Barcelona. Hana has managed to juggle her studies with poker, she this year completed her final year at University of Applied Sciences in Zagreb. Hana travels the globe both promoting and playing the game, and says that the game is starting to gain popularity in Croatia.

“Poker in Croatia is growing and getting a lot more popular one year after the other. It still can get better but things changed a lot over the past few years”, Hana, who got into the game after her friends convinced her to enter a tournament in her native Zagreb, told  Giovanni Angioni at a recent tournament.

Hana at the poker table doing what she does best

Hana won most of her earlier tournaments she entered when starting out the game in Croatia, leading her to take it up in a serious fashion a couple of years later. Šoljan says that the poker circuit in Croatia is a lot different than the international circuit.

“It’s a lot different. Especially because in Croatia I know all the players. There are around 100 regulars and now I know how they play, which does not happen when I go elsewhere, said Hana.

Šoljan, whose pets include two dogs and an eagle in her back garden, continues to make in roads on the international poker circuit, often quieting her male doubters by beating them on the table. Meanwhile, the attractive brunette will continue to promote the game, giving  Croatians the chance to see that they can succeed and make a living out of the game of poker. (pic: Jutarnji list)