Beautiful woman, poker champion, legend, smart strategist, crafty gambler. How did she manage to do that? How did she climb on this pedestal? Read it carefully and make some notes 😉
Annie Duke appears to be one of the most popular poker players. For her great poker career she has managed to bear many nicknames, for instance: “Annie Legend”, “The Duke” and “The Duchess of Poker.”
She began to play poker in Montana, in local card rooms. Later in 1994, Annie Duke and her husband moved to Las Vegas, and she has finally got an opportunity to play professionally. First her big achievement was in the 2000 World Series of Poker main event, when she, being pregnant with her third child, could take the 10th place. Participating in the inaugural World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament of Champions – a 10-player, winner-take-all invitational event, she gained $2 million. Playing in tournaments Annie Duke has won a World Series of Poker bracelet and gained over $3.1 million.
Annie Duke was born on the 13th of September, 1965 in Concord, New Hampshire. Being very gifted, she was brought up in a family of academicians. She studied at Columbia University, and achieved double degree in English and psychology. Her father, Richard Lederer, writer and linguist, was a teacher at St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire. Her brother, Howard “The Professor” Lederer, studied at the same university as Annie, Columbia University, but he quit it to spend all his time playing poker. Her sister’s name is Katy Lederer who has become a writer, also she is engaged in poetry.
There is a book about Annie Duke’s biography, which has been written by Annie herself.
It is called “Annie Duke: How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at The World Series of Poker”. Now she is probably the most famous woman in poker, but in spite of it, she does not spend all her time playing poker, she is married successfully and has four children, also she is employed in ieLogic, a firm that produces software for online real time casino gaming. This company has moved to Canada, though Annie Duke and her family didn’t and remained in Portland, Oregon.
Duke is said to be a very family person, this fact was confirmed and admired by a great sports commentator, who has won nine WSOP bracelets in his days, “Poker Brat” Phil Hellmuth. When she was asked if she had a choose between a tournament and a play where her child will act a part, she answered that she would certainly visit the play.
Annie Duke and her brother Howard Lederer are very close friends in the poker circuit. Once Lederer has blamed Daniel Negreanu and made a severe statement as Daniel insulted Annie Duke with hurtful words. Duke and Lederer are also represented as virtual characters in a series of poker video games, which they try to promote.
There is one notable thing about Annie, she is assured that poker is the very game where women can withstand men and indeed they are equal. She does not want to play in women’s only poker tournament. She has announced, “Poker is one of the only sports where a woman can compete on a totally equal footing with a man, so I don’t understand why there’s a ladies only tournament.”