Annie Duke Poker Queen
Annie Duke is recognized as one of the best female poker players in the poker tournament leagues. I personally don’t like to differentiate between men and woman and in fact some of the best chess players out there are female so with this in mind I write about Annie Duke with some caution. Annie does prove that woman can hold their own in this male dominated sport and in the future I think you will see more women coming through into the poker game.
Top poker players like Phil Hellmuth have also recognized Annie Duke as being the top female poker player in the league and I guess I won’t disagree with this statement.
Annie Duke was born in Concord, New Hampshire in her beloved United States of America. She attended school at St. Paul and went on to Columbia where she double-majored in Psychology and English. Annie then attended the University of Pennsylvania where she was in pursuit of a doctoral degree in Psycholinguistics. She left the program to begin to play poker. Annie’s brother Howard Lederer taught her how to play poker and she hasn't looked back since.
Although Annie likes to attend the higher-limit poker tournament events, you would most probably find her playing in the big-stakes ring games at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Annie currently resides with her husband and four children in Las Vegas. Annie puts her family first and this is really impressive. If there is a choice between a family event and a poker tournament the family event will always win out. For me this is just another reason poker is such a great sport because you can always get a game but you can’t always get those special family moments.
Annie has a peculiar way of sitting at the poker table with one leg tucked in behind her. I keep thinking that it’s got to be a bad thing for her leg but as long as she’s comfortable then who am I to complain. Annie Duke is a very tenacious poker player and she doesn’t let it go easily. Annie normally does not attend ladies only events. Annie made her feelings felt when she stated in an interview with CBS, "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." She’s definitely a woman you need to respect in poker as she always plays to win no matter who the competition may be.
Annie's sister, Katy Lederer, recently wrote a memoir titled Pokerface. The book has great insights into both Annie and Howard's competitive nature. Annie Duke works with the Ultimatebet online card room, where you can find her articles on Omaha and other topics.
Annie Duke has taken over from Amir Vahedi in his poker tutoring of actor Ben Affleck. In June 2004, Ben Affleck won the $10,000 California State Poker Championship No Limit Hold'em tournament at the Commerce Casino, along with its $356,000 first prize.
Annie Duke is the leading money winner among the women in World Series of Poker history. This includes a tenth place in the $10,000 main event when she was eight months pregnant with her third child. Annie won her first World Series of Poker bracelet in the 2004 $2000 Omaha High-Low event. Some of her other accomplishments include winning the September 2004 ESPN World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions where a first prize of two million dollars was at stake. Annie also earned second in Limit Hold'em in 1999 and 2003 at the World Series of Poker, second in the Omaha High Low at the Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic and sixth in the Omaha High Low at the 2003 World Series of Poker. Annie also put in a performance at the final table of the World Poker Tour Ladies Night Invitational.
