Annie Duke

Biography

Annie Duke is a poker player by profession but an academician by nature who double majored in her undergraduate years, completed graduate school and even went on to pursue a PhD. After taking a break from academics, a mother of two, Annie entered the world of poker as an additional way to earn some money that could help pay off her mortgage. She was trained by her brother Howard Lederer, a legendary poker player himself, during her initial days.  

Duke entered the World Series of Poker for the first time in 1994 and managed to secure the 14th position in the tournament. Soon after she managed a 3rd position and then made it to the money in her next main event. A total earning of 70k USD in her first month of competitive play helped her make the decision to move to Las Vegas and play poker professionally.

Annie went on to play poker over the next decade. She gained a lot of publicity from the fact that she was tutoring Ben Affleck on Poker who went on to win the California State Poker Championship as well in 2004. Annie Duke, won her first WSOP bracelet in 2004, an event in which she even knocked out her brother who was placed third.

Duke has several credits to her name such as having the most number of money finishes for a female player in the WSOP. She also held the record for the highest amount of money paid in a single event for a woman through her World Series of Poker Championship victory in 2004 where she won USD 2 Million.  She has also won tournaments such as the World Series of Rock Paper Scissors in 2006 and the National Heads-up Poker Championship in 2010. Duke frequently plays in all open events, consciously avoiding women’s only events as she feels that poker is one of the few sports where women can play on an equal footing with men.

Annie has had several poker related pursuits over the years. She worked for a company that produced online casino gambling software in 2002 and was called ieLogic. The software later came to be known as UltimateBet. She was an UltimateBet Cardroom consultant till 2010. She has tutored several high profile individuals on the game of Poker including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Combining her background in academics and the love for the game of poker, Duke now takes seminars and lectures on various aspects of the poker game like critical thinking, emotional control and decision making. She has even written books on poker strategy with several popular co-authors and also teaches at the WSOP Poker academy.

Poker Career Highlights