Annie Duke is known as the "Duchess of Poker" and is considered one of the best poker players in the world.
Duke was born on September 13, 1965 and raised in Concord, New Hampshire. Her father, Richard Lederer, a well-known writer and linguist, taught English at the elite St. Paul's School for 27 years. She has a sister, Katy, who is an author and poet, and a brother, Howard, who is also a professional poker player. Annie graduated from St. Paul's and went to Columbia University where she majored in Psychology and English. She had planned to become a teacher but instead enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania for Cognitive Psychology, where she studied psycholinguistics. She ended up dropping out before graduating with her PhD, got married to a longtime friend, Ben Duke, and moved to Montana. They had four children together between 1995 and 2002.
It was at the urging of her brother — a two-time World Poker Champion himself - that she began playing poker. She started playing at a bar called the Crystal Lounge in Billings, Montana. For a year, Duke played regularly at the Crystal Lounge, which had a legalized poker room downstairs. In 1994, she entered four tournaments in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, and walked away with $70,000.
This event would kick-start her career. She and her husband moved to Las Vegas and she began playing high-stakes poker. By 2004, after a decade of moderate success, Annie beat 234 players in the World Series of Poker $2,000 buy-in Omaha Hi/Lo Split, winning her first WSOP bracelet. She also tutored actor Ben Affleck, who went on to win the California State Poker Championship.
That same year, Duke won an invitation-only World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions event, beating out eight of the world's best players, including her brother, and taking home the $2 million purse. That was the largest prize ever claimed by a female at the time. She has won over $3 million in WSOP events since 1994.
In 2000, Duke became a consultant and spokesperson for the online poker site UltimateBet.net and has appeared as a coach on Fox Sports Network's Best Damn Sports Show, which is sponsored by the site. She wrote her autobiography, Annie Duke: How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker, which was released in September 2005. She also has a series of DVD's on the market, including "Annie Duke's Advanced Texas Hold ‘em Secrets: How to Beat the Big Boys" and "Annie Duke's Beginner's Guide to Texas Hold ‘em."
Annie has made guest appearances on several television shows, including 1 vs. 100, The Colbert Report, Deal or No Deal, and Celebrity Apprentice 2. She also appeared in a television special, Annie Duke Takes On the World, which featured her playing against amateur poker players. She made it into the final two on Celebrity Apprentice 2, and faced off with Joan Rivers in the three-hour finale on May 10, 2009. She did not become the Celebrity Apprentice, but made her mark on the show anyway, raising over $400,000 for charity on the final task. Throughout the show, Rivers stirred up some controversy when she called Annie "Hitler" and went off on a tirade about her "just" being a poker player. "Poker players are trash, darling, trash," she ranted. It was Duke that raised the most money (for charity) out of all the players on the second season of the show.
In 2004, she and her first husband Ben divorced and she moved to Los Angeles, California with her four children the following year. She is currently involved with actor/producer Joe Reitman.
