Annie Duke Biography – Gambling Strategies

<p>Annie Duke is a noted professional poker player and author. She competes under the name Annie Duke, but was christened Anne LaBarr Lederer, and her father, Richard, is a writer and linguist. She attended Columbia University where she double-majored in English and psychology, before beginning her career in poker. Despite her undoubted academic talents, she took the decision to leave education after five years of graduate school and decided to embark on a professional poker career instead.</p> <p>In 2000, she finished in 10th place in the World Series of Poker, one of the best positions ever achieved by a female poker player. During this period, she was honing her skills in and around the legal card rooms of Montana and was receiving considerable financial and coaching support from her brother, Howard, who was at this time a successful poker professional. Annie relocated to Las Vegas in 1994, along with her then-husband in order to embark upon a full-time poker career.</p> <p>Duke has achieved poker fame for a variety of reasons. She tutored Ben Affleck in 2004 and assisted him in subsequently winning the California State Poker championship that same year. She also won her first gold bracelet during the 2004 World Series of Poker in an Omaha Hi-Lo tournament, and was in distinguished company that year, as only two other women won open events during the WSOP in 2004.</p> <p>Duke has courted controversy with the powers that be in the world of poker by publicly stating her opposition to the restrictions that poker players face when playing in televised tournaments. She took particular exception to the fact that, despite having to pay entry fees to participate in tournaments, some venues preclude players from displaying any sponsorship logos.</p> <p>Duke has an impressive string of accolades, titles and winnings to her name. In the first WSOP Tournament of Champions in 2004, she won an incredible $2,000,000. This stood as the record for the most money ever paid to a female player in a single event, until it was overtaken by Annette Obrestad in 2007.</p> <p>She has amassed winnings of over $3,000,000 in all tournament play, and now declines to participate in women-only tournaments, as she believes poker to be one of the few sports in which women and men can compete on an equal footing. Her stance has inspired other female players worldwide and encouraged further participation in poker and other Gambling Strategies games from which many women have previously felt somewhat excluded.</p> <p>As might be discerned from her earlier, varied interests and achievements, Duke is a multi-faceted character with a wide range of interests. She has appeared on The Colbert Report, where she discussed her book and the trials and tribulations of being a woman in a male-dominated sport. She has also been featured on Donald Trump’s The Celebrity Apprentice.</p> <p>She speaks and writes prolifically about poker and related subjects, as well as performing mentoring and coaching roles. She continues to play and is not far off the $4 million in earnings total at the date of this writing.</p>