Annie Duke

Name: Annie Duke
Nickname: Annie Legend
Residence: Portland, Oregon
In the Money: 31
Total Winnings: $3,200,000
Tournament victories: 1
WSOP Bracelets: 1


Annie Duke was born with the name of Lederer in 1965 on the 13^th of September in Concord, New Hampshire. Her father, Richard Lederer, taught at a private college as a linguistics professor. Annie played poker as a child with her brother Howard. Of course, her older brother won most of the time, but maybe that's the reason Annie hates losing so much. Her sister Katy later wrote a book titled "PokerFace" about her family. After studying English and psychology, Annie studied Psycholinguistics in Pennsylvania. But a month before finishing her dissertation she quit school for family reasons and moved to Montana with her husband Ben Duke.

In 1992, Annie slowly began playing in local poker events. At first she just played cash games in casino- then her brother Howard invited her to the WSOP. In the very first event she took her "sponsor" to school, eliminating her brother from the tournament and taking 13^th place. She did have to pay Howard back for the $2400 buy-in he had given her earlier. After that, she made 2^nd place and $70000 in prizemoney, confirming her talent. Even though she's beaten her brother in tournaments 4 times now, she still credits him with the greatest talent: "He's definitely the better player. It's not even close, I don't even play in his league."

In 1994 Annie packed her things and she and her husband moved to the gamer's city...Las Vegas! There they had success not only in tournaments but also in cash game tables at the Bellagio. Her biggest win was $300000 in pot limit Omaha ($200/400), but she also lost $110000 in a $1000/2000 mixed game.

In 2000 Annie made 10^th place in the main event of the WSOP, winning $52160-- while she was 8 months pregnant with her third child!

She came in 3^rd at ladies night in the Bicycle Casino in 2003. She has come to no longer play in "women's tournaments" since she beleives that men and women are equally talented at poker. "A player is either good or bad!"

Annie separated from her husband in 2004. It was rumored to be due to her grim will to victory. In that same year she trained Ben Affleck, who went on to win the California State Poker Championship. Whe she later beat him in heads-up, she answered the question of whether she deserved to win with: "I didn't have to play, he did it for me." In September 2004 she won first place and $2,000,000 in the WSOP Tournament of Champions, beating first her brother and then Phil Hellmuth in heads-up.

Annie is the mother of 4 children and is very family oriented. She loves her children, but spends a lot of time in the casino to give them a comfortable life. She is not to be underestimated at the poker table. Her will to win is strong, for she is stubborn, obstinate, and dominating.

Annie busts out of the domicile in her book "How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and won Millions" and on her TV show "Annie Duke Takes the World." She and Howard are now working for a firm that programs online casino software.

Annie "The Duke" is surely one of the best poker players in the world. She has won more than $3,000,000 in tournament prizes in her career, $2,000,000 of which came from NL Hold'em, and is the proud owner of a WSOP bracelet (Omaha Hi/Lo), having won against countless poker pros.

With $622639, she is the leading lady in prizemoney for the WSOP. Phil Hellmuth once said that she is the best, most multifaceted female poker player in the world and many share her opinion.

Despite not finishing her linguistics doctorate, she does not lack words. When several tournament hosts forbade players from wearing their sponsors' logos in 2005, she made the following comment: "We are not slaves, we are people who count because we may fleece the sheep."

"Annie the Legend" will surely take part in various events in the future as well - and who knows, maybe she'll win, too.