Annie Duke is one of the biggest female names in the poker industry, with the professional player been known for a number of reasons which include being the sister of poker professional Howard Lederer, her own poker playing ability as well as her willingness to create fundraising events and tournaments which give proceedings to charities.

Born in 1965 into a family of card loving fanatics, Duke created a passion for the game of poker from a very young age, learning the game with her family during their regular home games.

With her childhood offering her the chance to learn the game, Annie jumped at the chance to move to Montana in the early 1990’s.

The move meant that Duke was able to get more involved into the live poker scene, heading to the local casinos.
With Duke now more willing to take part in the live poker action, it was time for her brother to not only offer tutoring of his strategies and insights but also Howard stepped up to the plate to fund her play too.

After spending a couple of years in Montana, Annie opted to move to Las Vegas with Ben Duke, her husband.
The move fuelled the female’s desire to play the game and it wasn’t long before she was in action, being talking into entering the 1994 World Series of Poker by her brother and eventually taking 13th place in the final standings as well as knocking her own brother out of the tournament as she targeted the top spot.

Since the cashing within that tournament, Duke has had a number of successes across a range of tournaments and ring games, eventually capturing the eye of, now defunct,  online poker room UltimateBet.com. The online poker room snapped up the pro and she could be found playing within the UB.com poker tournaments as well as spearheading a wide number of charity events. Annie Duke left UB.com in 2010, while the site was still running.

On two occasions, Duke has testified in Congress on behalf of the Poker Players Alliance regarding the legality of Internet gambling. In 2007, she appeared in front of the House Committee on the Judiciary to testify against the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, and in 2010, she appeared in front of the House Committee on Financial Services to provide support for H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act.

Duke seems to not only have great timing and precision at the poker tables but she has also been able to spot that her reputation within industry meant that she saw a hole for her to create an autobiography which is titled “Annie Duke: How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker.” The book covers all aspects of her life from childhood right up to explaining how she was able to repeatedly perform strongly within the World Series of Poker tournament series’ as you would expect.

Annie Duke has had a robust career including poker, books, television and much more. Annie Duke was the first poker player on the Colbert Report. She was on Celebrity Apprentice in 2009, coming in a hard fought second place to Joan Rivers.  Annie Duke has performed for storytelling organization The Moth and been a featured story teller for the unchained tour.