Annie Duke’s poker career got started in 1994 when her brother, Howard Lederer, tutored and funded her game. She first got noticed when she finished 10th in the 2000 WSOP main event, notably while eight months pregnant. But the year that put her on the map was 2004, when Duke finally won her first WSOP bracelet in an Omaha Hi/Low event. She followed that up with a $2,000,000 win at the WSOP Tournament of Champions in September; all that after she got a ton of publicity for training Ben Affleck to his 2004 California State Poker Championship.

Duke has won over $3 million in tournament play with 45 WSOP cashes, and is 49th on the all time WSOP money list. She also earns a good living playing high stakes limit hold’em around Vegas.

Duke is a highly intelligent woman who is not afraid to speak her opinion. She sets the example for other female players by showing that women can compete with men at an equal level, and purposely boycotts female-only events to emphasize her point. Speaking out for player rights is also important to her, and she is involved in many organizations that work towards improving the treatment of professional and amateur players alike.

She has also used her fame to cash in on the instructional poker market. She has worked with her brother on a line of video poker games, and her biography is titled “Annie Duke: How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at The World Series of Poker.”

Duke has made numerous television appearances from talk shows to commentary duties on poker shows. She recently showed her intelligence by having an amazing run of correct answers on the game show “1 vs. 100”. She correctly answered 35 questions before she finally missed one.

She has been on the scene for long time and will no doubt be around for a while yet. I fully expect her to win many more bracelets and continue to make her mark as one of the best players in the world.