Annie Duke
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Anne LaBarr Duke (née Lederer; born September 13, 1965) is an American former professional
poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
player and author in cognitive-behavioral decision science and decision education. She holds a
World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...
(WSOP) gold bracelet from 2004 and used to be the leading money winner among women in WSOP history, and is still in the top four as of September 2021, despite being retired from poker, last cashing at a tournament 2010. Duke won the 2004
World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions The World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions is an invitational freeroll poker event. Wins in this event do not count as official WSOP bracelets, but the winner receives a large trophy in the shape of the official World Series of Poker logo ...
and the
National Heads-Up Poker Championship The National Heads-Up Poker Championship was an annual poker tournament held in the United States and produced by the NBC television network.
in 2010. She has written a number of instructional books for poker players, including ''Decide to Play Great Poker'' and ''The Middle Zone'', and she published her autobiography, ''How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker'', in 2005. Duke also authored two books on decision-making, ''Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts'', and ''How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices''. Duke co-founded the non-profit Ante Up for Africa with actor
Don Cheadle Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. He is the recipient of  multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also earned ...
in 2007 to benefit charities working in African nations, and has raised money for other charities and non-profits through playing in and hosting charitable poker tournaments. She has been involved in advocacy on a number of poker-related issues including advocating for the legality of online gambling and for players' rights to control their own image. Duke was co-founder, executive vice president, and commissioner of the
Epic Poker League The Epic Poker League was a series of poker tournaments which took place in 2011, organised by Federated Sports + Gaming. Former World Series of Poker commissioner Jeffrey Pollack served as Executive Chairman, professional poker player Annie Duke ...
from 2011 to 2012.


Early life and family

Duke, born as Anne LaBarr Lederer, grew up in
Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...
, where her father, writer and linguist
Richard Lederer Richard Lederer (born May 26, 1938) is an American linguist, author, speaker, and teacher. He is best known for his books on the English language and on wordplay such as puns, oxymorons, and anagrams. He has been dubbed "the Wizard of Idiom," ...
, taught English literature at St. Paul's School and her mother, Rhoda S. Lederer, daughter of trial attorney
Craig Spangenberg Craig Spangenberg (18 February 1914 – 17 March 1998) was a nationally-renowned trial attorney who founded the law firm now known aSpangenberg, Shibley & Liberin Cleveland, Ohio. Education Craig Spangenberg earned his undergraduate and law d ...
, taught at Concord High School. Her parents were both card players and Duke became interested in cards from an early age. Her siblings are professional poker player
Howard Lederer Howard Henry Lederer (born October 30, 1964) is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Series of Poker bracelets and holds two World Poker Tour titles. Lederer has also contributed to several books on poker strategy and has ...
and author/poet
Katy Lederer Katherine "Katy" Lederer is an American poet and author of the memoir ''Poker Face: A Girlhood Among Gamblers''. Early life and education Lederer is the daughter of bestselling non-fiction author Richard Lederer and Rhoda (née Spangenberg) Leder ...
, who published a memoir about the Lederer family. Her father is
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,San Diego Jewish Journal: "Hungry for Words" by Karen Pearlman
June 2010 , ''"His children were not raised Jewish, as Lederer’s first wife was not Jewish, nor is van Egeren"''
while her mother was a
gentile Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym for ...
. Duke was not raised Jewish. Duke attended St. Paul's School, While still attending St. Paul's, Annie worked her first job at
Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
. She enrolled at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, joining the first
co-ed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
class in its 230-year history, and pursued a double major in
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
. After graduating from Columbia, she pursued a
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in psychology at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, focusing on
cognitive linguistics Cognitive linguistics is an interdisciplinary branch of linguistics, combining knowledge and research from cognitive science, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and linguistics. Models and theoretical accounts of cognitive linguistics are con ...
and writing her dissertation on a hypothesis of how children learn their first language called "
syntactic bootstrapping Syntactic bootstrapping is a theory in developmental psycholinguistics and language acquisition which proposes that children learn word meanings by recognizing syntactic categories (such as nouns, adjectives, etc.) and the structure of their languag ...
". For her graduate studies she was awarded a
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
fellowship. In 1991, one month before defending her doctoral dissertation, she decided that she no longer wished to pursue academia and left school. In 1992, she married Ben Duke, grandson of Ambassador
Angier Biddle Duke Angier Biddle Duke (November 30, 1915 – April 29, 1995) was an American diplomat who served as Chief of Protocol of the United States in the 1960s. Prior to that, at the age of 36, he became the youngest American ambassador in history when he w ...
and a descendent of
Washington Duke Washington Duke (December 18, 1820 – May 8, 1905) was an American tobacco industrialist and philanthropist. During the American Civil War he enlisted in the Confederate States Navy. In 1865, Duke founded the "W. Duke, Sons & Co.", a tobacco ma ...
, and moved to
Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...
. The couple divided their time between
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
and Montana between 1992 and 2002, when they moved to
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
. They were married until 2004 and had four children. Maud Duke was born in 1995; Leo Duke, in 1998; Lucy Duke, in 2000; and Nell Duke, in 2002. In 2005, Duke and her children relocated to
Hollywood Hills, California The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains. The neighborhood touches Studio City, Univer ...
.


Professional poker career


Early career

Duke first played
Texas hold'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face ...
at age 22 in a casino and continued to play for fun in Las Vegas casinos while visiting her brother, Howard Lederer, during her graduate school years. In 1992 after Duke moved to Billings her brother encouraged her to play poker professionally, sending her $2,400 and providing her with poker instruction books and lessons by phone. She began to play poker initially at the Crystal Lounge, a local bar in Billings that had a legal poker room. Following a successful year playing in Montana, her brother prompted her to enter tournaments at the
1994 World Series of Poker The 1994 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a series of poker tournaments held at Binion's Horseshoe. Preliminary events Main Event There were 268 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament. Since this was the 25th ann ...
(WSOP) in Las Vegas. Within the first month, she won $70,000 and decided to move to Las Vegas to pursue a professional poker career.


Live poker

In the first two tournaments of the 1994 World Series of Poker, Duke placed 14th and 5th, and finished 26th in the Main Event. Following her move to Las Vegas, Duke continued successfully playing poker on a professional basis through the late 1990s, and by 2000 had 16
in the money In finance, moneyness is the relative position of the current price (or future price) of an underlying asset (e.g., a stock) with respect to the strike price of a derivative, most commonly a call option or a put option. Moneyness is firstly a thr ...
finishes at WSOP events, prior to the WSOP World Championship event that year. From 2000 onward, she became well known for her high-profile achievements in WSOP events. In the 2000 WSOP World Championship event, although nine months pregnant with her third child, she placed 10th out of a total of 512 players, which was the second-highest finish by a woman in the event's history. She received a WSOP gold bracelet in 2004, placing first out of 234 entrants in an Omaha Hi-Lo Split tournament. By July of that year she had become the top female money winner in the history of the WSOP; earning over $650,000 from 25 in the money finishes, including 13 at the final table. Later in 2004, she placed first in the inaugural WSOP Tournament of Champions, beating her brother and nine former world championship winners and winning $2 million. In the 2006 WSOP, she was one of only two women left in the tournament when she finished in 88th place with $51,129 in winnings. In 2010, Duke won the NBC
National Heads-Up Poker Championship The National Heads-Up Poker Championship was an annual poker tournament held in the United States and produced by the NBC television network.
; she outlasted a field of 64 players, including eliminating previous winner
Huck Seed Huckleberry ''Huck'' Seed (born January 15, 1969) is an American professional poker player best known for winning the Main Event of the 1996 World Series of Poker. Early life Seed was born in Santa Clara, California, but grew up in Corvallis, ...
, and defeating
Erik Seidel Erik Seidel (born November 6, 1959) is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada, who has won nine World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title. In 2010, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. Early life ...
in the final match. She won $500,000 and became the first and only female winner of the event, which ended in 2013. In a 2020 interview, Duke described herself as retired from poker, stating she had not played since 2012. Duke's total winnings from her 39 cashes at the WSOP is $1,166,567. , Duke's total lifetime live tournament winnings of $4,270,548 still place her at fourth overall on the list of women all-time live tournament winnings.


World Series of Poker Bracelets


Online poker activities

From 2001 to 2004, Duke worked as a spokesperson and consultant for , a company that developed online poker software for multiplayer poker websites including
Ultimate Bet Cereus Poker Network was an online poker network comprising Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. The site is now insolvent and not processing player withdrawals. Cereus is owned by a private company, Blanca Games. Blanca Games bought all Network asse ...
. She moved to Portland, Oregon where was based in 2002 and remained there until 2005.


Ultimate Bet Scandal

In 2008, poker champion and Ultimate Bet spokesperson Russ Hamilton was found to be using cheating software to see other players’ cards, which would ultimately win him millions of dollars. Though Ultimate Bet officials assured users that Hamilton acted alone, later evidence showed that other officials at the site knew about the scheme. Duke represented Ultimate Bet as a spokesperson until December 2010, when she announced that she was leaving the company. No evidence was presented against Duke and there was no investigation of such with regard to any involvement or benefiting from any fraudulent crimes pertaining to the company. On two occasions, Duke has testified in Congress on behalf of the
Poker Players Alliance The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) is an American nonprofit Interest group formed to emphasize the rights of poker players, and to protect the players' liberties." The PPA formed to serve as an advocacy group to Washington to establish rights and p ...
regarding the legality of
Internet gambling Online gambling is any kind of gambling conducted on the internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and ...
. In 2007, she appeared in front of the
House Committee on the Judiciary The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...
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 The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...
to provide support for H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. In 2013, audio recordings released by Travis Makar proved that Duke knew about the so-called God Mode but did not use it to swindle players as it was on a time delay.


Retirement from poker

As of June 2020, Duke describes herself as retired from poker and says she has not played since 2012.


Other poker activities


Debates, advocacy and coaching

In addition to her advocacy regarding online gambling on behalf of the Poker Players Alliance, Duke has also been involved in debate about whether players should be allowed to wear the logos of their sponsor companies at televised poker events. In the mid-2000s, she was one of a number of players that argued against such restrictions being placed on players. In 2006, she was one of seven players who filed a lawsuit against the
World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ...
(WPT), alleging that the WPT's release forms, required for participation in their events, were anti-competitive and violated individuals' rights to their own image. The suit was settled in 2008, when the WPT agreed to modify the release form. Duke has opposed and avoided playing at the WSOP Ladies Event, arguing that having a separate WSOP bracelet event for women suggests that there is a difference in intellect between men and women. Duke has supported women in poker through coaching women players at the LIPS (Ladies International Poker Series) Tour, instructing at several women-only World Series of Poker Academy events, and giving the keynote speech at the 2011 Women in Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony. She has served on the World Series of Poker Player Advisory Council and has taught at the WSOP Poker Academy poker school. She has coached a number of celebrities on how to play poker, including
Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Americ ...
and
Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educationa ...
, whom she coached to win the 2004 California State Poker Championship.


Organizations

Duke was a co-founder and commissioner of the
Epic Poker League The Epic Poker League was a series of poker tournaments which took place in 2011, organised by Federated Sports + Gaming. Former World Series of Poker commissioner Jeffrey Pollack served as Executive Chairman, professional poker player Annie Duke ...
, which sponsored three tournaments at the
Palms Casino Resort Palms Casino Resort is a hotel and casino located near the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned and operated by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. It includes 703 rooms and a casino. It was originally owned by th ...
in 2011. Through the three tournaments, the league raised more than $125,000 for charity: $53,000 for humanitarian organization
Operation USA Operation USA (also known as OpUSA, Operation California, or OpCal) is a non profit humanitarian organization supporting health, education and relief programs at home and abroad in order to help children and families recover and thrive in the wak ...
; $25,000 for the charity Fallen Heroes USA, which supports families of law enforcement officers who die in service; and $48,000 for the Prevent Cancer Foundation's "Bad Beat on Cancer" campaign. The league was co-founded by former World Series of Poker commissioner
Jeffrey Pollack Jeffrey Pollack (born 1965) is an American sports executive and business consultant. After a brief career in politics, Pollack moved into the industry of sports business where he's held executive roles with the NBA, NASCAR, World Series of Pok ...
, operating under Pollack's company Federated Sports + Gaming. After Epic Poker held its first three planned events, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 28, 2012. Filing records show Federated Sports + Gaming owed creditors more than $8 million, while Duke earned at least $299,000 in salary. The Epic Poker League and its parent company were acquired by
Pinnacle Entertainment Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. was an American gambling and hospitality company. It was acquired by Penn National Gaming in 2018. At the time of acquisition, it operated sixteen casino properties, located in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missi ...
in a June 2012 bankruptcy auction. During 2011, Duke and Eric Faulkner, the CIO of Federated Sports + Gaming, created the
Global poker index The Global Poker Index (GPI) is a leaderboard index that ranks over 450,000 live tournament poker players in the world. The GPI poker rankings are updated on a weekly basis. Players’ performances are assessed by their finishing positions in pok ...
(GPI). The index ranks the top 300 live tournament poker players each week.


Books, DVDs and product line

Duke's first book was an autobiography titled ''Annie Duke: How I raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker'' () was published in September 2005. ''Decide to Play Great Poker'', (co-authored with John Vorhaus.) is a strategy book for no-limit hold'em, and was published in June 2011. The following year, Duke and Vorhaus published a second book together, ''The Middle Zone'', which focused on strategy for difficult
hands A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each " ...
. ''Thinking in Bets'', is a guide to selecting and applying decision strategies in uncertainty, was released in 2018. In addition to her instructional books, Duke released an instructional DVD series including ''Annie Duke's Advanced Texas Hold'em Secrets: How to Beat the Big Boys'' and in 2005 she launched a range of poker products with
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. Duke's most recent book "''How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices''" () was released in 2020.


Philanthropy

Duke, actor
Don Cheadle Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. He is the recipient of  multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also earned ...
, and a mutual friend, Norman Epstein, co-founded the non-profit Ante Up for Africa in 2007 to raise money with
poker tournaments A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table (called a " heads-up" tournament), and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tabl ...
for charities benefiting African countries. The first tournament in July 2007 was held at the start of the World Series of Poker and raised more than $700,000, which was donated to the
ENOUGH Project The Enough Project is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization that was founded in 2007. Its stated mission is to end genocide and crimes against humanity. The Enough Project conducts research in several conflict areas in Africa includi ...
and the International Rescue Committee. In 2008, 2009 and 2010, money raised in the organization's tournaments was again donated to the ENOUGH Project, and also to Not On Our Watch, Refugees International,
Water.org Water.org is an international nonprofit organization that helps people living in poverty get access to safe water and improved sanitation through affordable financing. This organization was founded by Matt Damon and Gary White. Water.org current ...
, and the
Eastern Congo Initiative The Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI) is an American nonprofit organization established by Ben Affleck and Whitney Williams in 2010 as "the first U.S.-based advocacy and grant-making initiative wholly focused on working with and for the people of eas ...
. In 2009, Duke entered the reality television show ''
Celebrity Apprentice ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' is an American television reality competition series. It was a variation of ''The Apprentice'' series, hosted by then real estate developer (later 45th president of the United States The president of the Unite ...
'' to raise money for Refugees International. She finished as a runner up to
Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...
and raised more than $700,000 for her chosen charity, over half of the total amount raised by contestants on the show. After the season ended, fans continued to donate to Refugees International and in May 2009 Duke hosted a charity poker tournament at the
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ro ...
to benefit the charity. Duke has played in and hosted charitable poker tournaments for organizations including Life Rolls On, the
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States established to provide the means to cure cystic fibrosis (CF) and ensure that those living with CF live long and productive lives. The Foundation prov ...
, and
Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2012 is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital located in Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical Scho ...
, for which she helped to raise $500,000 in 2007 and $425,000 in 2012. She played in a charity poker tournament organized by the Poker Players Alliance in July 2009 to benefit the
United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
and the
Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and ret ...
and hosted a poker tournament in May 2010 to raise money for
After-School All-Stars After-School All-Stars (ASAS) is a national non-profit organization that partners with schools across the United States to expand the learning day for low-income children. It provides after-school programs. Currently, ASAS serves nearly 92,000 ...
, a non-profit supporting after-school programs for children from low income families. From 2007, Duke served as a member of the board of directors for the Decision Education Foundation, a non-profit organization based in
Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...
which provides training for teachers and mentors to produce curricula focused on decision-making skills for their students. , she is no longer a member of the board of directors. In 2014, Annie Duke founded How I Decide, a nonprofit to help young people develop the essential life skills of critical thinking and decision making. In 2016, she joined the Board of Directors for the
Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...
, one of America's oldest museums.


Other ventures

She performed for storytelling organization
The Moth The Moth is a non-profit group based in New York City dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Founded in 1997, the organization presents a wide range of theme-based storytelling events across the United States and abroad, often featuring ...
, and in January 2013, she was a featured storyteller on the Unchained Tour, a storytelling tour across the Southern United States.


Television

In the mid-2000s, Duke was a producer and consultant for ''All In'', a pilot television show for
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
based on her life, in which she was portrayed by
Janeane Garofalo Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...
; the series was not picked up by the network. In the same time period, she also created ''Annie Duke Takes on the World'', a television show on the
Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and revive ...
in which she played poker against amateur players. She has appeared on a number of television shows, including being the first poker personality to appear on ''
The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
'' on January 30, 2006, and finishing in second place in the 2009 season of ''
Celebrity Apprentice ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' is an American television reality competition series. It was a variation of ''The Apprentice'' series, hosted by then real estate developer (later 45th president of the United States The president of the Unite ...
''. Duke has appeared on ''
Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht (Netherlands), Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this f ...
'' and ''
1 vs. 100 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
''. On the latter, she answered correctly to 35 questions in a row before she was eliminated. She also reappeared for the "last man standing" game finishing in the final 5. In 2007, Duke appeared on the premiere episode of the classic poker TV show ''
Poker After Dark ''Poker After Dark'' is an hour-long poker television program that originally aired on NBC, premiering on January 1, 2007.
'' on NBC.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, Annie 1965 births American gambling writers American memoirists American poker players Columbia College (New York) alumni Female poker players Living people Participants in American reality television series Writers from Portland, Oregon Writers from Billings, Montana St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni World Series of Poker bracelet winners National Heads-Up Poker Championship winners People from Concord, New Hampshire American people of German-Jewish descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent American women memoirists The Apprentice (franchise) contestants Duke family