One of the most famous women poker players in the world, Annie Duke has climbed out from under the shadows of her brother Howard "the Professor" Lederer by playing remarkable poker over the last few years including winning a World Series of Poker bracelet in the 2004 Omaha Hi-Low $2,000 buy in at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. Annie Duke is widely considered the greatest all around female poker player in the world.
After her World Series of Poker win, Annie Duke won the September, 2004 inaugural ESPN invitational WSOP Tournament of Champions. The 10-player, $2 million winner-take-all tournament was the most money paid in a single event to a female poker player. However, that record was broken by Annette Obrestad (Annette_15) during the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. That made for TV single table featured some of the best players on the planet and her ability to beat Phil Hellmuth heads up made the victory even more impressive.
| 1st | Annie Duke |
| 2nd | Phil Hellmuth |
| 3rd | Howard Lederer |
| 4th | Johnny Chan |
| 5th | Greg Raymer |
| 6th | Doyle Brunson |
| 7th | Daniel Negreanu |
| 8th | Phil Ivey |
| 9th | T. J. Cloutier |
| 10th | David "Chip" Reese |
Annie Duke juggles her professional poker career around a large supportive family with four children. Her life was the focus of a pilot sitcom produced by Lisa Kudrow and starring Jeanne Garofalo. A cognitive psychology major at the University of Pennsylvania, her abilities to read people at the table was evident in her deep run in the WSOP main event in which she took 10th in 2000.
She normally focuses on playing only the larger more prestigious poker tournaments, as evidenced by the fact Annie Duke holds the women's record for most cashes at the WSOP, currently 33. In the Main Event of the 2006 World Series of Poker, she finished in 88th place, out of 8,773 entrants, for $51,129. She was one of two women left in the field when she was eliminated. Alongside her one bracelet, she was runner up twice in the WSOP limit Hold'em events in 1999 and 2003.
Annie Duke mostly plays mixed ring games at the Bellagio in Las Vegas while writing-mostly omaha hi/low articles-for the Ultimate Bet online poker room which endorses her. She rarely plays in ladies only events, stating in an interview with CBS, "Poker is one of the only sports where a woman can compete on a totally equal footing with a man, so I don't understand why there's a ladies only tournament."
The picture above shows Annie Duke offering advice to actor Ben Affleck at the World Poker Tour Championship, April 20, 2004, at the Bellagio Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Annie enjoys mentoring poker players, most notably Ben Affleck, whom she took under her wing shortly before he won $356,000 in the $10,000 California State Poker Championship No Limit Holdem event at the Commerce Casino in 2004.
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