Annie Duke
When I wrote last time, I described Phil Hellmuth because he’s part of the team that advertises UB and the UB bonus, and today I’m about to describe Annie Duke, another UB spokesperson. Among the most successful female poker players around today, Duke received a WSOP bracelet six years back playing Omaha Hi-Low. She grew up in New Hampshire with her brother and sister. Her brother, Howard Lederer, was actually the person that taught her how to play poker.
Duke has been representing UB and the UB bonus for 10 years now. Many would agree that she is an excellent tournament player, as her live MTT poker winnings total over $4 million. Her most impressive cash in the WSOP Main Event was tenth place in the year 2000. To make it more impressive, she was pregnant with her third kid at the time! She’s cashed in the WSOP 37 times for a total of $1.1 million, and she won the winner-take-all invitational WSOP Tournament of Champions for $2 million in 2004.
Duke isn’t well known in the poker community just because she’s a female poker player. In 2004 when Ben Affleck won the California State Poker Championship, he actually received poker tutoring from Duke. She was the chosen one when the Colbert Report hosted a poker player for the first time, she’s appeared on the show 1 vs 100 three times, and she appeared on Deal or No Deal one time. She also participated in Celebrity Apprentice a year ago where she placed second behind Joan Rivers even though she raised 3 times more cash for her charity of choice, Refugees International. Include the fact that she also participates on UB’s Best Damn Poker Show, and you begin to wonder when she gets her poker hands in.
Duke is a proud supporter of American poker online, and she speaks up when she thinks something is wrong. She publically dislikes the fact that players are not allowed to represent poker sites on their clothes during select live events. Regarding the subject, she boldly said, “We are not even slaves. We’re people paying to pick the cotton.” Duke acknowledges the fact she’s one of only a few successful women in poker, but she thinks it’s silly that women have their own exclusive tournaments. Regarding the subject, she said, “Poker is one of the few 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.” It doesn’t come as a surprise that as a result, she passes up any opportunity to participate in ladies only MTTs.
Annie Duke is an excellent representative for both UB and poker in general. By appearing in so many different TV shows, she’s encouraging people everywhere to support legal US poker sites and enjoy one of the best games ever invented. You can join her at the tables on UB – make a UB download today!
