Annie Duke: All-in The Family

Some people are just destined for something. It’s in their blood, genes, family. Annie Duke is one of those people. If for some reason you don’t know Annie, you might have heard of her poker pro brother, Howard Lederer. Even her sister Katy Lederer, the only one in the Lederer clan that didn’t go pro, paid homage to their gambling upbringing by authoring Poker Face: A Girlhood Among Gamblers. When playing cards is this important to your family life, learning to win is a requisite.

Annie Duke

It was in 1992 after years of pursuing her graduate degree and after she had married that her brother, having already established himself as a successful player, encouraged, coached, and seeded Duke’s poker career. By 1994, Howard had convinced her to play in the WSOP, where she placed 13th in her first tournament and knocked Howard out.

After winning some $70,000 in her first month of competition, she and her husband decided it was a good idea to move to Vegas so she could pursue poker professionally.

During the mass-televising and popularization of poker, Annie acted as the female ambassador from the poker world in part because she established herself in feats like earning a WSOP bracelet in 2004 and coaching Ben Affleck to become California State Poker Champion in the same year.

Her achievements and involvements ambassadorial duties have only expanded since then. Aside from being a poker consultant and players’ branding advocate, she has also appeared on the Colbert Report, 1 vs. 100, Deal or No Deal, and most recently The Celebrity Apprentice. Annie’s work doesn’t stop with poker and media appearances, she is often auctions private poker lessons with her in charity auctions and supports the Make-A-Wish foundations, Ante Up For Africa, and Children’s Hospital to name a few. Her busy schedule may seem exhausting, but for a woman who placed 10th in the WSOP Main Event of 2000 while 8 months pregnant, it’s manageable.

What else could a woman want? When asked, Annie says that her greatest ambition is to be the best mom she can be while juggling a poker career. She would be doing everyone a big favor if she didn’t teach her kids how to play. We don’t need the competition.

- Luke Phillips