Annie Duke: Poker's $2 Million Woman 
by Lou Krieger

On September 2, 2004, Annie Duke, a 39-year-old mother of four, beat her older brother and eight other poker legends to win $2 million and the first-ever World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions. In establishing this winner-take-all invitational tournament, Harrah's, which owns the World Series of Poker, set out to determine the world's best poker player and televise it in a nearly three-hour broadcast that aired a number of times on ESPN and continues to draw large numbers of viewers whenever it plays. 

Annie Duke knocked out her brother, Howard Lederer, and former World Series of Poker champion Phil Hellmuth to take the title, after being on the verge of elimination for much of the event. The field held no slouches, and included former World Series of Poker champions Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth and current champion Greg Raymer. Howard Lederer, T.J. Cloutier, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, and Chip Reese also competed. 

"This was an incredibly tough field," said Duke. "A lot of my playing strategy is based on my ability to read other players and determine what kind of hands they have. However, I was off my game for the first two hours. I couldn't read anyone and consequently my chips were dwindling." But Annie Duke did not become the leading money winner among women at the World Series of Poker by accident, and she's a tough, difficult adversary even with a dwindling stack of chips, as she demonstrated throughout this event. The fact that she's earned more than $650,000 in 25 finishes, including $138,000 in this year's series, has led her to be called "the best all-around woman poker player in the world today," by multiple World Series of Poker champion Phil Hellmuth, Jr. 

"I wasn't able to read anyone at the beginning of this event. I couldn't get away with aggressive play ‹ my opponents were too good for that ‹ so I finally decided that since I wasn't able to read my opponents well and couldn't out play them, I did the one thing I could do: force them to go all in. 

"You have to understand, most of my opponents don't want to commit all their chips before the flop, even with a good hand. Most of them want to wait until they see the three board cards that flop before deciding whether to commit all their chips and risk elimination from the tournament. 

"My brother and I discussed this strategy prior to the tournament, but it wasn't something I was necessarily planning to do. However, after the first two hours of play I was foundering, and needed to change my game plan if I wanted to give myself any chance to win." 

That's not the first change of direction for Annie in poker or in life. She has an uncanny knack for making hard decisions based on incomplete information, and usually making the right choice, even in the face of incredible pressure. 

Annie Duke did not grow up aspiring to become a poker player at all. Her father, writer and language expert Richard Lederer, taught at Saint Paul's School in New Hampshire, and expected Annie, a top-notch student at that elite prep school, to attend Harvard. But she chose Columbia instead, so she could "Šbreak the mold," and live in New York City. There she double majored in English literature and psychology, and assumed she'd follow her father's example and become a professor. As research assistant for a psychology professor, Annie chose to pursue psycholinguistics, the study of how language is understood, and why individuals respond to discrete aspects of language. 

Although stellar in her field, she was undecided about what to do, and one month before defending her doctoral dissertation, she left the program, claiming she'd return, though she knew in her heart that she wouldn't be back. Duke paid a visit to her brother in Las Vegas and played some poker. She knew the game, though she had never played it seriously. "Cards were one of the ways we interacted as a family when I was growing up, and poker was one of the games we played." 

By this time married and living in Montana, Annie Duke, armed with a playing stake and poker tips compliments of her brother, began playing at the Crystal Lounge in Billings. "I was the only woman in a decidedly male environment, but I just sat down and started playing. From the beginning, I started to win and after one successful year, at Howard's suggestion, I entered some tournaments at the World Series of Poker." 

That was 1994, and Annie Duke, the self-proclaimed "housewife from Montana" placed in the money in her first two events and walked away from the series with nearly $70,000 and the realization that poker could be a rewarding career. 

Ten years later Annie is widely regarded as the best woman poker player in the world, and the only woman invited to play in the Tournament of Champions event. One of the most poignant moments in the telecast was when Annie eliminated her brother and mentor Howard Lederer from the tournament. Although Annie had a pair of sixes in the pocket, her brother was ahead of her with a pocket pair of sevens. But the flop was Q-Q-6, giving Annie a full house and relegating Howard to two pair. 

Howard needed to catch a queen or a seven on either of the next two cards in order to win. A queen would have given Howard queens full of sevens to Annie's queens full of sixes, and a seven on the turn or river would have given him sevens full of queens. But it was not to be. "Oh God," Annie sighed at the hand's conclusion, happy over winning the hand and devastated about eliminating her brother. "I had eliminated him from tournaments in the past, but never so close to the prize. It's one thing to eliminate him when there are still 25 players remaining, but when just three of us remained and we are playing for two-million dollars, I know it hurt him, even though he's stoic and shows little emotion at the table. Howard is my mentor and I would not even be close to the player I am today without him. It doesn't give me any satisfaction to beat him. I am always rooting for him, so if I beat him I always feel bad. We play very hard against each other; during a hand he is just another opponent and I play him just as I would any one else. But once the hand is over it's another story. I feel so bad when I knock him out of a tournament because I know I have taken a dream away from him. So there I was at the end of the hand, with all of Howard's chips and a face full of tears. It was an emotional moment." 

When I asked Annie how her style of play differs from her brother's, she said, "Our style of play is remarkably similar, yet the perception of us is quite different. Howard is stoic and introverted; I'm very extroverted, and many players react differently to me because I'm a woman. I can't push my opponents around before the flop because I don't appear threatening to them, so I do most of my work after the flop." 

There were other moments during that event when Annie proved her mettle too. One lengthy decision occurred when Annie raised Daniel Negreanu with a pair of tens in her hand, only to see 2004 World Series of Poker champion Greg Raymer reraise with a pocket pair of kings. "I had a lot of chips," Annie said, "and when Daniel opened in first position for $36,000 I raised $90,000. But now Raymer moved all in. He seemed comfortable with his hand, and although they didn't show all of my deliberations on TV ‹ I took about three minutes to decide what to do ‹ I finally decided that Raymer would not commit all his chips without at least a pocket pair of kings or aces. I did not think he'd go all-in with queens or jacks, even though they would have bested my tens. Had I thought there was a chance he'd make that move with A-K, then the range of hands he was playing would have been broad enough to justify my calling him. Finally I decided that he had to have aces or kings, and after three minutes of deliberating, I folded my hand." 

Later in the tournament Annie eliminated Raymer, and at that point she had climbed all the way back from being extremely short on chips early in the tournament to one of the chip leaders with only a few players remaining. Once Annie eliminated her brother and wiped the tears from her eyes, she was heads up against multiple World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, whose jabbering and antics at the table has earned him the nickname of "Poker Brat." During the televised broadcast, it seemed as though Annie was picking on Phil, and I asked her if she made a conscious effort to pick on him, especially after Doyle Brunson chastised Hellmuth for playing to the camera. 

"Not just me, but everybody was picking on Phil. They only showed some of it on TV, of course, but everyone was getting on Phil. We all like him, but face it; he's an easy target. After all, Phil's style is to throw other players off their game, particularly those who haven't played with him before. He intimidates them, and part of the way he accomplishes this is by telling his opponents that they don't know how to play, but that sort of thing just didn't wash with the players at this table. The top players in the world were at this table, and we all know Phil very well. Although we were giving Phil a taste of his own medicine, it was not malicious at all, just part and parcel of the game." 

Annie was very effective in her play against Hellmuth, particularly when they were heads up and the $2 million was close enough to taste. "I felt I had an edge against Phil because he was playing way too tight, especially in a winner-take-all situation," said Annie. "I was down quite a bit after one particular hand I played against Phil. I had J-3; he had Q-3 and there were two threes on the board that gave each of us trip threes. That stung, but I bluffed my way back to even. Then I stopped bluffing." 

Later on Annie got under Phil's skin again. Annie had K-9 and Phil had K-7. The flop was K-6-9, giving Annie two pair and leaving Phil with precious few outs. Annie checked and Phil bet $35,000. Annie then raised to $120,000 and Phil called. The next card was a jack, and Annie moved all-in. Phil was taken aback; saying, "This is unbelievable," while shaking his head. As he folded, he showed Annie his king, as if to tell her he was folding the best hand. Never missing a beat, Annie showed Phil her nine, leaving Phil to wonder whether Annie had flopped a set of nines or simply bluffed Phil out of the pot with a mere pair of nines. 

Although Phil made the correct play in folding his pair of kings to Duke's two pair, he didn't realize it at the time and seemed to tilt a bit after that hand. "Phil made a good lay-down," said Annie. And prior to that hand I had check raised him four hands in a row with nothing. Then I flopped a big hand ‹ two pair ‹ and I was surprised that he called." 

The final hand was almost anticlimactic compared to the drama that had taken place in earlier confrontations. Annie started with K-T and Phil had T-8. The flop was T-7-2, giving both players top pair, although Annie's king kicker bested Phil's side card. Once again, Annie checked, but raised to $200,000 when Phil bet $45,000 on what he thought was the best hand. Phil went all-in and Annie quickly called. The next two cards, a seven and a trey, changed nothing and Annie was poker's first $2-million woman. 

It's a far cry, a long road, and an unusual journey from graduate student and doctoral candidate on the road to a professorship to becoming a professional poker player, but Annie had the right stuff to manage her personal transitions and poker career exceptionally well. "This was an incredible opportunity and the biggest win of my career," Annie said, "and I hope that a lot of women will now enter the game and realize it's not just your husband's, boyfriend's, or brother's poker game. It's something women can do on equal footing with men, and my win proves it." 

When asked what tips she had to offer beginning poker players, she urged recreational players to have fun, to learn how to win by studying poker books, and find a mentor. "Find someone whose game you respect, and talk poker with him. I was fortunate; I have my brother. Look for someone you can trust and build a relationship that will help both of you. But if you want to become a professional poker player, my first piece of advice would be to have a backup plan. This is not an easy life and very few people on this earth make a good living at poker. Succeeding at poker takes a ton of dedication, talent, money management, and psychological control. So have a good backup before becoming a pro." 

For Annie Duke, whose academic background makes her an expert on understanding and interpreting language, the message is clear. She is the equal of any player, man or woman, and has a $2 million payday to prove it. 

Visit Lou Krieger at www.loukrieger.com. Poker For Dummies, and his newest book, Internet Poker: How to Play and Beat Online Poker Games, are available at major bookstores, at www.ConJelCo.com and www.Amazon.com. 

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