Annie Duke born on September 13, 1965 in Concord, New Hampshire, is a professional poker player, also sister of the professional poker player Howard Lederer.

 

The daughter of two teachers and passionate about card games, Duke enrolled in Columbia University as a member of the 1st class, completing a double degree in English and Psychology. After completing her graduate work at Columbia University, she enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania in Cognitive Psychology.

 

In 1991 Duke was desperately looking for a PhD scholarship, she got tired of the academic life and moved to Montana with her husband. Duke began playing poker to pay the mortgage of their first home guided by her mentor in the game of poker, her brother, the so famous poker player Howard Lederer.

 

In 1994, by the suggestion of her brother, Duke tried her luck in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. She eventually reach the 14th place in her first tournament, a 3rd in the second event and was in the position of cash in the Main Event. After earning 70K in a month of competition in poker tournaments live, Duke and her husband moved to Las Vegas so that she could pursue her career poker professionally.

 

Over the next decade, Duke established herself as one of the best poker players in the world. In 2004, Duke won a set of 234 players in the Event "$ 2,000 buy-in Omaha Split Hi / Lo" and won her first WSOP bracelet in 2004. In September of the same year, Duke won nine of the greatest poker legends and won $ 2 million on a game in which the winner takes all, a exlusive tournament in which a player can oly participate by invitation "WSOP Tournament of Champions," hosted by ESPN. In 2010 Duke won the prestigious tournament "WSOP Tournament of Champions" beating the poker legend Erik Seidel in the finals.

 

In recent years, Duke has discovered another passion, teaching, increasing her focus on education, both poker and coaching decisions and critical thinking. Being now much in demand for her poker skills and knowledge, coaching celebrities like Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle. In June 2012 she published the book "The Middle Zone: Mastering the Most Difficult Hands in Hold'em Poker" which became a bestseller in its genre.