Born in Concord, New Hampshire professional poker player Annie Duke holds the women’s record for most “in the money” finishes at the World Series of Poker. Duke also has a brother, Howard Lederer, who is a professional poker player and her sister Katy Lederer, is an author and poet who made good on the Lederer family name by writing a book on the popular card game entitled “Poker Face: A Girlhood Among Gamblers”.

Also known as “The Duchess of Poker”, Annie’s education extends far beyond the realm of poker. Duke is a Columbia University grad (English and psychology major) but abandoned her academic studies to play poker in the male dominated poker rooms in Billings, Montana.

A lot of people probably don’t know that it was Annnie Duke who taught Hollywood actor Ben Affleck how to play and win at poker. (Ben Affleck took that knowledge and went on to win the California State Poker Championship in 2004.)

How does she do it?

Unlike most poker players, Annie Duke tends not to hide her emotions at the table and refuses to play in women’s only poker tournaments.

“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.”

Aggressive and very adept at playing poker against other strong players, Annie Duke is an inspiration to female poker players everywhere.