A fat man with a cigar in his mouth and a cowboy hat on his head is no longer the usual poker player stereotype. A new breed has emerged: young, hip, athletic, attractive and some female are the new characteristics of the poker player. Annie Duke leads the way in setting this standard and inspiring an increasing number of women to participate in online poker games.

It all started at the kitchen table for Annie. She hails from a family of New Hampshire intellectuals. While her brother Howard Lederer, popularly known as “The Professor”, went on to become a professional poker and chess player, Annie chose to pursue her education at the Pennsylvania University by studying cognitive psychology. She dropped out just a year before her PhD and moved to Montana after getting married.

It was in Montana where she started playing poker to give financial support to her family. Her brother pushed her into taking part in the World Series where in her first appearance she came in 13th. She then decided to move to Vegas with her family and take up poker professionally.

Annie stays away from women-only tournaments for she feels that poker is amongst the few games where women can play men on an entirely equal level. She has a World Series bracelet to her name and $3,500, 000 and above in tournament prizes since the 90′s.

She stood 10th in the 2000 WSOP main event. She always places her family before her career. Apart from poker she has successfully branched out into consulting, teaching and writing. She enjoys great respect amongst the women players.