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Over the weekend, UB.com pro and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist became the first female winner ever of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will air next month on NBC. Duke sat down to discuss her monumental win.
Poker News Daily: Your breakthrough match came against 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Paul Wasicka, which featured you drawing out with A-10 against pocket aces and 8-5 against pocket jacks. Talk about the roller coaster of a match.
Annie Duke: I had Paul Wasicka ground down and then he doubled through me. We were about even in chips and I was slightly behind before I won with A-10 against aces. I sucked out and made a Broadway straight and he was crippled. I was horrified when I won that hand. It was an epically long battle. He said that whichever way this goes, we could both sleep well. He was so gracious and it was an amazing match.
PND: In a Guest Column on Poker News Daily, you lamented that neither nor you had much success in the invite-only tournament. How surreal was it to be playing against each other for the title?
Annie Duke: That was storybook. After I won my match against Wasicka and Erik won his match, we talked on the phone. I realized how close we were to playing each other in the finals. What an incredible feeling to know that you’re in the finals and whatever the result was, you’d be very happy. He said that this was the happiest he’s ever been coming in second and I’d have felt the same way. It was a very relaxing feeling and not the same as in the other matches. Erik Seidel might have the best poker mind out there.
PND: You drew 2009 () Main Event runner-up in the second round. How is Moon’s game?
Annie Duke: Darvin Moon was really nice. He’s just a good guy and he was talking about how happy he was to be there and how he’s living the dream. It was really pleasant to play with him. He knows that he doesn’t have the game of a player like . I was I happy to draw him, of course, but he wasn’t a pushover.
PND: You’re a former WSOP Tournament of Champions winner and have also captured a bracelet. Where does this rank among your various poker accomplishments?
Annie Duke: This is second to the Tournament of Champions. I’ve always ranked the Tournament of Champions above the bracelet and I would put this above the bracelet as well. It’s the timing. Given that I had just taken five months off, the timing was big. I feel like I’m standing with some pretty cool winners of this event, so I am pretty happy. I’m standing shoulder to shoulder with Huck Seed, , , , and Paul Wasicka. To have gotten to play Erik in the final was a really memorable experience.
In the Tournament of Champions, I was three-handed with my brother and Phil Hellmuth. Now, being able to play with one of my best friends and be among those winners is incredible. I think I needed the win and have been really focused since I got back into poker. I had a nice run at the L.A. Poker Classic leading up to this.
PND: In the L.A. Poker Classic High-Roller event, you were seated alongside Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka. Tell us about his poker skill set.
Annie Duke: Playing heads-up against him helped me in the event I won. He’s very good at leveraging the chip stack of his opponent. He’s good at changing up his play and I watched what he was doing. I learned a lot from my match with him.
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The unique format of the World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star makes it stand out from the tournament crowd during this blossoming springtime poker season. Day 1a of the $10,000-buy-in event ran on Monday, and the Bay 101 Casino in San Jose…
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03 8th, 2010
“I’m so excited to win such a prestigious event and join the likes of Huck Seed, Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth as Heads-Up Champion,” said Duke, who became the first-ever woman to win the NBC Heads-Up title.
“I came into this tournament really focused and it feels great to finally break through in this event.”
The road to victory at Caesars Palace was not an easy one for the sponsored pro. She beat 2008 runner-up Andy Bloch in the first round before getting past 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon in the round of 32.
Next up was 2007 champion Paul Wasicka who looked to have the best of Duke when she was all in with ace-ten against his pocket aces at one point. Miraculously, Duke went runner-runner to make a straight, take the lead and eventually move on.
“I would have loved all of my matches to be easy,” said Duke. “I’m sure (Producer) Mori (Eskandani) is happy though, because it’s going to give the show some serious drama.
“One thing’s for sure, I can never complain about bad beats again after hitting that runner-runner king-queen against Paul Wasicka.”
In the end, Duke beat eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel in the best-of-three final to bank the $500,000 first-place prize.
“Annie was my number one pick to win,” said Seidel. “She played very tough. She had no fear. She really played the way you’re supposed to play in this sort of structure.”
A mother of four, Duke took some time off from her career as a professional poker player to film The Celebrity Apprentice last season.
Now she says a little time away from the game did her a world of good.
“I know what my main priority is and that’s my family, so I’m never going to play as much poker as everyone else, but it’s really nice to come back with a bang,” she said. “I took the time off, I readjusted and now I’ve had some good results.”
Vanessa Rousso made runner-up at the Heads-Up Championship in 2009, the deepest finish by a woman in the event before this year.
Duke said it’s great to see so many female poker players rising to the top.
“I think it’s great that a woman came in second last year and a woman finished first year to really represent woman players,” she said. “There are some great female poker players out there.”
NBC’s coverage of the 64-person event will air Sunday’s at 12 p.m. ET beginning April 18 through May 23.
- With files from Matthew Showell
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Continued here:
Day 4 of PokerStars.net EPT Berlin was not your average day on the tournament circuit. The top 24 players in the €5,000 main event returned to battle down to the final table of eight. They were down to 20 players when things took a turn for the…
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The 2010 PokerStars.net EPT Berlin came to an abrupt halt in the action around 2:30 p.m. local time on Saturday when a group of armed men raided the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Berlin where the tournament is being held. The men were after money and no…
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03 2nd, 2010
World Series of Poker bracelet winner Mike Sexton and First Lady of Poker Linda Johnson are helping host a charity tournament for the Paralyzed Veterans of America organization Wednesday, March 3, at 7 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt in the U.S. Capital.
The aim of the event is to raise awareness and funds for Paralyzed Veterans and its mission to help those who have served in the U.S. armed forces, although a $10,000 seat in the 2010 WSOP Main Event is also on the line.
Tournament chairs include poker players Andy Bloch, Lee Childs, Kenna “Cowboy” James and film star Ben Affleck with a host of other pros, politicians and stars expected to attend.
The Poker Players Alliance is sponsoring the event, along with Walmart, Reynolds America, Orchestrate Technology, Merkle, Data Management Inc. and Midwest Direct Mailers.
All proceeds from the tournament and a silent auction at the event will benefit Paralyzed Veterans of America, founded 63 years ago by a band of spinal cord injured service members returning home from World War II.
For more on the organization click through to it’s .
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02 27th, 2010
The following freerolls are open to all PokerListings.com players. Qualify in the specified qualification period, then take your seat to win a boatload of free cash.
If you’re not a PL.com registered player on any of the following sites, click on the site’s name in the list to sign up. Getting your free seat in the tournament can be just as simple as that.
Weekly freeroll for new depositing players only.
- Date: Mar. 2
- Value: $500
- Qualify with: Deposit and play
With just 100 points earned in February, you can play in William Hill’s next exclusive freeroll worth $2,500.
- Date: Mar. 4
- Value: $2,500
- Qualify with: 100 Points
- Qualify between: Feb. 1 - Feb. 28
Offered monthly, PokerListings players on Titan Poker can get their seat in a monthly $5,000 freeroll for just 25 points.
- Date: Mar. 7
- Value: $5,000
- Qualify with: 25 points
Earn 100 points as a PokerListings player in the previous month to play in the monthly Pacific Poker $1,000 freeroll.
- Date: Mar. 7
- Value: $1,000
- Qualify with: 100 points
- Qualify between: Feb. 1 - Feb. 28
Be sure to have collected 100 points in February for your seat in the next $2,000 Party Poker freeroll.
- Date: Mar. 13
- Value: $2,000
- Qualify with: 100 points
- Qualify between: Feb. 1 - Feb. 28
Open to all new PokerListings.com players who signed up in February, or any existing players who earned 10 points before March 1st.
- Date: Mar. 14
- Value: $3,000
- Qualify with: 10 points
The next $2,000 Monthly freeroll is almost here, buy in with just 200 points.
- Date: Mar. 14
- Value: $2,000
- Qualify with: 200 points
Monthly freerolls for all PokerListings players on the site. Just 50 pts to qualify.
- Date: Mar. 19
- Value: $2,000
- Qualify with: 25 points
- Qualify between: Dec. 1- Mar. 19
All PokerListings players are welcome to earn their seats in the next quarterly $15k freeroll from Titan Poker. Just 750 points to qualify.
- Date: Mar. 28
- Value: $15,000
- Qualify with: 750 points
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Yet another tournament got underway today, so we’ll be bringing you some news on that and its Fantasy Draft, the MiniFTOPS is just around the corner, so expect a little something on that, and some other news. It is the Nightly Turbo after all.
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02 20th, 2010
The following freerolls are open to all PokerListings.com players. Qualify in the specified qualification period, then take your seat to win a boatload of free cash.
If you’re not a PL.com registered player on any of the following sites, click on the site’s name in the list to sign up. Getting your free seat in the tournament can be just as simple as that.
If you collected 750 points in the month of January, you are invited to take part in the PokerListings exclusive $25k freeroll on PokerStars.
- Date: Feb. 21
- Value: $25,000
- Qualify with: 750 points
Monthly freerolls for all PokerListings players on the site. Just 50 pts to qualify.
- Date: Feb. 21
- Value: $2,000
- Qualify with: 25 points
- Qualify between: Dec. 1- Mar. 19
Weekly freeroll for new depositing players only.
- Date: Feb. 23
- Value: $500
- Qualify with: Deposit and play
With just 100 points earned in February, you can play in William Hill’s next exclusive freeroll worth $2,500.
- Date: Mar. 4
- Value: $2,500
- Qualify with: 100 Points
- Qualify between: Feb. 1 - Feb. 28
Offered monthly, PokerListings players on Titan Poker can get their seat in a monthly $5,000 freeroll for just 25 points.
- Date: Mar. 7
- Value: $5,000
- Qualify with: 25 points
Earn 100 points as a PokerListings player in the previous month to play in the monthly Pacific Poker $1,000 freeroll.
- Date: Mar. 7
- Value: $1,000
- Qualify with: 100 points
- Qualify between: Feb. 1 - Feb. 28
Be sure to have collected 100 points in February for your seat in the next $2,000 Party Poker freeroll.
- Date: Mar. 13
- Value: $2,000
- Qualify with: 100 points
- Qualify between: Feb. 1 - Feb. 28
The next $2,000 Monthly freeroll is almost here, buy in with just 200 points.
- Date: Mar. 14
- Value: $2,000
- Qualify with: 200 points
All PokerListings players are welcome to earn their seats in the next quarterly $15k freeroll from Titan Poker. Just 750 points to qualify.
- Date: Mar. 28
- Value: $15,000
- Qualify with: 750 points
Visit
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02 17th, 2010
The 6th annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship presented by GoDaddy.com will go off March 4-7 with 64 of the world’s best poker players in squaring off and $1.5 million in prize money on the line.
Scheduled to play are familiar faces like Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and last year’s Heads-Up finalists Vanessa Rousso and Huck Seed.
“It takes a lot of skill and mental toughness to get through a field of such exceptional players,” said Seed, who won it last year and is the only player in the history of the event to cash in all five years. “I look forward to defending my title and trying to win it again.”