$2 Million was an Easy Bluff for Annie Duke

Filed in archive Poker on February 8, 2006

Amidst a typical Phul Hellmuth heckle, annie Duke bluffed 4 hands in a row on her way to winning the 2004 World Series of Poker.

And she retells how she did it in her new book, "How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker''

Duke rose from being a PhD psychology student and mother to winning a neat $70,000 within 2 years and hasn't looked back since. Her husband looks after the kids as she catches some fish at the Vegas tables.

The book follows her domestic life through to her rise through the poker ranks as the poker boom follows in parallel and sometimes drifts into poker shorthand

In her book, Duke occasionally dispenses poker wisdom in Vegaspeak. To avoid being a ``donk,'' for example, you've got to ``protect'' your hand, unless of course you have ``rags and a short stack.'' If you do raise, you're ``tilting'' and bound to get ``called down,'' she says.

Confused? No sweat. Duke doesn't lapse into lingo often, and you can flip to the book's glossary when she does

She also talks about being a female in the male-dominated world

She plays in men's competitions because they have the big pots.

``People ask me what it is I love about the game,'' she writes. ``When I pull it all together and play a hand as it should be played -- when I get lucky with my cards -- I feel the surge that I imagine quarterbacks must feel when they throw a touchdown pass.'' In short, ``I feel invincible.''

The book looks like it has a bit of everything. A female poker champ, some solid poker advice and a lot of money

Article: Poker Star Annie Duke Recounts Bluffing Her Way to $2 Million