Annie Duke-Interviewed

A Three-Part Series on Poker, Politics, and People Annie Duke is a woman of strong and wide-ranging opinions on a wide variety of subjects, and one of the best all-around poker players in the world. She’s also been very active in the fight to overturn the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and even testified before Congress last month. She’s a hard woman to catch up with and even harder to keep up with. But that didn’t faze our intrepid reporter Jennifer Matiran, who managed to corral Annie Duke long enough to gather enough material for this three-part interview on poker, politics, and more.

The first part of Jennifer’s chat with Annie follows, with the remainder of her interview continuing in the next two issues.

JENNIFER: Has celebrity changed you?

ANNIE DUKE: Me? No, the things that changed me are growing up, having four kids and understanding what’s important in life. I am very different than I was in my 20s, when I first started playing. I am more mature, and more forgiving of other people’s faults. I was a tough cookie back then; I am much softer human being now. If I had met myself now versus then, I like myself a lot better now.

JM: So what advice would you give to somebody who wants to go pro?

AD: First, get an education so you have something else to do. To make a good living you actually have to play quite high. So the amount of money you make is based on the amount of money that you play. If you are playing $3-$6 poker you are earning about $6 to $12 per hour.