“The making of a poker star: Annie Duke — Ivy Leaguer, mom, moneymaker at cards — is a prime-time player looking beyond the next hand”
Tired of commuting between Portland, Ore., and Los Angeles, poker player Annie Duke moved her four children to Tinseltown this year, so she could more easily pursue TV and movie projects.
She’s currently awaiting a green light for “Annie Duke Takes on the World,” a program for the Game Show Network that pits Duke against one of four poker finalists. If given the go-ahead, it could air next spring.
A sitcom pilot about Duke’s life, starring Janeane Garofalo, didn’t get picked up — but Duke says screenwriter Peter Tolan (“Analyze This”) is currently attached to a feature film “loosely” based on her exploits.
But how’s her game?
In the World Series of Poker this summer, Duke busted out on the first day of the big, no-limit tournament.
“I don’t like not making the final table and not winning, but it happens,” Duke says.
She did, however, finish fourth in the event’s $5,000-limit Texas Hold’em game. But Duke didn’t play a lot of poker in 2005.
“It really just has to do with where you’re spending your time. The TV show is taking a tremendous amount of time, and it’s a lot of fun,” Duke says. “I’ve chosen to reduce my poker schedule for the moment, but I’ll be playing a lot more in 2006.”
