Annie Duke reached the final table of the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Omaha High-Low Eight or Better at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was one of her first appearances in the spotlight since finishing as the runner-up in NBC’s hit reality series Celebrity Apprentice. Duke sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss the reaction at the Rio.
Poker News Daily: What has been the reaction during the 2009 WSOP? Has anyone jokingly called you “Hitler”?
Duke: I expect people to laugh, but I think most people are sensitive to that comment not being funny, particularly since there are anti-Semitic things going on in the news. Most people just tell me I should have won Celebrity Apprentice and it was rigged. Obviously, all people don’t believe that and I’m getting a biased sample.
PND: How did the public reaction to Celebrity Apprentice trend during the season?
Duke: On the Celebrity Apprentice blog and fan sites midway through the show, the commentary was about 50/50. Half of the comments were defensive of me and half were repeating what Joan Rivers said. One of the problems was that Melissa Rivers and Joan used the private interviews to frame a story. Brande Roderick and I just being friends resulted in Melissa saying in the background that we were conspiring against her. You have this chatter even though there was no evidence of it. You don’t have any video of Brande and I conspiring.
After the jingle challenge, when Brande and I beat Clint Black, Melissa was no longer on the show. I was having dinner with a friend of mine who is a television producer and we were talking about the fact that the comments swung in my favor. He said it was because Melissa wasn’t there, so viewers just got to see the friendship between Brande and me. Then, I was really pleased.
I was very sure on November 2nd that I wasn’t going to win the show. They filmed a fake boardroom just in case it was needed. In it, Joan basically reiterated that her friends were at fault that she couldn’t raise any money. I quietly said that maybe she treats her friends like she treats me and Donald Trump just ignored that. Then, I knew I was in big trouble.
When Joan announced that all of my money came from the Mafia, Trump’s response was, “You never know.” That was sign number two. Sign number three was that Trump refused to listen to the issue about the event planner. Joan had caused him to quit around 3:00pm. No one told me and I had to discover it myself. Joan had about a four hour head start on me.
PND: What points did you want to make in the final boardroom about yourself and the poker playing community?
Duke: Before I went into the live boardroom, I had long discussions with my boyfriend on what my strategy should be. I had him convinced that I wouldn’t win. I raised so much money and her behavior was so unacceptable. The tactic I took was to not allow her to talk over me. I asked Trump, “Are you going to let her tell you when I can speak?” I didn’t think there was anything I could argue that could help me win. I wanted to show that there were rules in the past that weren’t followed.
After the boardroom, I came back to my hotel room and there were 2,000 comments on my website. I went to my brother’s (Howard Lederer) hotel room and he looked at a reality show fan site whose comments said “Robbed, robbed, robbed, robbed” and read me some great stuff from TwoPlusTwo. Most of the comments there said, “I still hate her, but she should have won.” The comments on my website were 90/10 in my favor of me.
PND: Knowing what you know now, are you still happy with the decision to appear on Celebrity Apprentice?
Duke: The only thing I was unhappy about was that my charity, Refugees International, didn’t get the $250,000 for winning. I’ve been raising the money since the show ended and have about $50,000 for them so far. If you told me I could raise $730,000 for people who had no voice, but I would have to take a lot of abuse for five weeks, I’d make that trade. Overall, the poker community ended up being a big winner. My charity ended up being a big winner.
PND: The Omaha High-Low final table also featured Daniel Negreanu, Daniel Alaei, and Scott “BigRiskky” Clements. Talk about the atmosphere at your first major final table since Celebrity Apprentice.
Duke: Both Daniel Negreanu and I were there and he has a lot of fans, so it was an extremely busy rail. I think it’s going to be crazy during the Main Event.
PND: Festivities at the 2009 WSOP included you selling lemonade for charity against ESPN announcer Norman Chad. Who won?
Duke: During the challenge, I donated the proceeds to Refugees International. I raised $150 and he raised $14. When we were done, people came out who hadn’t gotten a chance to buy from us and brought in another $200. I also had a bunch of people come up to me in the halls of the Rio to give me money and ended up sending a check to Refugees International for $2,000.
PND: The Ante Up for Africa charity event starts on July 2nd. Are all of your celebrities lined up?
Duke: Our celebrities are lined up. I’m excited because Herschel Walker is coming. He might be the nicest person I’ve ever met. When I asked him to come, his answer was, “Anything for you. What do you need from me?”
PND: How big of a deal is it for Ante Up for Africa to receive exposure on ESPN?
Duke: It’s huge. Players who have logo deals will be encouraged to play, so the turnout should be really good. What we say is that awareness really makes change. You need to create awareness, otherwise you can’t stabilize the world. Without stability, more refugees are created. Money is important, but awareness is going to create lasting change.
PND: We’ve noticed a calm demeanor from you during the 2009 WSOP. Is it a result of dealing with adversity from Celebrity Apprentice?
Duke: I was really pleased coming in eighth in the Omaha event. I used to get frustrated by coming so close. I was so lucky to be at the final table and couldn’t even figure out how I got there. I’ve won a bracelet and won the Tournament of Champions. Do I want another bracelet? Of course, but I’m kind of at the point where I like my life. I’ve just become someone who is happy to have gotten as far as I did. I used to be just a bad loser.
I think Celebrity Apprentice is part of it in the sense that I had six months to come to peace with what happened. It wasn’t the fairest thing, but it is what it is. I have four amazing kids, an incredible boyfriend, a supportive ex-husband, my brother is my best friend on the planet, and I love my parents. I need to stop getting so frustrated about things I can’t control.
Annie, Annie! Still delusional, I see . . . .