Annie Duke Blog

The last week of June, first week of July is going to be super busy…party wise ;-)  June 28th is the UB party followed by the party I am hosting to kick off the main event on the 30th at LAVO.  I am really excited about that because I have never hosted a party at a nightclub before Lindsay/Paris style LOL.  I feel so celebutante today.

The day after the LAVO party I will be going to my brother’s annual World Series party at the Golden Nugget. That one is on July 1st. Then the day after is the annual Ante Up for Africa $5K buy-in event at the World Series of Poker with an after party at PURE nightclub at Caesars. That one is hosted by me and Don Cheadle for the charity we founded with Norman Epstein. We founded the charity in September of ‘06 and have raised to date $2.1 million to benefit the people of Darfur. We are hoping to raise close to half a million on July 2nd.

After the Ante Up for Africa event the main event of the World Series of Poker starts. Phew. I am getting worn out just thinking about that week…mostly thinking about how much fun I am going to have! Oh…and i am squeezing in instructing at the WSOP Academy Main Event Primer in there. Almost forgot about that…that one is June 29th through July 1st.

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Wow…The Governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch, signed into law a bill authorizing gay marriage today! I am so proud of my home state. Yes…I was born in New Hampshire and lived in that state when it was so red that the mere thought of electing a democrat was anathema to most who lived there. When I was growing up, the governor was a guy named Meldrim Thomson who not only reinstituted the death penalty in New Hampshire during his tenure but also openly threatened to veto all funding for the University of New Hampshire after the Gay Students Organization held a dance and performed a play on campus. As a side note, I believe he also supported apartheid. Needless to say, my parents never voted for the guy. I remember when I was in elementary school getting those hot dots, the little orange reflective stickers you were given to put on your shoes and clothes so you wouldn’t get run over at night. When we got them the pamphlet that came with them had Meldrim Thomson’s mug all over it. I distinctly remember drawing devil horns and a mustache on his picture in the pamphlet. My parents brain washed me well!

Anyway, as they say, You’ve come a long way, Baby!  I couldn’t be prouder of my New Hampshire and the other New England states who have now all fallen in line on the gay marrgie issue (Rhode Island is the lone hold out now). I hold my head up high when I say I am a New Englander.

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On Thursday I walked into the Rio for my first event of the 2009 WSOP, the $40K buy-in event. I realized this is my 15th year playing the WSOP. Wow! I am so old…ugh!

The $40K didn’t last long for me unfortunately. I was out by dinner break when I donked off my money to Antonio Esfandiari with my top pair against his set. Oops! But here are a bunch of pictures of top pros who came out to sail off for the $40K too. Come to think of it…all these guys got knocked out Day 1 as well. Maybe if I take a picture of you it is bad luck…hmmmmmmmmmmmm….

Barry Greenstein and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson

My Brother…Hi Bub! See Elky on his left?

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow…wait he was out day 2 but didn't cash…

Antonio Esfandiari…the evil doer who knocked me out then didn't cash! That is Justin Bonomo right next to him on his left. He is chip leader going into Day 3!

Since Antonio knocked me out, freeing up my Friday, I decided last minute to play the $1500 buy-in Omaha 8 or better event. The event got almost 1000 players! A record!  I am starting Day 2 at 2 pm today and I am 30th in chips of 197. Also in good chip position today are Phil Hellmuth, Hollywood Dave, Rafe Furst and Andy Bloch.  Hopefully it will be a good day!

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Well, I was planning to do a nice video blog on the $40K…talking about the brilliant hands I played and whatnot. Instead, I dumped my chips off to Antonio calling him down with top pair against his set…ack! So I was out before dinner break which was when I planned to do the blog. Lucky for me, my brother, Howard Lederer, was still in so he did a couple of videos for me instead Thanks Bub!

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Yes…I know it is May 17th and Mothers Day was on May 10th but I was busy with something else on May 10th. Interstingly enough, on May 10th after losing the Celebrity Apprentice, one of the reporters in the Red Carpet line asked me, ‘Don’t you think it is appropriate that Joan won on Mothers Day?” I can only assume one of two things about that reporter: a) she had not done any research on me so had no idea I have 4 kids or b) she was not the sharpest tool in the box. I am still not sure which but I am guessing b). Anyway, my response was, “Um. I have 4 children and I have a mother who happens to be in the audience as well.” Insert incredibly snarky tone when uttering that sentence! I mean, seriously, I was already kind of annoyed at losing but that was really an insert needle and twist moment as all I could think was, “I missed Mothers Day with my kids for this?’

My kids did send me this utterly cute video last Sunday.

My kids are pretty damn awesome so they gave me a pretty great make up Mothers day today. This morning at 8 am they all came in singing Happy Mothers Day to You and each of them gave me cards and gifts. Leo gave me a necklace, which of course I am wearing right now. Lucy gave me a bracelet (wearing that also). Nelly gave me flowers. Maud gave me a Yoga Mat carrier (pretty damn thoughtful since I do yoga every day). My favorite quotes from the cards: Maud in inimitable 14 yr old style said “Happy Mothers Day for giving birth to me and stuff” lol. Nelly’s card read, “Dear Mom, The best gift I could ever have is thinking of you on Mothers Day.” Who knew a 7 year old could say something so heartbreakingly awesome?

After the whole gift presentation ceremonies I went off to yoga then we all went off to The Griddle where we feasted on pancakes in an awesome display of screw it it’s Mothers day who needs to eat healthy today? I shared Nelly’s pumpkin pie pancakes and Leo’s Oreo pancakes. Smartly I only ordered a side of ham for myself.

After breakfast I got the best Mothers Day gift of all: A nap! Yes folks, I got to nap for 2 hours this afternoon…that was a huge luxury. Dinner tonight is Fogo de Chao because the gluttony of the day wouldn’t be complete without it. Plus it is my kids favorite restaurant and isn’t that what Mothers Day is really about?

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Well, I have spent the last couple of days trying to figure out what I was going to say about the finale. But it turns out that you all have said it so much better than I ever could through the outpouring of comments on this website. Pretty much every thought in my head has been said with amazing passion and eloquence by all of you and I would never try to top that. Thank you! The only thing I can really add to what you have already said is that I wish Trump had polled more of the contestants who had made it very deep in the competition, like Jesse, about who they would pick as the winner.

My biggest regret about the finale is that the show never actually showed my whole space during the charity auction. When Trump delivered the task to us I understood we were doing a high end auction to raise money for charity, in my case Refugees International. To that end, I integrated the charity into my decor so that about 60% of the decor was devoted to that. When my guests walked in the room not only did they have no doubt what charity they were donating too but they also could educate themselves about RI though the videos, pamphlets and posters around the room. This was a high priority for me in producing the event and I won the charity integration part of the challenge with practically no contest. I think they made the choice not to show the whole room because the show tried to paint me as the black hat in the competition. I regret that the wide shot of my space didn’t make the edit because I believe the images of refugees throughout the space would have been a powerful platform for RI and I think that was a huge lost opportunity for them.

With the help of Elaine Martyn and Ken Bacon from RI, I created these 3 by 5 foot double sided poster boards that hung from the ceiling in the room and they never really showed this on TV. I was really proud of those boards and happy to find out last week that Elaine and Ken had rescued them after the auction (the contestants were shooed out). When I went to the Italian Embassy in DC last week for the Refugees International 30th anniversary gala, those boards were hanging from the ceiling as part of the decor of the event! I was stunned and completely taken aback.

I also had the video of Darfuri refugees playing on many of the Kodak frames placed throughout the room. I am hoping that anyone who cares enough to read this blog will watch this video so you can see why I am so passionate about the refugee issue.

I also want to thank everyone who came out and donated over the course of the show. Erik Seidel, Shelly Maxwell, Scott Ian, Andy Bloch, Perry Friedman, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Ray Bitar, Beth Shak, John Hennigan, Nick Schulman, Erik Brooks, Rafe Furst, Kim Scheinberg, Mori Eskandani, Todd Rubenstein, John Moonves, Cliff Josephy, Mark Kron, Mike Murray, Tracy Scala and the inimitable Phil Hellmuth. (If I left anyone out I really apologize). Just as important as donations are the people who helped me out during the show to put the event together. Tony Luisi, Yshai Simkhai, Sara Csillag and Mark Birnbaum deserve a HUGE thank you for coming to the rescue when disaster struck.

I also want to thank the people who generously donated some incredible auction items for the finale so that my donors would have some cool stuff to buy: Matt Damon, Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Hulk Hogan, Pamela Anderson, Perez Hilton, Thomas Lennon, Natalie Gulbis, Judith Ripka, Arik Kissling, Mark Birnbaum (again!), Sen. Al D’Amato, Rep. Robert Wexler and Herschel Walker. Auction items were a judging criteria that didn’t get discussed in the finale so these guys never got their due. Thank you!

My Apprentice experience was almost completely a positive one. During the course of the show I, with the help of the poker community, raised over $700K for amazing charities. I made some incredible friends, not just with some of the other contestants (Brande, Herschel, Jesse and Natalie) but also with some of the producers who worked tirelessly putting up with me for weeks on end! I think, most importantly though, my faith in the poker community, my second family, was completely affirmed. This community stepped up in such a huge and selfless and giving way. Poker players deserve the biggest shout out of all.

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I am currently going through the 1500 pending comments on my site . I can’t believe the support from so many people. It is really amazing and I couldn’t have imagined that all these people would feel compelled to write in. Please be patient while I get through all the comments. In the meantime, I am asking those who feel I should have won to please visit the Refugees International site. Explore the site, educate yourself about the charity and, if you can afford it and you really think I was robbed, please donate because I am not the one harmed, the charity is.

As for the finale of the Celebrity Apprentice, I will be blogging more thoroughly on it later in the week as I process last night. In the meantime, I want to thank Mr. Trump for the way he hired Joan Rivers. In the previous 7 seasons of The Apprentice he has never done anything but pointed to the winner and said “You’re Hired.” Last night, instead, he looked at me and, after asking if I knew what he was going to say, and said, “Annie, You’re Fired.” Nice slowroll. Good game, sir.

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On Monday I went in and did an interview with the TV Guide Channel. Here it is since I am assuming most people didn’t catch it. Funnily enough, that channel happens to be where Joan and Melissa last did their Red Carpet stuff before they got fired. Needless to say, the folks over there are not that fond of them lol.

http://video.tvguide.com/Celebrity+Apprentice+Annie+Duke/Celebrity+Apprentice+Annie+Duke/2263611?autoplay=true&partnerid=OVG

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I know people are wondering how I could go from saying I respected Joan in the last boardroom to the private interview where I said she was not a nice person and she had made the fight personal for me. I am aware it seemed like a weird juxtaposition from the boardroom to the final private interview last episode but here is what happened in between. I tried to extend some sort of “good game” to Joan. Just tell her I respected her for getting to the final two. And the video below is what a got in return. I particularly love where she says “I won’t allow America to hear it.” Makes that last interview of mine make more sense, I think.

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Thought I would post Brande’s and my winning Chicken of the Sea jingle. I still love it!

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