Category Archives: Poker Champions

“Miami” John Cernuto

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Seldom can a player say that tournament poker is less stressful than their normal job, but in the case of “Miami” John Cernuto, this applies. John Cernuto graduated from Florida State University with a degree in finance and took a job as an Air Traffic Controller. Cernuto figured that this would be the job that he would work until retirement. However, in 1981, President Ronald Regan fired over 11,000 Air Traffic Controllers due to a union strike and Cernuto was suddenly out of a job.

Cernuto then decided to move to Vegas and become a professional poker player. It did not go smoothly at first but after practice and study, he started to become a champion player. His first significant win was at the Super Bowl of Poker in 1988 when he took the $1,000 7 Card Stud title for $58,000.

Cernuto was a proficient player in all games, especially Omaha Hi-Lo. Over the next few years he made numerous final tables and won four times. In 1993, John had his first solid year at the WSOP, finishing in the money three times and making two final tables. He finished runner-up in the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event.

Cernuto would continue to play strong over the next three years, but he did not win his first major poker title until 1996. That year at the World Series of Poker, Cernuto won his first bracelet in the $1,500 Stud 8 or Better event and took home $147,000. He also finished 3rd that year in the $1,500 Pot Limit Holdem Event.

It didn’t take Cernuto long to win his 2nd major title as he won the $2,000 No Limit Holdem Event at the 1997 World Series of Poker. The next year, Cernuto would make three final tables at the WSOP with his best finish 3rd in the $5,000 Limit Holdem Event.

Over the next three years, Cernuto would continue to rack up the final table finishes and wins at smaller events, including 4 preliminary event wins at the 1999 Legends of Poker. In fact, he had 12 wins over the next three years total but none were major titles. It wasn’t until 2002 that Cernuto took down his next major win.

The 2002 World Series of Poker saw Cernuto cash 4 times and make two final tables. Among the final tables was a win in the $1,500 Limit Omaha Event, which won him his third bracelet and $73,320. Later that year, Cernuto would take the $4,000 Stud Event at the United States Poker Championship for $153,600.

After his USPC win, Cernuto’s only two other six figure paydays have been at the $5,000 Omaha 8 or Better World Championships at the 2004 WSOP and at the 2005 WPT Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure. He would finish 5th in this event. This has been his only WPT final table to date in an open event. Cernuto continues to make many strong tournament finishes at tournaments all over the U.S. For 2008, Cernuto has made 7 final tables, won one title, and finished 3rd in the $2,500 Stud 8-Omaha 8 Event at the World Series of Poker.

In his career, John Cernuto has won over $4.5 Million in live tournaments. Over the years, “Miami” John has been a regular consistent force in the poker world. His ability to play all poker games makes him a threat in any tournament he enters.

Kathy Liebert

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When it comes to success in poker, no woman has won more than Kathy Liebert. Liebert started her poker career playing in Colorado in low limit Holdem games. After a while, she was approached to be a prop player at the casino and Liebert started to really work on her game. She read all the materials that she could and continued to work at her game. One added advantage she had over other players is that she did not need the money as she was financially secure based on investments that she had made.

Eventually, Liebert started playing tournaments and began to have success in them as well, making numerous final tables in events all over the country. Her first big cash in a tournament occurred at the 1997 World Series of Poker when she finished 2nd in the $3,000 No Limit Holdem event. She won $123,690 for her finish.

Liebert would continue to have many strong finishes over the next few years. In addition to numerous final tables, she won events at the 1999 Winning ‘O’ the Green, the 1999 California State Poker Championships, and the 2000 L.A. Poker Classic. She also finished in the money in the 1998 and 2000 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Liebert’s first million dollar payday did not occur until 2002 when she won the Party Poker Million and exactly $1 Million. This was the largest prize won by a woman in the history of poker. After her win at the Party Poker Million, Liebert started having success on the World Poker Tour. She made the final table of both the 2002 Legends of Poker and the Ultimate Bet Classic. She also finished in 7th at 2002 World Poker Finals.

Liebert would again have a WSOP runner-up finish in 2003 when she finished 2nd in the $1,500 Limit Holdem event. She would finally break through with a WSOP bracelet in 2003 when she won the $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout event. Liebert would have several strong WSOP finishes after that point, with her best finish afterwards being in the 2008 Pot Limit Holdem World Championship. She finished in 3rd place for $306,064.

After her WSOP bracelet, Liebert’s largest paydays have come via the World Poker Tour. She made the final tables of the 2005 Borgata Poker Open, the 2006 World Poker Finals, and the 2008 North American Poker Championship. In total, Liebert has won over $1.2 Million on the World Poker Tour.

For her career, Kathy Liebert has won over $4.8 Million in live tournaments for her career. This ranks her first all time for women and ranks her 43rd all-time overall. In a world where women poker professionals market their looks more than their skills, Liebert does what all poker players should do, go out and take other players money. Her skills at the table not only make her a fearsome female player, but one of the most dangerous poker players on the planet.

Nani Dollison

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Nani Dollison is one of only two women to hold 3 World Series of Poker bracelets. Hailing from Hernando, MS, Dollison is known for her extremely solid and aggressive play.

Dollison had her first tournament win in 1999 when she took the $1,000 Limit Holdem event at the Mid-America Poker Classic in Tunica for $24,000. She would then go on to take her first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2000 when she won the Women’s Championship.

2001 proved to be Dollison’s best year in poker when she won four different poker tournaments. She first won the $500 Limit Holdem event at the World Poker Open in Tunica and then went on to have an outstanding World Series of Poker. First, she won her second WSOP bracelet in the $2,000 Limit Holdem Event, giving her a payday of $441,400. She then tied Barbara Enright for the all-time bracelet lead for women when she won the Women’s Championship for the second year in a row. To cap off her year she won a Bubble event at the Four Queens Classic. A bubble event is a tournament held among the players who finished 1 out of the money in prior preliminary events.

Dollison would go on to have several strong finishes over the years, but nothing to compete with her 3 WSOP bracelet wins. She did finish in the money in the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event, netting $54,965 for her 115th place finish. For her career, Dollison has won $774,679 in live tournaments. She ranks 19th all-time on the Women’s WSOP Money List and tied for first for most bracelet by a woman at the WSOP with three.

Nani Dollison has helped set the bar for women players at the WSOP with Barbara Enright. While she is not near the top the money list, she is at the top of the women’s bracelet count. Chances are that someone like Jennifer Harman or Annie Duke will someday pass Dollison, but for now, she has set the bar for other women to shoot for.

Erik Lindgren

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Patience and perseverance pay off in the end. Erik Lindgren knows that better than any poker player. He started off his poker playing days during college when he would play games at a local Indian casino and at side games on campus. Lindgren eventually gave up college to play full time. He started working as a prop player and would play online during his off hours. Over time, he would develop the style that many playing in tournaments all over the world are used to seeing from him.

He won his first big tournament in 2002 when he took the Main Event of the Bellagio Five Diamond Poker Classic. This success would carry over into 2003 when he had a wildly successful year in the World Poker Tour. First, he finished 7th at the Party Poker Million and then 5th at the Grand Prix of Paris. He would then go on to win the Ulimatebet.com Poker Classic and $500,000.

Lindgren would then kick off 2004 with his 2nd WPT title, taking the PartyPoker Million after a heads up battle with Daniel Negranu. This was his first, and so far only, Million dollar payday. Lindgren would go on to finish strong in several other WPT events over the years, finishing 5th in the 2005 L.A. Poker Classic and 3rd at the 2006 Borgata Poker Open.

Lindgren would go on to place well in several events and even would win the 2007 Aussie Millions $100,000 buy-in event, but one thing that eluded Lindgren was a WSOP bracelet. For a long time, Lindgren was “The best player to never have won a bracelet.” This would finally change in 2008.

Lindgren wasted no time getting the money off his back when the won the $5,000 Mixed Holdem Event after defeating Justin Bonomo heads-up. While the event only paid $374,505, the fact that he was finally a WSOP Champion meant more than anything to him. He would then proceed to cash four more times during the WSOP, including a final table during the NL 2-7 Lowball Event and the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship. Lindgren would finish 3rd in the H.O.R.S.E. event. As a result of his performances during the WSOP, Erik Lindgren was named the 2008 WSOP Player of the Year.

In total, Lindgren has over $7.3 Million in tournament earnings. This makes him 17th on the all-time money list. Lindgren is a “red pro” at Full Tilt Poker.com where he plays in many tournaments and cash games. In February 2008, Lindgren hosted an event during the FTOPS event at Full Tilt. There were over 5,600 players in the event. Lindgren took down the event, making him the first pro in Full Tilt’s history to win an event that they have hosted.

Erik Lindgren is a fantastic tournament professional that learned that hard work and perseverance does eventually pay off in the end. Although it took him longer than he would have liked to become a WSOP champion, the rewards at the end were worth the wait. At just 32, expect Lindgren to win many more bracelets and WPT events.

Phil Ivey

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As professional wrestler Ric Flair would say, “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.” Right now, “The Man” in professional poker would be Phil Ivey. Phil Ivey started his poker career in Atlantic City casinos where he used to play with a fake ID and go by the name “Jerome.” Once he was old enough to actually play in the casino legally, he went to his regular casino buddies and told them the truth.

Phil Ivey is one of the few players that can consistently win at both cash games and tournaments. Ivey actually prefers to play cash games due to the amount of money that can be won at the game. He is a regular player in the “Big Game” in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio and has been mentored by all-time great poker players such as Doyle Brunson and the legendary Chip Reese. With the recent passing of Reese, many consider Ivey to be the all around best poker player in the world.

Although he prefers cash games, his success in tournaments has him among the all time greats in poker. He has 5 bracelets at the World Series of Poker. His first came in 2000 when he won the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha event. He then tied a WSOP record by winning three bracelets in a single year in 2002. He won the $2,000 S.H.O.E. bracelet, the $2,500 Stud 8 or Better bracelet, and the $1,500 7 Card Stud bracelet. He would then go on to win the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Event in 2005.

Ivey also has one WPT title to his claim. He took down the WPT event at the L.A. Poker Classic in early 2008 for his first WPT title and $1.5 Million. In total, Ivey has 8 final tables with the WPT. In addition to his WSOP and WPT titles, he holds numerous titles around the US and the World, including the $25,000 No Limit Holdem event at the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions and the $120,000 Full Tilt Poker Invitational.

For his poker career, Ivey has won $10 Million in live tournaments, which puts him 7th on the all-time money list. The amazing thing about his story is that he has accomplished all these feats at just 32 years of age. He is commonly known as the “Tiger Woods of Poker” due to his dominance of the poker world. Ivey also is capable of dominating players in any game. His best game is considered to be Stud, but when he is at any poker table, players tremble.

The measuring stick for the poker world is Phil Ivey. Although players such as Doyle Brunson and T.J. Cloutier get respect for what they have accomplished, all up and coming players look at Phil Ivey as the player they would most want to be like. Normally a player this dominant would be prone to an eventual burnout, but with Ivey’s background and the mentoring he has received, it is safe to assume that Ivey will continue to be the measuring stick to come for at least the next 20 years.

Mickey Appleman

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If you were to run into Mickey Appleman on the street, you would think that he was homeless. Everything from his dress to even the way he keeps his hair gives off the indication of someone that is destitute. This is the furthest thing from the truth. Appleman happens to be a poker champion and expert sports bettor.

Appleman started his gambling career about the middle 70’s. He was primarily a sports bettor and a highly successful one. He claimed that he had a natural knack for it and after he won his first be, he was hooked. Appleman moved to Vegas in 1975 and that year played in his first World Series of Poker. He would not see success until 1980 when he won his first bracelet in the $1,000 Stud 8 or Better Event. His next large score happened a few years later when he won the $5,000 Seven Card Stud Event at the Super Bowl of Poker.

The Super Bowl of Poker was considered the 2nd most prestigious title in poker back in the early days, much like the WPT Championship is 2nd to the WSOP Main Event. Appleman took down the $10,000 Main Event of the Super Bowl of Poker in 1985 and established himself as a top notch poker player.

Over the next few years, Appleman would make several final table finishes at the World Series of Poker but would not have another major win until 1992. That year he won the $5,000 2-7 Draw event to claim his 2nd bracelet and $119,250. He would finish runner up the next year in the $2,500 Pot Limit Holdem event. He would not record another professional cash for almost 2 years after that.

When Appleman did cash again, it was at the 1995 World Series of Poker. First, he finished 4th in the $5,000 2-7 Event and then he took home his third WSOP bracelet in the $5,000 Limit Holdem Event. After 1995, for several years Appleman would have many strong finishes at the WSOP, but wasn’t able to pull off a win.

Finally in 2003, Appleman was able to notch his 4th bracelet with a win in the $2,000 Pot Limit Holdem Event. So far, his fourth bracelet was the last major win on Appleman’s career. He still plays in many events at the World Series and regularly cashes in them. He finished 13th in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event in this year’s WSOP. To date, Appleman has over $1.66 Million in tournament earnings.

Appleman doesn’t play as large of a tournament schedule anymore, but when he does play, he still is a force to reckon with. For those that do not know him, many may wonder how this guy that looks like he could afford to buy himself a meal could possibly play poker. Of course, if they start to play, they soon learn that looks are deceiving when it comes to Mickey Appleman. When you have accomplished all that Appleman has, it really doesn’t matter how you dress, just tell him where the action is at.

David Williams

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David Williams got his start in poker as the result of having downtime from another game that he was a champion at, Magic. Williams was a champion Magic player but was suspended from active competition for a year after a deck of cards that he was using was determined to be marked intentionally. Williams would admit to the marked deck, but not to the fact that he purposely did so. It didn’t matter and the suspension was upheld. So Williams turned to tournament poker. He began playing poker online and eventually graduated to high stakes poker. It was while playing online that he earned a satellite to enter the 2004 World Series of Poker.

David Williams made initial news during the 2004 World Series of Poker due to the support of his mother from the rail and his friendship with Marcel Luske. Luske had taken Williams under his wing and helped him to develop his game while they were going through the field together. Luske would come just shy of the final table, but Williams would make the table.

Williams would even use one of Luske’s moves against Josh Arieh. He made a dark check before the flop was dealt out. Arieh moved all-in to Williams, but Williams had flopped a set and he ended up winning the hand and taking a huge chunk of chips off of Arieh. Eventually, Williams wound up heads-up with Greg Raymer and was an underdog to win. He held his won for a while, but on the final hand his full house of deuces full of fours was 2nd best to Raymer’s deuces full of eights and Williams would finish 2nd in the Main Event, but would receive 3.5 Million.

Williams would continue his success at the table later in the year when he finished runner-up to Daniel Negreanu at the WPT Borgata Poker Open for $573,000. He would then win a preliminary event during the World Poker Open later towards the end of 2004.
Williams would have a few decent finishes in tournaments in 2005, but no significant cashes. It wasn’t until making a final table at the Bay 101 WPT event that he would receive his next large cash. He finished 4th at the event and won $280,000.

The 2006 WSOP was another strong year for Williams. He finished 2nd in the 2-7 Lowball event and then took down his first major title, winning the $1,500 7 Card Stud Event. After the 2006 WSOP, Williams has many strong finishes but only two six figure paydays when he won a preliminary event during the 2007 Bellagio Cup and won “Jam Up Week” on Poker After Dark.

To date, Williams has over $6.14 Million in lifetime earnings. This puts him 25th on the all-time money list. At only 28, he still has a long time left in his career to make a run for the top spot all time. Williams has expressed an interest in going back to finish his college degree and possibly go into business. While it is unlikely that he would walk away from a profitable poker career, if he decides to chance are that he will have similar success in his new found path.

John “The Razor” Phan

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John “The Razor” Phan is one in a long line of California professional poker players. For those that are not familiar, the Los Angeles, CA area has several casinos in the region and boasts some of the best poker action in the world, regardless of the game you are in.

Phan first started scoring in professional tournaments in 1998 when he won two tournaments in a month. He would then over the next few years make a name for himself in the L.A. area, making numerous final tables and taking down several events including the America’s Poker Classic and Legends of Poker.

His first big score in poker did not occur until 2004. He placed in five different tournaments at the World Poker Open in Tunica MS, winning the $500 Pot Limit Holdem and $500 No Limit Holdem events. He took home over $255,000 in winnings from his stint in Tunica that year. This would start a string of cashes in 2004 at various events and resulted in three more wins at the Fiesta al Lago, Legends of Poker, and World Poker Open.

2005 saw Phan make his first WPT final table when he finished 4th in the $25,000 WPT Championship event. He would also make his first World Series of Poker final table that year with a 4th place finish in the $5,000 7 Card Stud event. Phan nearly came up with bracelets at the 2006 and 2007 WSOP but finished runner up in the 2006 $1,000 No Limit event and the 2007 $2,500 No Limit Event.

2008 has been the best year so far in Phan’s professional career. He made a final table at the WPT Bay 101 shooting stars event, finishing in 6th and then rode the momentum from that finish into the World Series of Poker. He had two cashes in earlier No Limit events in the series before finally achieving his first major win.

Phan made the final table of the $3,000 No Limit Event and put on a masterful performance to get heads-up with Johnny Neckar. The two then proceeded to play a heads up match that lasted nearly five hours. After five hours of play, the two decided to start going all-in blind. This occurred three times and afterward Phan claimed that they were going to go back to playing normally. Play continued for one more hand before the chips were all-in again and in the end, Phan emerged victorious with his first bracelet. Phan would win his next bracelet less than a week later when he was able to take down the $2,500 2-7 Lowball event. Phan was finally a WSOP bracelet winner and World Champion and in a weeks time solidified himself as a force in poker.

Over the next two months after the WSOP, Phan would go on to two more final tables in the WPT. First he finished 5th in the $15,000 No Limit event at the Bellagio Cup. Then a little more than a month later, he took down his first WPT title with a win at the Legends of Poker. In the span of three months, Phan was a two time bracelet winner and a WPT champion.

At present, Phan has over $5.3 Million in lifetime tournament wins. His style at the table is considered very loose and aggressive. He tends to bluff a lot, or so it appears. After his bracelet win, he claimed that he is much more solid of a player than people tend to give him credit for. Of course, this is the same player who during the $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. event at the 2007 WSOP claimed to raise every hand he played during a particular stud round in the dark.

Phan does have a reputation to take an extremely long time while making his decisions at the poker table. This sometimes tends to rub poker players the wrong way. He usually is a sharp dresser and has a very flamboyant lifestyle, or at least gives off that image in public.

At just 34, Phan is now beginning to hit his stride in poker. His background in poker in the Los Angeles area has prepared him for the success he is currently enjoying. Time will tell whether he will be able to duplicate his recent success, but one thing is for certain, it should be very entertaining to watch.

Daniel Negreanu

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Daniel Negreanu grew up in Toronto Canada and had aspirations as a young man to be a comedian and actor. Around the age of 16, he was introduced to poker and soon afterward, poker and pool were the main focuses in his life. He eventually dropped out of high school to focus on playing poker. He started by playing in card rooms around Toronto until he was old enough to play in legal casinos. When he was finally old enough, he took a trip to Vegas but lasted only 8 months before he was broke again. He went back home to Toronto to rebuild his bankroll and the rest from there is history.

Negreanu started winning tournaments back in 1997 when he won events at Heavenly holdem and two at the World Poker Finals. His success continued into 1998 when he won events at the California State Championships, the Orleans Open, and another event at Heavenly Holdem. His first major poker victory came in 1998 as well when he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in the $2,000 Pot Limit Holdem event.

Negeanu would go on in 1999 to win the Main Event of the United States Poker Championship and $210,000. While he had a few cashes after that, he was kind of quiet on the poker front until the 2001 WSOP when he made a final table in the Razz event and finished 11th in the Main Event that year. 2001 and 2002 would turn out to be solid years as he several final tables and took several small tournaments. In 2002 he made 2 WSOP final tables, finishing runner up in the $5,000 Omaha 8 Event.

It wasn’t until 2003 that Daniel would score his next major poker title. He had 3 final tables at the 2003 WSOP and took home his second bracelet in the $2,000 S.H.O.E. event. He also finished runner up in the $3,000 No Limit event that year.

2004 would prove to be Negreanu’s most successful year in regards to tournaments. He exploded onto the World Poker Tour scene. He had 6 cashes that year in the WPT, including 4 final tables and 2 victories. His two victories came at the World Poker Classic and the Borgata Poker Open. He also finished 2nd in the PartyPoker.com Million and 3rd in the PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure. He won over 3.7 Million in the WPT alone that year.

2004 was also a highly successful year for Daniel at the World Series of Poker as well. He cashed 6 times at the WSOP, which included 5 final tables, and his third WSOP bracelet. He took down the $2,000 Limit Holdem bracelet and nearly pulled off the $1,000 NL bracelet, but fell short in 3rd place. He also took home Player of the Year honors that year, winning himself a SUV in the process.

Although he would go on to make 2 more WPT final tables in 2005, his next big win was not until the WSOP Circuit Championship in 2006. For some reason, going into 2006, Negreanu was considered on a downswing in poker, not having a significant finish in 2005. The 2006 WSOP-C event in Tunica MS was the first major poker event of the year, and Negreanu was in the field. He made the final table, and never looked back and eventually emerged as the victor and $755,525 richer. To date, this is his only WSOP-C victory.

Negreanu would go on to have a solid WSOP in 2006 as well. He finished 2nd to Mike Sexton in the 2006 Tournament of Champions and then proceeded to cash 5 times in the WSOP. He made the final table of the $2,000 Omaha 8 event, finished 8th in the $2,500 Short handed event, and finished in the money in the Main Event. Negreanu would finish off the 2006 year with a 3rd place finish in the WPT event at the Doyle Brunson North American Championship, taking home $592,000.

Daniel would brag about how he loved Tunica later after the start of the 2007 year. He took 2nd in the WPT event at the Gold Strike Casino. This event won him $502,691 and was his 2nd big score in Tunica in two years. Beyond the WPT event, Negreanu’s 2007 was uneventful with the exception of his WSOP. He made 2 final tables at the WSOP, finishing 3rd in the $1,500 NL Shootout and 5th in the $2,000 Seven Card Stud event later won by Jeffrey Lisandro. He would finish the year with a 14th place finish at the Doyle Brunson classic for nearly $100,000, but overall it was an uneventful year.

2008 was looking to be relatively uneventful for Negreanu as he only had one cash in major tournaments. It seemed he was saving himself for the 2008 WSOP as he went on fire once the WSOP began. He cashed 5 times during the WSOP which included two final tables, and his first bracelet win since 2004. Negreanu made the final table of the $2,000 Limit Holdem event and ended up heads-up in the event. Once the match reached heads-up play, Negreanu literally won every hand in heads-up play to take down the his fourth bracelet and the $204,863 top prize. Negreanu would also cash in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, finishing 13th. Negreanu would also cash in 3 out of 4 events at the WSOP Europe and finished in 5th in the Main Event of the WSOP Europe for nearly $400,000. While his only significant cashes have been at the WSOP this year, many pros would love to have the year he has had.

For his career, Negreanu has won $10.8 Million which makes him 2nd all-time and 1st all-time for Canadian money winners. Negreanu is also known as one of the nicest players at the table. He is very gracious with fan requests for autographs and photos and takes a lot of time out for promoting the game. He also is a representative of PokerStars.com and runs the poker training site PokerVT.com. At just 34, Negreanu is already the 2nd all-time leader in money in poker history. It is safe to assume he has many good years ahead of him and would probably be a safe bet to be the all-time money winner in poker history when he finally walks away from the game.

Annie Duke

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Annie Duke started off being known in the poker world as “Howard Lederer’s little sister” but over the years has made a name for herself as a professional player and champion. She started her early life as a student working towards a doctorate in Psycholinguistics, but as she was nearing completion of her degree, she began to play poker professionally.

She started off by playing in legal card rooms in Montana, but then moved her family to Vegas to begin a career as a professional poker player. It wasn’t long after moving to Vegas that she started having success at the World Series of Poker. She cashed three times in her first main event. She made a final table, finishing 5th in the $2,500 Limit Holdem event and also finished in the money in the Main Event. Duke returned to the WSOP the next year and cashed 4 times, including final tables in PL Holdem Omaha 8 or Better.

Over the next few years, Duke would make numerous WSOP cashes and would come close to victory in several cases but she never quite got over the hump. Duke would actually make history in 2000 when she finished 10th in the Main Event while being eight months pregnant.

It was actually a WPT preliminary event in 2004 that seemed to get her over the hump. She took down the $2,500 Limit Holdem event during the Bellagio Five Star WPT Championship and made $157,140. This seemed to energize her as she went on to cash three times at the WSOP that year, including her first WSOP bracelet. Duke won the $2,000 Omaha 8 or Better bracelet and the $137,860.

Later that year, Duke would join a group of the best poker players in the world for a televised event called the Tournament of Champions. The top players in the world and the current world champion would compete for a top prize of $2 Million. Duke wound up heads-up with Phil Hellmuth and after some masterful play, took the Tournament of Champions title and instantly became the top female money winner in WSOP history. She held that distinction until 2007 when Annette Obrestad won the WSOP-Europe Main Event.

Duke has had several strong finishes since then but nothing to equal her 2004 wins. She divorced her husband Ben Duke in 2004. After 2004 she wrote an autobiography detailing her life and her path to winning her first bracelet in 2004. She is also currently endorsed by UltimateBet.com and plays many events sporting the UB logo. Duke is strongly dedicated to her family and has mentioned that she doesn’t play as many events as other players due to this fact. She also has a strong dislike for women’s events as she feels the events degrade women.

Still in her early 40’s, Duke is still a strong force in the poker world. She made a final table in this year’s WSOP and when she is playing well is a serious threat to take down any event. Duke plays primarily online when she is not on the road. While she may not play as much live as her other professional counterparts, she still is a threat at any table she sits at.