Book Review: Annie Duke: How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions

December 5th, 2005

Annie Duke: How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions <BR> Hudson Street Press, 2005 260pp, $24.95″><b>Annie Duke: How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions <BR> Hudson Street Press, 2005 260pp, $24.95</b> <p>Annie Duke is a very successful high-limitcash game and tournament poker player who has been catapulted into the limelight due to her appeal and successes in televised poker tournaments. What series of events guided her to become a professional poker player? We can fi nd out in her selftitled autobiography, “Annie Duke”.</p> </p> <p>Duke interweaves three narratives in her book. First, the book is the story of her life up until the time of publication. Second, the book includes her thoughts about the situations she faced while winning her fi rst World Series of Poker bracelet in the 2004 $2000 Omaha High-Low event, as well as a commentary on her path to winning ESPN’s televised 2004 Tournament of Champions. Occasionally interspersed between these two story lines are a few asides, labeled “TIP”, which provide the reader with some strategic poker advice. Dealing with the tips fi rst, in aggregate the book doesn’t provide all that much in terms of poker strategy. I believe the lessons Duke provides are generally good, but they’re well known to even the most casual reader of poker books. Typically they serve as punctuation to some sort of life lesson, although occasionally they seem to run almost exactly contrary to the text that leads into them.</p> </p> <p>In the tournament commentary section, Duke describes what’s going on inside her head as she makes her way through the World Series event that she won. From a psychological standpoint it’s interesting to fi nd out something about her motivations and strategic considerations. From a strategic standpoint I found these sections to be disappointing. For one thing, rarely is there enough information to really understand the context in which she made the decisions that she did. As a consequence it’s hard to learn very much from her experience. Another thing that bothered me is that many of these descriptions contain simple editing mistakes regarding poker, such as a miscalculation of the number of outs.</p> </p> <p>My opinion is that the autobiographical sections are the best parts of this book. Duke’s recollections about her life are detailed and amazingly candid. She really opens up about her feelings and many of the troubles she faced as she navigated the twists and turns that have made up the road that is her life. I have to say, though, that the overwhelming feeling I’m left with is one of bewilderment. After finishing the book I think I know quite a bit more about the details of her life, but if anything I am less clear on the things that motivate her.</p> </p> <p>The fans of Annie Duke the poker player who are eager to learn more about the background of this remarkable person will probably learn a great deal from this book, although Iwon’t guarantee that they’ll gain in understanding. I would expect that only the most novice poker players would increase their strategic understanding of the game from her descriptions of the hands she played and from the tips she provides in the text. Someone who is interested in the biographical details of Duke’s life will fi nd this book worthwhile. I expect that readers without this specific interest will probably fi nd their time and money better spent on other sources. -Nick Christenson</p> <p class= Filed under: Poker News

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