Grudges can last almost forever it seems and this week Daniel Negreanu aimed a well-placed dig at his oldest enemy in the poker world, Annie Duke…
Annie Duke doesn’t play any more.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) July 6, 2021
Claiming that Duke was a bad player who others talked about when she left the table is far from the worst thing that Daniel has said about Duke, their seemingly mutual hatred stretching back more than two decades.
Annie Duke – “Annie Puke”
At that time Duke, the sister of Howard “The Professor” Lederer, has been called a “dizzy cunt”, “smelly”, “disgusting”, and nicknamed “Annie Puke” by the Canadian superstar.
DNegs didn’t always class Duke as the worst player at the table, listing Duke at number 6 in his top 10 best Limit players in the world on the old rec.gambling.poker community forum in 1999.
Negreanu was fighting his way through the ranks in Vegas at that time, and Duke soon became his focus of extreme displeasure, which caused a fallout with her brother, Howard Lederer.
An open letter to Negreanu about his attitude towards his sister was met with a brutal response, Daniel emailing Duke to say: “You got a lot of nerve you dizzy cunt. If someone asks me if you are Puke, that’s exactly what I’ll tell them. You talk all kinds of shit about me and I could care less.”
Sweaty feet, urine and the C-word
That rant went on for a bit longer and apparently relates to Duke calling Daniel “cupboy” and treating him terribly when he was an up-and-coming player in Vegas.
He also stated that nobody wanted to sit in her seat at the Bellagio, claiming it had “urinated foot sweat soaked into it”, because Duke would often walk around the casino bare-footed.
Accusations of Duke angle-shooting, habitually peeking at other players’ hands, and various other undesirable attributes amounted to Annie Duke being “a lowlife” according to Negreanu.
The feud rumbled on for years, Duke’s book describing Daniel as her “online tormentor” …
…and Daniel calling Duke a “cunt” once again, this time in an interview that earned him a rebuke from his then bosses at PokerStars.
Poker Hall of Shame
The fall of Ultimate Bet and the failed Epic Poker League, both of which involved Annie and landed her with a terrible reputation in the poker community, gave Negreanu extra ammunition.
When Duke was nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame in 2011 Daniel said: “If you took out the “F” and added a “Sh” in the word fame then yes, I think she should be inducted.”
He added: “Along with her brother, the Lederer family would be the king and queen of the poker Hall of Shame”.
Annie Duke the poker player
Well, none of the above automatically makes Duke a terrible poker player, though a terrible human being is a different category altogether.
Having given up the game and relaunched herself as “an experienced corporate speaker and consultant on the behavior of decision making”, many modern-day fans of the game will know little about her actual poker skills.
Duke has an impressive $4,270,548 on her Hendon Mob tournament listing, a considerable sum given that she hasn’t played or cashed in over a decade.
Besting the very best?
Fully $2million of that came at the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions, a 10-player field that saw her overcome Phil Hellmuth heads-up, while Negreanu finished in the 7th spot.
Others in the field were Howard Lederer, Johnny Chan, Greg Raymer, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, TJ Cloutier and Chip Reese.
She scooped another $500k in 2010 with victory at the NBC National Heads-Up Championship and was, as Daniel mentioned way back in his Bellagio top 10, a regular at the biggest cash games in town.
So, hardly the fish that Daniel is making her out to be, but given their history, it’s also easy to see why DNegs still feels the need to lash out so harshly whenever the chance arises.
Don’t forget to check out the latest poker news to see what’s been happening in the poker world.
Terms and conditions apply. New customer offer and 18+ only. Should you require help regarding your betting pattern, please visit www.begambleaware.org
