Billie Jean King did it. But that was about the extent of successful barrier-breaking.

That was until Annie Duke became the queen of, well, hearts – beating men, one-by-one, eliminating the gap in the poker world.

A few years ago, both men and women failed to generate enough hype for poker, specifically Texas Hold'em. But then ESPN picked up on the increasingly popular game, creating a valuable buzz for the sport, and forcing other networks to react.

Before that break, the game lacked an attitude-filled player who would carry the image of the sport. But in no time, a few egos burst onto the scene. Some of the biggest names in the game finally were noticed – including the female pioneer Annie Duke.

When I first chatted with the Duchess of Poker, she was exhausted and feeling very dull.

"I warn you," she says as we finally talk after days of phone tag, "I have been doing press for two straight days, so I'm kind of tired. My brain is fried in fact. And, be prepared, I'm not feeling very creative because I'm running on no sleep for the last two days because I keep getting up at 6 a.m. to do morning shows."

Duke had just arrived at Foxwoods, prepared to battle the biggest names in the sport for another multimillion-dollar pot. She was to compete against the world's best poker players – the same ones she beat earlier in 2004 at the World Series of Poker's Tournament of Champions. There, she beat Phil Hellmuth, her brother Howard Lederer, and many other great male players to win a $2 million pot. Oh what a life – but it hasn't all been glorious for the Duchess.

BEFORE THE ACES

After graduating from Columbia University in the heart of New York, Duke found herself a little lost.

Here she was, in her early 20s and not ready for the real world. So Duke did what any other lost graduate would do – she went back to school, this time to the University of Pennsylvania.

When graduation arrived again, Duke was lost again. But this time, she went to Montana and purchased a small shack, "And I mean small," she says.

With a mortgage payment more than $125 a month, Duke needed a job quickly. She had an extensive education, but her drive had not yet been established – that was until she found a legal poker game that she knew she couldn't master without the help of her brother, Howard Lederer, one of the top players in the country. After a phone conversation with her Lederer, Duke convinced him to send her some cash and some books on the game. He took her under his wing and taught her the game – and also gave her $2,400 to get started.

"There was no one better that I could have learned the game from," she says. "After my first week of playing I won $2,800. The minute I sat down at a poker table, I was like, man this is the life. This is great."

"I was making money at it, so I just kept chugging along," she says. "I wasn't really thinking I would be a poker player, but then I found myself playing in the World Series in 1994."

"I would have never become a poker player if my brother wasn't already doing it. I wouldn't have been aware that you could do this as a profession 'cause it wasn't on TV. There was no publicity. I just kind of fell into it."

Growing up, Duke played many card games with her family, which helped her develop math skills and how to read people – qualities that have help her dominate the game.

"I was playing cards from the second I was old enough to hold a card, so this game came pretty naturally to me once I learned the basics," she says. "I have always been good at playing cards because my Dad would never let us win. That made me very competitive from a very young age.

"As a woman, there is literally no way I would be doing this if a) my brother hadn't been doing it, and b) I had happened to have math skills, and c) I had a family that encouraged and nurtured competitiveness, which isn't really pushed in society. So, I just happened to have an upbringing that gave me the ability to be good at poker and I had the fate that my brother was able to teach me how to play."

Good thing her Dad didn't let her win, because these days, the drive to beat the boys is even greater. When you watch Duke on TV, you can see the fire and determination in her eyes. She is poised to win. She is poised to take over. She is poised to be the best player ever to play the game, male or female.

KICKING ASS IN A MAN'S WORLD

It's no longer a fluke – Annie Duke is the real thing. She has proven herself time and again. She's a woman dominating a man's game.

"Women come up to me and tell me how inspirational I am to the," she says. "And not as just a poker player, but as a woman, too. What's so great about that for me is that I have spent most of the early part of my poker career taking a lot of abuse.

"I was playing in smoky bars with all these old men. In the large sense I wasn't particularly welcomed there. And a lot of nasty sexual-driven charges were made to me on top of the fact that poker is very stressful and these guys are losing a lot of money.

"So, when they would look around the table they aren't going to let their stress out on the big guy in the corner, it's going to be me. I took a lot of abuse and was the brunt of a lot of anger. It was sexual harassment, but I love the game so much, and am such a competitive person, and I happen to have very thick skin that in order to play the game that I love, I was willing to endure it."

Even with the emotional beatings, Duke kept it together and has given inspiration to women.

"The first women who entered the boardroom took the same sort of abuse I have taken, and it was them who paved the way for me," Duke says. "And I have been fueled by them to help other women."

"In some sports, it's tough to break in because of physical differences, but what's beautiful about poker is that there are no physical differences needed to play. And women are just as smart, if not smarter than men, so it gives us room to break into the game."

Even after being crowned the champion of champions, Duke still takes abuse here and there.

"There isn't a ton of abuse any more, but it is definitely still the case that when someone is feeling stressed out at the table, I am going to still get the brunt of it."

Though she is still willing to take punches, she doesn't like taking them from other women. She is trying to be a leader for women in the game and in life.

"When I passed the ladies event at the World Series, I got some heat for that," Duke explains. "People were telling me that I was insulting women for not playing in that. What are you talking about? I am the one taking the feminist stance. I'm the one saying we don't deserve to be segregated. I'm the one saying screw that, I can enter an open event and win a bracelet and I don't have to be grouped with the women.

"Women should not be segregated. I want to show these women that they should be playing in the open event because we are just as good, if not better."

PIONEER IN HER OWN RIGHT

When a poker fanatic talks about the greats, Annie Duke's name is usually mentioned. She has been a pioneer for the game and for women. But the fame and glory has come as a shock to the Duchess, she never saw it coming.

"I have been doing this for a very long time, and not only was I not getting any acknowledgment for any kind of excellence in my field, but I was really marginalized as far as how people viewed what I did for a living.

"The PTA board would be like, 'Oh, a gambler.' And now the PTA moms are asking me to do fund-raisers for the school. It's really a 180-degree turnaround.

"It's really cool for people like me and my brother who have been doing this for a really long time and doing it because we love poker and it's an incredible game and very intellectually stimulating and financially rewarding if you are good at it. And we have been doing this because it's our job. And to have people tell you how awesome you are for what you do is so cool."

The respect is there not only for the game, but for Duke as well. And now, rather than saving her hard earned poker dollars to join a game, free rolls are flooding her door.

"If you offer me a free roll to play with the girls, shit, I'll take a free roll," she laughs. "I'll put on a chicken suit for a free roll."

And as the game evolves even more, everyone knows Duke's name will forever be included as one of the greatest poker players to ever play the game.

"It's gratifying. Truly gratifying," she says.

Photo courtesy of of PokerRoyalty.com.

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