Annie Duke's Appearances on Celebrity Apprentice

by Bodog Poker | Mar 25 2009

Annie Duke has been a bit of a variety show junkie over the last couple of years. She must have a better agent than most poker players because she’s made appearances on The Colbert Report, NBC’s 1 vs. 100, Deal or No Deal, and now The Celebrity Apprentice. In her previous game show spots she displayed her obvious intelligence, but The Celebrity Apprentice has exposed a different picture of the poker champion.

Duke originally didn’t want to do the show when her agent told her he was campaigning to get her on. She wasn’t interested in doing a reality show, but when she found out how much money for charity the show raises, she knew she had to do it. Duke has been raising money for numerous charities for years, and lately she’s been one of the main forces behind “Ante Up for Africa” which raises money for refugees, particularly in the region of Darfur. On the show Annie is trying to raise money for Refugees International.

The appearance on The Celebrity Apprentice has been a rocky one for Duke, who has already clashed with numerous team members during taping of the show. Duke is a strong, no-nonsense person who isn’t afraid to voice her opinions and put in her two cents. Her strength has naturally clashed with the other strong personalities on the show, and even Joan Rivers has publically ridiculed her aggression and abrasive approach to dealing with her show rivals.

In the first episode of the season she was put in charge of baking cupcakes. She took control of the kitchen and acted more like Hell’s Kitchen’s Gordon Ramsay than someone trying to win a personality contest. She rubbed most of the girls on her team the wrong way and was criticized in the boardroom in front of Donald Trump for it. She did manage to defend herself successfully, but she could have been in jeopardy of getting fired if her team would have lost one of the first two challenges.

Annie hasn’t been project manager of a task as of yet on the show, but she looked as if she was the leader of her group in the first two episodes of the season. After getting some negative feedback from her rivals and Donald Trump himself, she has taken a less aggressive approach to the game. Just like on the poker tables, Annie has felt out the completion and adjusted her play to best suit the situation. She realized that she had a leak in her personality for that situation, and quickly plugged it up before it got her into too much trouble.

Annie looks like she will go far on the television show. Her work ethic and common sense approach has served her team well, and now that she’s not coming off as a tyrant anymore she won’t be seen for her shortcomings so much. One thing is for sure, Annie will raise some money for her charity before Mr. Trump says “You’re Fired!” to her. You can bet on that.

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