At the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic over the weekend, it was revealed that poker pro Annie Duke will appear on the second celebrity installment of NBC’s “The Apprentice.” She’ll join a cast that has been rumored to include singer Brian McKnight, former NBA star Dennis Rodman, and talk show host Joan Rivers according to TMZ. Contestants on the show vie for money for charity from real estate mogul Donald Trump.
Duke will appear on the eighth season of the hit reality television series. Each week, contestants on two teams are asked to perform a task. The winning team reaps a reward, while the losing team must meet with Trump in the board room where one person (or sometimes several) will hear the dreaded phrase, “You’re fired.” The show has been highly successful worldwide and has spurned a series of spin-offs.
On Friday night, Ultimate Bet’s official Aruba blog, which is authored by Gene Bromberg, stated the following: “Annie Duke wasn’t able to attend (or play in the Aruba Poker Classic) because, as you may have heard, she was selected to be on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice this season. She had to fly to L.A. for the premiere party and she’ll be competing for the Ante Up for Africa charity. Annie and Donald Trump in the same boardroom… that should make for some interesting TV.”
Duke and actor Don Cheadle have been the main faces behind the charity Ante Up for Africa. Because the Celebrity Apprentice awards money for charity, she may elect to play to raise funds for the victims of the crisis in Darfur. Last season on the first version of the Celebrity Apprentice, “America’s Got Talent” judge Piers Morgan took home the title. He played for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. In the finals of the television series, he defeated country music superstar Trace Adkins, who was playing for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. Others on the show included model Carol Alt, boxing star Lennox Lewis, actor Stephen Baldwin, reality star Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth, and fighter Tito Ortiz. It received rave reviews.
Prior seasons of “The Apprentice” pitted contestants against each other on two different teams. The grand prize was the opportunity to hear the words “You’re hired” said by Trump. The winner joins the Trump Organization and is charged with leading a major new real estate development. Its first season aired back in 2004. Trump is joined in many episodes by his son, Don, and daughter, Ivanka. In 2005, a spin-off called “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart” aired, but it was not renewed for a second season.
Duke is one of the main spokesmen for Ultimate Bet and has been behind the online poker site’s revamped tournament offering. She won her first and only World Series of Poker bracelet in 2004 after winning a $2,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better tournament, pocketing $137,860 in the process. She won the first ever World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions for $2 million. Duke stormed onto the poker scene by finishing 26th in the 1994 WSOP Main Event, which was eventually won by Russ Hamilton.
Her brother, Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer, is one of the top minds in poker. Dubbed “The Professor,” Lederer also works closely with the Poker Players Alliance, which is the main lobbying group for the online poker industry. Lederer is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner and made the final table of the $5,000 buy-in Mixed Hold’em event this year.
When asked for comment by Poker News Daily, Duke stated that she was unavailable to discuss “The Apprentice” until January. It remains to be seen if that will be the series’ air date.
