On Sunday night at 5:00pm PT, UB.com poker pro and recent National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Annie Duke will join Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show for a 90-minute in-depth interview. Poker News Daily will sponsor the segment, which will be archived on the Chat Show’s website following its airing.
For Duke, the last six months have been a whirlwind. After taking five months off to spend more time with her children, Duke retuned to the poker scene with a vengeance. The decorated female poker pro finished 19th in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic for $45,000, her first in the money finish in a WPT event since late 2008. Then, Duke bested a tremendously talented field in the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, including a win over longtime friend Erik Seidel in the finals.
Duke told Poker News Daily how she wound up being a guest on Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show: “I know Kevin and he uses Twitter a lot. People on Twitter were suggesting me for a show. On New Years Eve, [my boyfriend] Joe and I went out for a nice dinner and Kevin Pollak was at the same restaurant. He was with another friend of ours and we agreed to set a date for my show then.” With March 14th having been circled on the calendar for months now, Duke is looking forward to her lengthy chat on the internet-based show.
For Pollak, Sunday began with a plane ride home and, like many people, the Chat Show’s host was feeling the ill effects of forwarding his clocks one hour for Daylight Savings Time. Pollak Tweeted early Sunday morning, “Hey, Daylight Savings Jerk! Thanks for taking that hour of sleep! I had to get up at the crack of my ass to fly home today & it sucked!”
Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show involves parodying the longtime CNN franchise “Larry King Live” by having each guest perform a King impression live on the air. Past guests who have undergone the ritual include “Full House” star Dave Coulier, musician Lisa Loeb, and “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane.
Duke told Poker News Daily what she’s expecting when her interview kicks off today at 5:00pm PT: “I’ll imagine I’ll have to do a Larry King impression. I was at a party for ‘American Idol’ and Samm Levine told me to practice a Larry King impression. I’ll think I’ll throw out the city Moosetick, Wisconsin.” On what topics Pollak might like to highlight, Duke admitted, “I always go into those things letting the conversation go where it goes. I like watching where a conversation goes. I don’t want to listen to something that’s prepared.”
In a previous interview with Poker News Daily, Pollak noted that discussion topics could include Duke’s relationship with her brother, Full Tilt Poker front man Howard Lederer; how she decided to become a professional poker player; her take on the games of others, and how poker has changed with the presence of television cameras. The modern poker boom began after an aptly-named Tennessee accountant named Chris Moneymaker defeated decorated veteran Sammy Farha in the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
Because of the length of interviews on Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show, a considerable amount of ground can be covered. Listeners can rest assured that there will be plenty to discuss, as Duke’s extracurricular activities outside of poker include a runner-up showing to comedian Joan Rivers in NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” an appearance in the mob on the NBC poker game show “1 vs 100,” and narrowly missing out on a $250,000 top prize on Jeff Foxworthy’s “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?”
Duke won the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions, taking home a $2 million payday after defeating fellow UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth heads-up. Lederer finished third in the winner-take-all event six years ago.
Poker News Daily will be sponsoring Duke’s appearance on Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show. Stay tuned for a full recap.