When it comes to women making money in the game of poker, Annie Duke is one of the best in the business.

Having grown up in a card-playing household in New Hampshire, Duke learned to play poker with her family and followed her brother Howard Lederer into a pro poker career after giving up her doctorate research at the University of Pennsylvania to get married and move to Montana.

She started out playing in some local cardrooms and then Lederer suggested she take on the World Series of Poker in 1994. It turned out to be a winning proposition as she cashed in four events, one of which was a final-table finish and another was the Main Event.

Since then she's accumulated millions of dollars in tournament cashes, a WSOP bracelet win 2004 along with winning the WSOP Tournament of Champions event that same year, and several World Poker Tour cashes.

Duke uses her poker expertise and experience to teach others the game as well. She is an instructor for the WSOP Academy and for the poker training site ProPlayLive.com.

She is a sponsored pro at UltimateBet as well, and in 2008 she added to her duties for the online poker sites by taking on the role of consultant to improve the sites poker offerings for players.

As one of the top female players in the game, Duke's public profile has grown quite a bit outside of the poker realm as well.

In 2009 she starred on Celebrity Apprentice alongside stars such as Dennis Rodman, Joan and Melissa Rivers, Clint Black and more. She played the boardroom game well enough to make it into the final against Joan Rivers but fell just short of winning.

During the show she raised more than $700,000 for Refugees International. She uses her celebrity to raise money for that and other organizations that help aid humanitarian efforts in Darfur as well with her Ante Up for Africa Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament in Las Vegas during the WSOP each year. She co-created the tournament with Don Cheadle. Duke has also helped with fundraising efforts for Children's Hospital and other charities.