Annie Duke

Annie Duke

Keynote Speaker: Decision Strategist & Consultant; Bestselling Author, "Quit" & "Thinking in Bets"; Former Professional Poker Player

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Annie Duke Biography

Annie Duke is an author, corporate speaker, and consultant in the decision-making space, as well as Special Partner focused on Decision Science at First Round Capital Partners, a seed stage venture fund. Duke’s latest book, "Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away," was released in 2022 from Portfolio, a Penguin Random House imprint. Her previous book, "Thinking in Bets," is a national bestseller. In the book, Duke reveals to readers the lessons she regularly shares with her corporate audiences, which have been cultivated by combining her academic studies in cognitive psychology with real-life decision-making experiences at the poker table.

For two decades, Duke was one of the top poker players in the world. In 2004, she bested a field of 234 players to win her first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. The same year, she triumphed in the $2 million winner-take-all, invitation-only WSOP Tournament of Champions. In 2010, she won the prestigious NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. She retired from the game in 2012. Prior to becoming a professional poker player, Duke was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship to study Cognitive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her master’s degree. In 2021 she returned to her alma mater as a Visiting Scholar, where she also teaches executive education. In 2023 Duke completed her PhD in Cognitive Psychology.

Duke now spends her time writing, coaching, and speaking on a range of topics such as decision fitness, emotional control, productive decision groups and embracing uncertainty. She is a sought-after public speaker, with engagements ranging from keynote remarks to workshops with executive teams and one-on-one coaching with C-Level executives. Her clients have ranged from CitiBank to the Big 10 to Susquehanna International Group. Duke regularly shares her observations on decision making and critical thinking skills in her newsletter and has shared her poker knowledge through a series of best-selling poker instruction and theory books, including "Decide to Play Great Poker" and "The Middle Zone: Mastering the Most difficult Hands in Hold’em Poker" (both co-authored with John Vorhaus).

Duke is a master storyteller, having performed three times for The Moth, an organization that preserves the art of spoken word storytelling. One of her stories was selected by The Moth as one of their top 50 stories and featured in the organization’s first-ever book. Her passion for making a difference has helped raise millions for charitable causes. In 2006, she founded Ante Up for Africa along with actor Don Cheadle and Norman Epstein, which has raised more than $4 million for Africans in need. She has also served on the board of The Decision Education Foundation. In 2009, she appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice, and raised $730,000 for Refugees International, a charity that advocates for refugees around the world. In October 2013, Duke became a national board member for After School All-Stars. In 2014, Duke co-founded The Alliance for Decision Education to build a national movement that empowers teachers, school administrators and policymakers to bring Decision Education to every Middle and High School student. In 2016, she began serving on the board of directors of The Franklin Institute, one of America’s oldest and greatest science museums.

Duke currently resides in the Philadelphia area.

Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on Annie Duke and other top speakers and celebrities.

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Annie Duke Speaking Topics

TAKING CARE OF YOUR FUTURE SELF: Temporal discounting and the sacrifices we make to feel good now

One of the biggest challenges poker players face is how to maintain a long-term view that maximizes their results over their career when they are making moment-to-moment decisions in highly emotionally charged situations. One of the biggest obstacles to success as a player is not talent as most might suspect. It is the ability to balance the future against the present moment, to avoid making decisions that might feel good in the moment but will be costly to your future self. This, of course, is the same problem we all face in making decisions about just about anything: retirement savings, dieting, portfolio management, and procrastination, to name just a few. Annie Duke shows how temporal discounting, discounting the future in favor of feeling good in the present, hurts our overall productivity both in a corporate environment and as individuals. She discusses how this irrational weighting of the present interacts with other cognitive biases to prevent learning, to create emotionally charged decision making, to cost us wealth, and to prevent us from realizing our long-term goals. She offers concrete solutions in the form of both cultural and individual supports for making the kinds of decisions in the moment that more rationally take into account our future selves.

TILT: Managing your emotions

Has anyone ever told you, “Why don’t you sleep on it?” or “Take ten deep breaths before you decide?” or even “Calm down.” If so, you (like everyone else) have been on tilt. Tilt is a state of distress that causes us to make emotionally-charged and irrational decisions. In poker, many talented players go broke because they play poker on tilt. Making decisions in this unproductive emotional state is not confined to the poker table. Tilt is common in corporate environments, in finance and sales, and, of course, in our personal lives as anyone with a teenager can attest. The best poker players in the world devote tremendous time and energy on how to reduce the effect of their emotions on their decision-making process. Annie Duke shares the secrets and strategies the top players employ to avoid emotionally- charged decision making.

HOW WINNING AND LOSING DRIVES IRRATIONAL CHOICES: Lessons from the poker table

In poker and throughout our lives, we should try to maximize the time we spend in favorable situations and minimize our time in unfavorable ones. Poker players are too quick to quit when they are winning. They look for any excuse to put the session in the (non-existent) win column. The same players will refuse to quit a losing game. The same thing happens outside poker: sales professionals not giving up on a dead lead; investors unwilling to sell their losing investments. Even something as pedestrian as picking the slowest line at a grocery store and being unwilling to change lines stems from the same bias. Annie Duke examines how the interaction of many cognitive biases (including loss aversion and sunk-cost bias) drives this behavior. These tendencies cause us to miss good opportunities and continue playing when the odds are against us. She provides insight into avoiding this costly decision-making error with strategies that prevent us initially making these poor decisions and how to take a longer term view so we are not as caught up in the emotion of the moment. The strategies apply in the workplace, to parenting and to other personal decisions.

EVALUATION OF FEEDBACK: The Rough Road of Learning through Experience

In Annie Duke’s twenty years playing poker, she noticed that most players quickly plateau in their learning despite an abundance of evidence about how they can improve. Players win or lose hands many times an hour and get feedback about the quality of their play almost immediately. Outcomes are closely tied in time to decisions. Poker provides a closed, tight feedback loop so it should provide an ideal environment for years of learning and improvement. Players also have the opportunity to watch others win or lose hands even more often than they play hands themselves. Yet most poker players repeat the same mistakes. Players have trouble incorporating both positive and negative feedback. When things go well, they give maximum credit to their skill. When things don’t go well, they blame luck. Wins, therefore, teach them to do exactly what they are already doing. They ignore losses, attributing them to factors outside their control. Of course, this occurs in every facet of our lives. Annie Duke examines this process with examples from poker, familiar personal and business decisions, and behavioral science research. She shares comprehensive strategies to mitigate these biases, embracing the feedback that our outcomes provide to become better long-term learners. These strategies can be adopted by individuals or at an organizational level.

BIG DATA: The good, the bad, and the ugly

As we become a more data-driven society, we face new questions of how best to use all this new data to improve human decision making. Annie Duke explores the ways in which big data has the potential to overcome robust irrationalities in how we process information and solve for the problem of uncertainty. She also points out the pitfalls and dangers of big data and provides advice about how data is aggregated and collected and where the “human element” still needs to be in control of the analysis in order to interpret and model the data.

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Annie Duke Videos

What poker pro Annie Duke can teach you about quitting on time
What poker pro Annie Duke can teach you about quitting on time
Annie Duke: "Thinking in Bets" | Talks at Google
Annie Duke: "Thinking in Bets" | Talks at Google
Risk Schmisk | Annie Duke | TEDxGeorgetown
Risk Schmisk | Annie Duke | TEDxGeorgetown
See All Videos »

How do I book Annie Duke to speak at my event?

Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Annie Duke for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Annie Duke, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Annie Duke or any other speaker of your choice.

How much does it cost to book Annie Duke for a speaking engagement?

Speaking fees for Annie Duke, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Annie Duke are $50,000 - $100,000 for live events and $30,000 - $50,000 for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Annie Duke, click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.

What topics does Annie Duke speak about?

Annie Duke is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Entertainers, Authors, Television & Film, Futurism, Philosophy, Journalism, Cybersecurity, Sports Journalism & Broadcasting, Business, Business Leadership, Inspirational, Celebrity, Economy, Finance, History, Women and Influential Women.

Where does Annie Duke travel from?

Annie Duke generally travels from Philadelphia, PA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances.

Who is the agent for Annie Duke?

AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully secured keynote speakers like Annie Duke for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Annie Duke for your next private or corporate function.

What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Annie Duke or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.

Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

If you’re looking for the best speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.

Annie Duke is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics including Entertainers, Authors and Television & Film. The estimated speaking fee range to book Annie Duke for live events is $50,000 - $100,000, and for virtual events $30,000 - $50,000. Annie Duke generally travels from Philadelphia, PA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Daymond John, Erica Dhawan and Peter Diamandis. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Annie Duke for an upcoming event.

BOOK ANNIE DUKE
Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 19/03/2025.

Annie Duke Speaking Topics

  • TAKING CARE OF YOUR FUTURE SELF: Temporal discounting and the sacrifices we make to feel good now

    One of the biggest challenges poker players face is how to maintain a long-term view that maximizes their results over their career when they are making moment-to-moment decisions in highly emotionally charged situations. One of the biggest obstacles to success as a player is not talent as most might suspect. It is the ability to balance the future against the present moment, to avoid making decisions that might feel good in the moment but will be costly to your future self. This, of course, is the same problem we all face in making decisions about just about anything: retirement savings, dieting, portfolio management, and procrastination, to name just a few. Annie Duke shows how temporal discounting, discounting the future in favor of feeling good in the present, hurts our overall productivity both in a corporate environment and as individuals. She discusses how this irrational weighting of the present interacts with other cognitive biases to prevent learning, to create emotionally charged decision making, to cost us wealth, and to prevent us from realizing our long-term goals. She offers concrete solutions in the form of both cultural and individual supports for making the kinds of decisions in the moment that more rationally take into account our future selves.

    • Read More +
  • TILT: Managing your emotions

    Has anyone ever told you, “Why don’t you sleep on it?” or “Take ten deep breaths before you decide?” or even “Calm down.” If so, you (like everyone else) have been on tilt. Tilt is a state of distress that causes us to make emotionally-charged and irrational decisions. In poker, many talented players go broke because they play poker on tilt. Making decisions in this unproductive emotional state is not confined to the poker table. Tilt is common in corporate environments, in finance and sales, and, of course, in our personal lives as anyone with a teenager can attest. The best poker players in the world devote tremendous time and energy on how to reduce the effect of their emotions on their decision-making process. Annie Duke shares the secrets and strategies the top players employ to avoid emotionally- charged decision making.

  • HOW WINNING AND LOSING DRIVES IRRATIONAL CHOICES: Lessons from the poker table

    In poker and throughout our lives, we should try to maximize the time we spend in favorable situations and minimize our time in unfavorable ones. Poker players are too quick to quit when they are winning. They look for any excuse to put the session in the (non-existent) win column. The same players will refuse to quit a losing game. The same thing happens outside poker: sales professionals not giving up on a dead lead; investors unwilling to sell their losing investments. Even something as pedestrian as picking the slowest line at a grocery store and being unwilling to change lines stems from the same bias. Annie Duke examines how the interaction of many cognitive biases (including loss aversion and sunk-cost bias) drives this behavior. These tendencies cause us to miss good opportunities and continue playing when the odds are against us. She provides insight into avoiding this costly decision-making error with strategies that prevent us initially making these poor decisions and how to take a longer term view so we are not as caught up in the emotion of the moment. The strategies apply in the workplace, to parenting and to other personal decisions.

    • Read More +
  • EVALUATION OF FEEDBACK: The Rough Road of Learning through Experience

    In Annie Duke’s twenty years playing poker, she noticed that most players quickly plateau in their learning despite an abundance of evidence about how they can improve. Players win or lose hands many times an hour and get feedback about the quality of their play almost immediately. Outcomes are closely tied in time to decisions. Poker provides a closed, tight feedback loop so it should provide an ideal environment for years of learning and improvement. Players also have the opportunity to watch others win or lose hands even more often than they play hands themselves. Yet most poker players repeat the same mistakes. Players have trouble incorporating both positive and negative feedback. When things go well, they give maximum credit to their skill. When things don’t go well, they blame luck. Wins, therefore, teach them to do exactly what they are already doing. They ignore losses, attributing them to factors outside their control. Of course, this occurs in every facet of our lives. Annie Duke examines this process with examples from poker, familiar personal and business decisions, and behavioral science research. She shares comprehensive strategies to mitigate these biases, embracing the feedback that our outcomes provide to become better long-term learners. These strategies can be adopted by individuals or at an organizational level.

    • Read More +
  • BIG DATA: The good, the bad, and the ugly

    As we become a more data-driven society, we face new questions of how best to use all this new data to improve human decision making. Annie Duke explores the ways in which big data has the potential to overcome robust irrationalities in how we process information and solve for the problem of uncertainty. She also points out the pitfalls and dangers of big data and provides advice about how data is aggregated and collected and where the “human element” still needs to be in control of the analysis in order to interpret and model the data.

Annie Duke Videos

What poker pro Annie Duke can teach you about quitting on time
What poker pro Annie Duke can teach you about quitting on time
Annie Duke: "Thinking in Bets" | Talks at Google
Annie Duke: "Thinking in Bets" | Talks at Google
Risk Schmisk | Annie Duke | TEDxGeorgetown
Risk Schmisk | Annie Duke | TEDxGeorgetown

Annie Duke News

  • How do I book Annie Duke to speak at my event?

    Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Annie Duke for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Annie Duke, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Annie Duke or any other speaker of your choice.

  • How much does it cost to book Annie Duke for a speaking engagement?

    Speaking fees for Annie Duke, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Annie Duke are $50,000 - $100,000 for live events and $30,000 - $50,000 for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Annie Duke, click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.

  • What topics does Annie Duke speak about?

    Annie Duke is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Entertainers, Authors, Television & Film, Futurism, Philosophy, Journalism, Cybersecurity, Sports Journalism & Broadcasting, Business, Business Leadership, Inspirational, Celebrity, Economy, Finance, History, Women and Influential Women.

  • Where does Annie Duke travel from?

    Annie Duke generally travels from Philadelphia, PA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances.

  • Who is the agent for Annie Duke?

    AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully secured keynote speakers like Annie Duke for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Annie Duke for your next private or corporate function.

  • What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

    AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Annie Duke or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.

  • Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

    If you’re looking for the best speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.
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