Comedian Joan Rivers Dead at 81: The Woman Who Beat Up Annie Duke

Perhaps the second most hated female in the world of poker, Joan Rivers, managed to beat arguably the most hated in the world of poker, Annie Duke, in the 2009 installment of “Celebrity Apprentice”.

Not that Rivers was a poker player herself.  As part of her vitriol towards Duke, Rivers managed at times to insult the entire poker world, making her one of the most talked about women in the world of poker in 2009.  She once even suggested that all poker players are tax evaders, specifically citing Duke as one (though never proven to be true).

Among her many barbs at Duke: "I just compared Annie to Hitler. I feel terrible. My apologies to Hitler."

Rivers sadly passed away at the age of 81 on Thursday and we trust that the vast majority of poker pros have forgiven her.  The comedian suffered a cardiac arrest one week ago while undergoing a medical procedure.  

"She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m. surrounded by family and close friends," Melissa Rivers said in a written statement.

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At the time, a number of fellow pros had come to Annie Duke’s defense.  Following the “Celebrity Apprentice”, Duke became embroiled in a series of controversies, one of which she had no control over.

Annie is the brother of Howard Lederer, a co-founder and the primary face of the original Full Tilt Poker.  He was accused of running an elaborate ponzi scheme resulting in thousands of customers having to wait more than three years to finally receive their payouts via a US-Government appointed claims administrator.

Duke was also caught up the notorious UB.com “insider cheating” scandal.   One of the shadowy characters in that case would later claim Duke used an “AuditMonster” account, which enabled her to see opponents’ hole cards on a 15-minute delay.

But enough about Annie Duke.  

The fact that Rivers destroyed Duke on “Celebrity Apprentice” was enough to make many a poker player shed a tear upon learning of the comedian’s untimely death.  Her work ethic at 81 was greater than most 21-year-olds.  Just days before she went into cardiac arrest, Rivers was working the red carpet at the MTV Music Video Awards.

She was widely considered one of the greatest comedians of all time.  Over the last few decades, Rivers had branched out into a series of other ventures that included hosting fashion-oriented shows.

“Celebrity Apprentice” host Donald Trump tweeted late Thursday;

Joan Rivers @Joan Rivers was an amazing woman and a great friend. Her energy and talent were boundless. She will be greatly missed.

Legendary poker pro Doyle Brunson, who happens to be the same age as Joan Rivers and defended Duke and the poker community back in 2009, offered this:

Even though Joan Rivers made a lot of terrible comments about poker players, I always wanted to meet her and perhaps change her mind.#RIP

- Jordan Bach, Gambling911.com