Poker News

Celebrity Apprentice 3 Cast List Released, No Poker Players

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich headlines an ensemble “Celebrity Apprentice” cast. The 14 names announced by NBC on Monday do not include any poker players, as first reported by Poker News Daily in October.

Three months ago, the cast was spotted filming the show’s opening credits in the Meat Packing District of New York City. Embattled politician Blagojevich is perhaps the most controversial name on the list. NBC officials tried to land the former Governor for its Costa Rica-based “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here,” which aired in June, but legal woes kept him from competing. Instead, Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, appeared on the show. Blagojevich landed in hot water after allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat previously occupied by President Barack Obama.

Also on the new cast is comedian Carol Leifer, who will try to follow in the shoes of “Celebrity Apprentice” Season 2 winner Joan Rivers. The latter defeated UB.com poker pro Annie Duke in the finals last year. Leifer told the Associated Press, "I'm certainly not a household name. I'm not surprised that Joan Rivers won (last season), because, as a standup comic, you're a one-man band — it makes you very prepared for stressful situations to be able to react to a lot of pressure. Humor is a weapon anywhere and everywhere!" Leifer is 20 years younger than Rivers, but her television writing resume includes hits like “Seinfeld,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” and “Saturday Night Live.”

Poison hasn’t released an album since 2007, but that hasn’t stopped Bret Michaels from becoming a household name. The band’s lead singer will appear on the upcoming season of “Celebrity Apprentice” and currently can be found on the VH1 reality series “Rock of Love.” Joining him on the all-male team dubbed “Rocksolid” is Bill Goldberg, former World Heavyweight Champion of WWE and WCW. The former NFL player was last seen in a WWE ring six years ago during WrestleMania XX, when he squared off against Brock Lesnar. Goldberg told the Associated Press that he plans to keep his fiery edge in the boardroom with show host and real estate mogul Donald Trump: "I know I'm going to explode during this show at some point and say things I probably don't mean."

Another embattled celebrity to join the cast of the NBC reality show’s third cycle is Darryl Strawberry. The former New York Met, who dealt with child support non-payments, prostitution, probation violations, and drug use following his baseball career, is now 47 and will look to right the ship on “Celebrity Apprentice.” Competing opposite Strawberry will be “America’s Got Talent” judge Sharon Osbourne, whose fellow judge on the show, Piers Morgan, won the original installment of “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2008.

Last time out, Rivers defeated Duke amid a tidal wave of name-calling, including numerous references to Hitler. Rivers’ onslaught included such memorable lines as, “You’re a poker player. A poker player! That’s beyond white trash. Poker players are trash,” and, “You have a Nazi and a follower. I don’t work with scum.” Duke then fired back, telling “Celebrity Apprentice” cameras, “Joan is completely full of shit in everything she does. There’s a reason she got fired by the TV Guide Channel: She’s a bitch.”

For the most part, the poker world rallied behind one of their own and Duke raised a colossal $731,000 for Refugees International. However, Rivers, who was playing for God’s Love We Deliver, took down the title of “Celebrity Apprentice” and earned $526,000 for charity. Others who appeared on the show’s second installment with Rivers and Duke included Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker, country music star Clint Black, reality star Khloe Kardashian, and comedian Tom Green.

Here’s the complete cast list for the third season of “Celebrity Apprentice:”

Rocksolid: Rod Blagojevich, Darryl Strawberry. Curtis Stone, Sinbad, Bret Michaels, Bill Goldberg, Michael Johnson

Tenacity: Sharon Osbourne, Cyndi Lauper, Summer Sanders, Holly Robinson Peete, Maria Kanellis, Carol Leifer, Selita Ebanks

The new season of “Celebrity Apprentice” kicks off on March 14th on NBC.

Top Ten Poker Stories of the 2009: #6, Annie Duke’s Performance on Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice

Although several individual poker stories may be in contention for story of the year, one that brought the most attention to the game was Annie Duke's role in Donald Trump's NBC television show Celebrity Apprentice. Well-known for her opinions...

Poker News in Brief: Nov. 23-29, 2009

With only the main event of the U.S. Poker Championships to keep poker fans busy they were left to contemplate the identity of the rumored Swede who has taken millions off Tom "durrrr" Dwan.

There was a ton of other poker news, however, and we're going to break some of it down for you today in our regularly scheduled Poker News in Brief feature.

This week we're going to look at PKR Live III results, another world record broken on PokerStars, an Andy Beal update and a certain young celebrity with a penchant for poker.

Billionaire poker player bids on Trump Casinos

It appears that billionaire banker Andy Beal isn't quite done with the poker world.

The Dallas-based businessman made a bid for three bankrupt Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. Casinos in Atlantic City this week.

Beal was portrayed as a fearless poker player in Michael Craig's The Professor, the banker and the Suicide King: The Richest Poker Game of all Time.

In the book, Craig chronicled Beal's heads-up matches against the likes of Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman and Doyle Brunson, which were some of the biggest games ever played.

Under Beal's buyout proposal, an affiliate of his Dallas-based bank would convert its $486 million mortgage on the casinos into equity.

Beal's bid is just the latest in a series that included Trump Entertainment bondholders and Donald Trump himself.

The three properties in question are the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino and the Trump Marina Hotel Casino.

Russian breaks world record on PokerStars

Russian online player innerpsy broke the record for number of hands played in a 24 hour span this week.

The 21-year-old poker pro somehow managed to log 40,088 hands on PokerStars in just one day.

"Before this challenge I never actually played more than 20,000 hands in a day before but the idea came up and I just figured I could do it," he told PokerStars Blog. "It was one of the toughest things I have ever accomplished, but I am proud I managed it."

The challenge was hosted on PokerStars by Russian forum Card Game Masters and nearly 10,000 fans logged on to watch innerpsy burn his way through more hands than some poker players go through in their lifetime.

Qualifier wins PKR Live III

A 21-year-old English man made history by winning the biggest PKR Live payout ever in London this week.

Vincent "vd12345" Diver qualified for the event for just $5 on PKR and went on to outlast 133 players to take the first place prize of PKR Live III for $33,500.

"It's an incredible sum to me and it still hadn't kicked in until I saw it on my PKR account," he said. "It has opened up a lot of doors for me."

This year's PKR Live required a buy-in of $1,000 and took place at the Loose Cannon in London. The event has grown in every year of its existence.

Grandmothers arrested for playing poker in Cyprus

Forty two women between the ages of 75 and 95 were arrested at private home game in Cyprus this week.

The police raided the house where the games took place in Ayios loannis and proceeded to charge the women for illegal gambling. The police also confiscated €100 in betting money, 546 playing chips and 530 playing cards.

Playing cards for money is illegal in Cyprus and the police regularly conduct raids at clubs, betting ships and various associations.

The women were playing poker and gin rummy.

The raid took place on Sunday at 6 p.m. after a series of complaints from neighbors about noise.

Zac Efron a poker pro?

Renowned director Richard Linklater says teen heartthrob Zac Efron is a poker shark.

Linklater told the UK's Press Association that although Efron looks clean cut, he will take your money if you play poker against him.

Linklator is currently directing the young star in Me and Orsen Welles, which sees Efron play teenager Richard Samuels who ends up working with a young Orsen Welles.

Efron has never played the popular WPT Celebrity Invitational, which takes place every year at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.

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Celebrity Apprentice 3 Cast May Not Feature Poker Players

In 2010, the third installment of the NBC reality franchise “Celebrity Apprentice” will hit television airwaves. The show, which featured comedian Joan Rivers best poker pro Annie Duke in the finale last time out, will likely not include a poker player this time around.

Ever since Duke finished as the runner-up to Rivers in May, the poker community has been abuzz that one of its own may appear in the third edition of the popular series. However, according to Huliq.com and the New York Post, the ensemble cast, which will likely once again pit men against women, does not appear to include a poker player. No official cast list has been released by NBC. The show is hosted by real estate mogul Donald Trump and raises money for charity.

Last season, Duke played for Refugees International, an organization that she worked closely with as part of her own charity, Ante Up for Africa. In the process, the poker community was instrumental in raising $730,000 for the charity. Poker players who made cameos throughout the season included Ultimate Bet front man Phil Hellmuth, Andy Bloch, Howard Lederer, 2009 Poker Hall of Fame nominee Erik Seidel, and Perry Friedman.

Embattled politician Rod Blagojevich headlines the “Celebrity Apprentice” cast in Season 3. His wife, Patty Blagojevich, appeared on NBC’s “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” when Rod was unable to attend due to ongoing legal action. Blagojevich is the former Governor of Illinois and was impeached in January for, among other misgivings, allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by current U.S. President Barack Obama.

Joining Blagojevich on the men’s team will be another controversial celebrity, former baseball great Darryl Strawberry, a member of the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and New York Yankees. Strawberry exited the league in 1999 and was the National League Rookie of the Year 16 years earlier. Chef Curtis Stone will join the “Celebrity Apprentice” cast, as will popular comedian Sinbad, whose credits include “A Different World” and “The Sinbad Show.” He has also appeared in movies such as “First Kid” and “Jingle All the Way.”

Former professional wrestler Bill Goldberg, who stormed onto World Championship Wrestling (WCW) scene with an undefeated streak in the late 1990s, will be a part of the new “Celebrity Apprentice” cast. Rounding out the men’s team is “Rock of Love” star Bret Michaels, who is also known for his work with the band Poison.

The women’s team features “America’s Got Talent” judge Sharon Osborne, whose fellow judge on the show, Piers Morgan, was the winner of Season 1 of “Celebrity Apprentice.” “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “Time After Time” signer Cyndi Lauper will join the squad. Olympic gold medalist Summer Sanders, who took down hardware in swimming in 1992, will also make her way to New York City to film “Celebrity Apprentice.” There, actress Holly Robinson Peete, wife of former NFL great Rodney Peete, will join her.

World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) Maria Kanellis will also be a part of “Celebrity Apprentice,” as will comedian Carol Leifer, who has written scripts for hits like “Seinfeld” and “The Larry Sanders Show.” Finally, Selita Ebanks, a model, will round out the new cast.

The names of more cast members may be released, but for the meantime, it appears that the poker community will not be a part of the upcoming season of “Celebrity Apprentice.” Over on CBS, Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho, the last women standing in the 2008 and 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events, respectively, are competing as part of the Emmy Award winning reality series “Amazing Race.” The show airs at 8:00pm ET on Sundays and viewers will see the poker playing duo race around Dubai, United Arab Emirates on this week’s edition.

The Post reported that the “Celebrity Apprentice” cast was seen recording the opening credits in the Meatpacking District of New York City and that the show would begin airing in March.

Poker Community Responds to Amazing Race Premiere

Professional poker players Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle are quickly becoming the talk of reality television fans and poker enthusiasts alike after just one episode of the new season of the CBS series “Amazing Race.”  These two racers, who each made their claim to fame by being the last women remaining in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, are quickly gaining fans and critics after the two-hour premiere, during which they went from first to last place, impressing and irritating their competitors along the way.

Poker News Daily sought the opinions of those on both sides of the issue in order to gain more insight into why the Ho/Michelle team has such a polarizing effect on people.  In addition to discussing some of the pros and cons of their appearance, we also picked up behind the scenes information that sheds more light on how the two young women are being portrayed.

The Skeptic

It didn’t take long for occasional poker journalist and online poker regular Jon Wein to decide that he did not enjoy the duo of poker ladies participating in the show.  He tuned in to watch the show, but Wein claims he “had to turn it off after [Tiffany Michelle] and Maria Ho implied they were rich for the like eighteenth time.”

His biggest issue with the two women appearing on the show is that it deprives other, ostensibly more deserving, poker players from time in the limelight.  “It literally makes me sick that Tiffany Michelle gets this much coverage and publicity for one Main Event run. She’s done nothing else,” he explained.  “Ultimate Bet has all of these talented pros like Matt ‘mattg1983’ Graham and Adam ‘Roothlus’ Levy and then they have her… It’s a complete slap in the face to them.”  Wein even took a playful jab at Michelle’s former Poker News employer Tony “Tony G” Guoga.  “I literally curse Tony G’s name to this day because he put her in the Main Event,” he joked.

While Wein has a very clear opinion on Michelle, he has less to say about her partner.  “I don’t know Maria and have never spoken to her.  I only know what the media portrays her as,” he said.

Considering poker players do not get too many opportunities at mainstream media exposure, an appearance on a reality show can have a major influence on how the game is perceived by those who are not fans of it.  Wein is skeptical that the team, Michelle in particular, will grow poker’s popularity.  “Even if [Michelle] is the sickest ‘Amazing Race’ contestant ever, I just don’t understand how anyone can be like, ‘Wow, what a great ambassador for the game. What a humble person about their successes’…I think she is a poor example of what a poker player should be.”  His opinion is based not only on the first episode of “Amazing Race”, but also last year’s Main Event coverage and his own personal experiences over the course of several summers in Las Vegas.

He may just be one viewer, but the presence of Michelle and Ho on the show has actually convinced the longtime “Amazing Race” fan to take some time off from tuning in, as Wein said he had no plans to watch future episodes this season.

The Supporter

Like Wein, longtime tournament reporter B.J. Nemeth knew Ho and Michelle long before their appearance on “Amazing Race.”  In fact, it is only because of their presence on the show that he tuned in this season.  “I have never watched ‘Amazing Race’ before this season and I am watching primarily because I am friends with Maria and Tiffany,” Nemeth explained.  “I am also watching (to a lesser extent) because of my weekly appearances on PokerRoad’s ‘The Poker Beat,’ where I am sure we will discuss and analyze the show at some point, just as we did with Annie Duke on ‘Celebrity Apprentice.’”  He is a fan so far and even suggested that he might tune into the show for future seasons.

The show has made a fan of Nemeth, but he thinks it will have little impact on bringing new fans to poker.  He explained, comparing their appearance to Duke’s memorable run on “Celebrity Apprentice”:

“Amazing Race” is a unique game and the specific job skills that people bring with them will have little impact, whether they are a doctor, a lawyer, or a poker player.  “If [Michelle and Ho] perform well or win, it won’t be because they are poker players. If they embarrass themselves and lose, it won’t be because they are poker players. And I don’t think mainstream fans will judge the poker industry by how they finish… The impact on poker is very different from Annie Duke’s presence on ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ where she was only on the show because she was a famous poker player, and it was brought up repeatedly from a strategy standpoint and in the boardroom with Donald Trump.”

Nemeth also conceded that any publicity was good publicity though and, unlike Wein, believed that the appearance of the young female poker players would more than likely help rather than hurt the poker cause.  When it comes to Wein’s concerns that their behavior will come off as indicative of the poker industry as a whole, Nemeth disagreed.  “Even though ‘Amazing Race’ fans identify Maria and Tiffany as the ‘poker players’ or the ‘poker girls,’ that’s just an identifier because it’s tough to learn names of 10 to 12 two-person teams,” he pointed out.  “They refer to the other teams in similar ways – ‘the asshole lawyer,’ ‘the interracial couple,’ ‘the father-son team,’ and ‘the gay brothers.’ Reality TV fans are smart enough to know that personality traits are unique to individuals and not to entire professions or sexual preferences.”

The Scoop

Ho and Nemeth had a lengthy chat after the show’s Sunday premiere and Nemeth shared behind-the-scenes details of the first episode with Poker News Daily.  “Maria and Tiffany have agreed that they won’t be answering their critics or talking about specific things until the show is complete. It’s not easy, because they’ve seen a lot of the criticism and want to respond, but they know it would be counterproductive at this point,” Nemeth explained.  However, he did clear up a couple of early points of criticism on behalf of his friends.

He immediately addressed a major issue that both reality television fans and poker enthusiasts were quick to criticize the girls for - their rolling luggage.  Historically, backpacks have proven to be the most popular way to travel on the show and avid fans suggest that rolling luggage slows players down too much during crucial periods of the race where they may have to run.  Nemeth explained that their bags convert into backpacks and the clip showing Ho rolling it down the street was during a three mile walk from one location to the next.

Nemeth also filled us in on the controversial decision by the pair to conceal their occupation from their opponents.  According to Nemeth, the producers encouraged them to keep their status as poker pros under wraps since previous contestants like former “Survivor” winners Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich were highly criticized by their fellow racers for already being rich and famous.

As for their false claim that they worked with a non-profit group?  This is not entirely a lie.  Both women have done a lot of charity work, so there was more truth to their statements than the show depicted.  “The homeless charity that Tiffany mentioned on the show is a real charity that she has worked with and its director called her on Monday to support her,” said Nemeth.  He also said that the girls received less flack from their competitors about their tiny fib than the show implied and that they are still in touch with over half of the teams from the season.

These are just two of several opinions on a show that still has a long way to go to reach the finish line.  In every season of reality television, there will inevitably be heroes and villains.  So far, Ho and Michelle are netting their fair share of criticism compared to the other participants, but picking up a few new fans as well, so it will take a little more airtime to get a better idea of how they will be remembered on “Amazing Race” and whether or not it will have any bearing on the world of poker.

Art of the Bluff

A couple of decades ago, billionaire entrepreneur Donald Trump wrote a book called “The Art Of The Deal.” In it, he detailed out how he went about creating, executing, and finishing many of the major real estate transactions that made him who he is today. The same idea can be applied to one of the most difficult tasks in poker, bluffing.

For the most part, the bluff is overused when it comes to online poker. Because of the lack of human contact - the ability to physically look at your opponent and make determinations of their intentions - bluffing is more prevalent and doesn’t work, in most cases. Even in the live game, the bluff can be easily picked off if three basic tenets aren’t observed.

Telling the Story

Bluffing is, in part, telling a story to your opponent. The art of the bluff is in telling a convincing story that will make him think that his hand isn’t going to beat you. But you have to be able to convince your opponent that the story is true, otherwise he is going to read it for the fictional tale that it is.

Say, for example, that the flop has delivered two cards of the same suit. Your opponent has a high pocket pair, leads out post-flop, and the decision is in your hands. If you are holding air, most of the time you’ll want to let it go. However, if you have been able to build a decent reputation at the table, you can re-raise and put the decision back on him. The power here is in that you have been able to state, “I’m four-fifths of the way to the flush; you should just let it go here.”

Even if you are called, you have to continue to tell the story. The turn card comes off and doesn’t complete the flush draw. If your opponent checks, then you have to be willing to put another bet into the pot and continue to tell the story. By checking behind him, you are essentially saying that you aren’t on the flush draw and just want to see the next card for free. The bluff bet on the turn continues the story and could very well win the hand.

If the river brings you the final card for the flush, then you should win easily with another bet. This also works well if you actually are on the flush draw and hit it because your opponent may come back with a bluff of his own on the river, making more money for you. If the river blanks, then you have to end your tale of bluffing and release your hand, as you probably don’t have enough to win.

The board will more than likely provide you with enough information to determine if you should take a shot at a bluff. A coordinated board, with three of a suit or sometimes even paired cards, is much easier to concoct a story to than one that has no symmetry to it. Thus, you have to judge for yourself if the story behind your bluff is believable.

When telling the story, you also have to be convincing with your bets. A minimum bet in No Limit Hold’em is only going to give your opponent pot odds to follow you to the river. This is especially true in the case of Limit Hold’em, where there are the pot odds in most occasions to justify a showdown.

Building Your Credibility

Much like in his book, Trump would bank on his reputation and credibility when he was pushing a deal. The same is true at the poker table in that you need to have a solid table image to be able to push your bluff through.

If you have been splashing around in pretty much every pot that has been contested at the tables, then the likelihood of pushing a bluff by someone is greatly reduced. Even if you have been showing down strong hands and winning, the general nature of people is that they want to get back at you. Thus, you have a larger difficulty in bluffing if you have been providing a great deal of action.

If, however, you have been playing at or around a respectable number of hands, between 15% and 22%, the likelihood of a bluff working improves tremendously. Because you haven’t shown a willingness to gamble it up and instead have been showing strong hands, players are more likely to give you credit for the story you are telling.

Where are You?

Bluffing more often than not works from a position of strength. Trump didn’t build an empire because he wasn’t working from such a position. With bluffing, the same thing is true in that you have to be able to have the final say in the action at the table.

The power in poker, in general, is from the later positions and the same is true for bluffing. If you are first to act in a pot, it isn’t the time to be pushing with air, as you do not have the final say in what is going on at the tables. Even if you are in the middle of multi-way action, your bluffing power is reduced because there are players yet to act.

The art of the bluff works the best if you are the last player to act in heads-up action and sometimes if you are last to act in a multi-player pot. Once again, the story has to be in connection with what the board says and must be convincing. If you aren’t in a position of strength, then it is best not to be involved in the hand, let alone bluff.

Summary

Bluffing should be a staple of your poker toolbox. When you do decide to take it out, however, you have to be conscious of many factors at the table and in the cards on the board. Only by using a position of strength, telling a complete story, and building credibility can the art of the bluff work for you.

Andy Beal enters Casino-business with Donald Trump!

Real Estate and Casino mogul Donald Trump, who is also the host of tv’s reality series “The Apprentice”, and Beal Bank (Andy Beal) have decided to enter the casino business again.

-”Andy Beal likes to play the biggest games”

Andy Beal is one of the bankers who are going to invest to the company which Donald Trump lost. In February 2009 Trump Entertainment Resorts was filed for bankruptcy for the third time. Yesterday the company informed that they have chosen Donald Trump to lead it again.

Trump’s daughter Ivanka and the Texas based Beal Bank are the co-owners.

“We’re going to invest $100 million initially… it will be a wonderful company after we intelligently spend money to fix it.” Trump said.

This is the third trip to bankruptcy court for the firm’s three Atlantic City casinos. At the time, it listed assets of $2.06 billion and debt of $1.74 billion, as of Dec. 31.

“My previous investment in the company was destroyed by excessive and restrictive debt.” Trump says.

Andy Beal is known the be the player who has the biggest ever poker winning in a single day. In 2004 Beal won $11.7 million from “The Corporation” which included players like Chip Reese, Hamid Dastmalchi, Gus Hansen and Jennifer Harman.

“The Corporation” includes other players like Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Ted Forrest, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Chau Giang and others.

It’s not a hidden fact that many high-roll players have been waiting to play against Beal again.

Beal started his career as a blackjack player. In 2001 Beal began to visit Bellagio to participate in high-stakes games.

By the end of their matches they were playing staggering $100.000/$200.000 Limit Hold’em with more than $20 million on the table.

In 2006 Beal challenged “The Corporation” again and lost about $16.6 million to Phil Ivey in three days.

Source: Pokeri

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Andy Beal enters Casino-business with Donald Trump!

What I Learned from Annie Duke

My favorite part about watching “The Celebrity Apprentice” this season was to watch how Annie Duke played the game. It was obvious that she was a poker player (and no, not because she was “two-faced” or “conniving”) because she was the only one who seemed to have any sort of plan. The only one who knew how to actually play the game. As the show went on, I realized many strategies Duke used on the show could also apply to poker (it did help that Duke made the comparisons herself at times). What follows are four poker lessons I learned from watching Annie Duke.

Have a Purpose

The cupcake selling task was the first one of the season.  Right off the bat, Annie Duke made her presence felt, both running the show in the kitchen and raising a lot of money.  I’ll let her explain the rest:

“I wanted to get on the show and make sure that Trump knew me. The bigger the celebrity, the more you are in his eyes. I’m not a big mainstream celebrity, so I needed to make noise right away.”

“It’s just like poker. You don’t raise because you want to raise. There has to be a reason for what you’re doing. I needed to get noticed, but also needed to do it with a purpose. In that sense, I’m playing a game.”

That isn’t to say that every decision in a poker game can only be made for one reason. After all, a raise can be made to make everyone fold, to bolster the pot, to narrow the field, and more. But you need to pick a reason for the raise in order to execute it properly.

Know Your Competition

Several episodes in, Duke had yet to be Project Manager, despite becoming the most controlling player on her team. In an interview on this site, she was asked about eventually taking the head position for a task.

“I really like being Project Manager to knowing your table in poker. They are very similar conceptually. When you first sit down in a table, you’re not looking to get involved in a huge decision. You try to avoid big decisions early on because those are where you can make mistakes. The more information you have about your opponents, the better off you are when you take a more aggressive stance.”

“I don’t know any of these people on Celebrity Apprentice. Being Project Manager is like that big decision in poker. There is no other point where you have a bigger risk of getting fired. You’re automatically in the board room if you lose. If you are Project Manager, you want to have the best chance of winning the task because you don’t end up in the board room and you end up with a win, which is important in the long-run.”

Um…what she said.  I really don’t have anything else to add.

Don’t Worry About What You Can’t Control

Any “Celebrity Apprentice” fan with half a brain knows that Annie Duke dominated Joan Rivers in every aspect of the game. It wasn’t remotely close. But Rivers still won.

Why? We may never truly know, but I, along with many others, honestly feel that Rivers’ victory was preordained by Donald Trump. I won’t go into the reasons in this article, but suffice it to say that I don’t believe Duke had a chance to win. Even though she still got a chance to argue her case in the final episode, the trophy was already engraved. It was beyond her control.

And that’s the final lesson. Don’t worry about what you can’t control. Annie Duke did everything she needed to do to win, but she couldn’t control Donald Trump or his decision process. While the loss was disappointing to her, hopefully she was able to feel proud about how she played the game and realize that most people felt she should have won.

In poker, it’s the same way. Your job, put very simply, is to make good poker decisions. Once all your chips are in the pot, there is nothing more you can do. If you got your money in with the best of it, you did your job. There is no point in worrying too much about what other cards may fall.  There is nothing you can do about it.

Be Yourself

Annie Duke, by her own admission, had her flaws during the show. She didn’t “suffer fools”, she lacked diplomacy at times, she was often too blunt with her teammates, and she came across as focused on nothing but herself (really, these aren’t necessarily flaws – they are just aspects of her personality that rubbed the other celebs the wrong way). But you know what? Even though she wasn’t a beloved competitor, she made it to the final two. Annie Duke stayed true to herself; she didn’t change who she was for television. Because of this, she was able to focus on the task at hand, rather than worrying about appearances.

In poker, you definitely want to mix up your play at times to keep your opponents off guard, but in the long run, you still need to play your game. You are going to have your own personal style that works for you. Stray from it too frequently and it will be hard to play optimally simply because you aren’t accustomed to the new style of play.

Andy Beal Stakes Donald Trump’s Bid to Regain Casinos

Real estate mogul Donald Trump has made an offer to buy Trump Entertainment out of bankruptcy. Trump had relinquished operational...

Celebrity Apprentice to Return Mid-Season, Retain 9:00pm ET Time Slot

NBC’s hit reality show, Celebrity Apprentice, will return mid-season in 2010, according to a recent article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune. The show’s second season, and eighth overall, saw poker pro Annie Duke reach the finals and square off against comedian Joan Rivers.

The finale of Celebrity Apprentice, which played out on Sunday, May 10th, averaged 8.73 million viewers, according to TV Guide. It ran against stiff competition, as the season finale of CBS’ Amazing Race aired from 8:00pm to 9:00pm ET and drew 10.43 million. Lawyers Tammy and Victor earned the “W” on that show’s 14th installment. Also airing during the first of three hours of the Celebrity Apprentice season finale was Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which generated 8.2 million viewers. During the 9:00pm ET hour, the Donald Trump-led reality series had to contend against both Cold Case and Desperate Housewives. The two shows saw 11.78 and 12.13 million viewers, respectively, tune in.

The final hour of Celebrity Apprentice, which included about a half-hour of live programming from New York City, attracted an audience of 10.24 million. It “trumped” the season finales of The Unit and Brothers and Sisters, outdrawing both shows by at least 500,000. Celebrity Apprentice ran during the season from 9:00pm to 11:00pm ET, being truncated to one hour on just one occasion, which was for the series premiere of Southland, a drama from the creators of E.R. According to the Tribune, Dateline NBC will occupy the 7:00pm to 8:00pm ET time slot in early 2010. It will be followed by The Marriage Ref, which airs from 8:00pm to 9:00pm ET. Celebrity Apprentice will then be beamed into homes around the country for two hours.

In its Fall 2009 schedule, NBC will air Sunday Night Football in the time slot previously occupied by Celebrity Apprentice. Its pre-game show, Football Night in America, will run from 7:00pm to 8:20pm ET, with kickoff of the feature game occurring shortly thereafter. Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will have the call every Sunday. Collinsworth replaces football legend John Madden, who recently retired. Celebrity Apprentice fans may also have to wait until after the 2010 Winter Olympics, which will emanate from Vancouver and air between February 12th and 28th.

Duke raised over $730,000 for her charity, Refugees International, during NBC’s second season of Celebrity Apprentice. She raised $460,000 in the final episode alone, which challenged Duke and Rivers to hold a silent auction featuring celebrity experiences prior to a performance of the Cirque du Soleil show Wintuk. The task also entailed incorporating the event’s corporate sponsor, Kodak. In the end, the two finalists were judged on five criteria, with Rivers winning Kodak integration, celebrities in attendance, and overall guest experience. Duke won by a 3:1 margin in money raised and also won charity incorporation.

In a recently blog, 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson remarked, “The Celebrity Apprentice is over. What a joke! If Donald Trump was really hiring someone, who do you think he would pick? I think that when Joan Rivers threatened to not come back, Trump assured her she would be the winner.” Time will only tell if the third installment of Celebrity Apprentice will feature a poker player. Duke is one of several to appear on a major reality series. In 2007, Bodog Poker pro Jean-Robert Bellande appeared on CBS’ Survivor: China. Bellande was the eighth person voted out and became the second member of the jury. In Survivor, ousted contestants choose the winner of the $1 million first place prize. Flight attendant Todd Herzog took down Survivor: China, besting Courtney Yates and Amanda Kimmel in a three-way final tribal council.

Duke will re-enter the poker spotlight during the 2009 WSOP, which kicks off next week from the Rio in Las Vegas. A $5,000 buy-in charity poker tournament benefiting Ante Up for Africa will take place on July 2nd in the Amazon Room and be televised by ESPN. Celebrity Apprentice contestants Dennis Rodman and Herschel Walker are both confirmed to appear in the event, which raises money for the victims of the crisis in Darfur. Ante Up for Africa was founded in 2006 by Duke, actor Don Cheadle, and Norman Epstein.

President of Refugees International Reacts to Celebrity Apprentice Contributions

During the course of NBC’s hit reality show Celebrity Apprentice, World Series of Poker bracelet winner Annie Duke played for Refugees International, an organization she works closely with through her own charity, Ante Up for Africa. As a result, Refugees International earned over $700,000 throughout the 11 week season and met its fundraising goal for 2008.

Kenneth Bacon, President of Refugees International, sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss his reaction to show host Donald Trump hiring comedian Joan Rivers and the outpouring of support from the poker community.

Poker News Daily: Thank you for joining us. Share your thoughts on the ending of Celebrity Apprentice.

Bacon: I was certain that Annie was going to win and was shocked when Donald Trump fired her. The series is designed to test contestants for their entrepreneurial energy and effectiveness, which Annie demonstrated throughout the entire series. From my standpoint, both Annie and Refugees International were winners. Sixteen contestants started the second season of Celebrity Apprentice and the $700,000 Annie raised is substantially more than any of the others won for their charities. More importantly, in the final episode, Annie raised $465,725 for Refugees International during her auction, while Joan raised $150,830 for her charity. I was there with Annie throughout the planning for the silent auction and she did a fantastic job. Annie is smart, committed, and passionate about her causes. She is also a great organizer. That was clear throughout the series. We are extremely glad to have her on our team.

PND: Refugees International received over $700,000 from Celebrity Apprentice in an amazing showing. Talk about what that means to the organization.

Bacon: $700,000 is a huge amount of money for Refugees International. With this money, we can continue to save lives by witnessing firsthand the struggles faced by refugees in places like Sudan, Congo, Iraq, Pakistan, and Somalia and find solutions to their plight. Right now, representatives from Refugees International are in Chad getting ready to travel to the border with Darfur, one of the most remote and undeveloped places in the world. Next month, they will come back to Washington and demand more action to protect and assist Darfur’s refugees, who live in sprawling  camps, completely dependent on international agencies for food, water, and shelter. The money that Annie raised makes this work possible.

Let me put the amount in perspective: Over the last three years, Refugees International has spent less than $700,000 on our efforts to help displaced Iraqis, who comprise 20% of Iraq’s population. That money has generated several hundred million dollars of increased assistance for displaced Iraqis, worldwide publicity to their problems, and changes in U.S. and Iraqi policies. That is the leverage of advocacy.

PND: How did your relationship with Annie Duke begin?

Bacon: Annie was drawn to Refugees International because of her interest in Africa, particularly Darfur. In 2006, Annie, Don Cheadle, and Norman Epstein founded Ante Up for Africa, a poker event that has raised about $2 million to help end or alleviate suffering in the Darfur region of Sudan. Ante Up for Africa will work closely with Refugees International during its next event on July 2nd. As Annie wrote in a blog on our site, she chose to work with us because “organizations like Refugees International affect lasting change. Governments can do more to help refugees in Africa and around the world, but that’s not going to happen without pressure.”

PND: When you heard that you had a chance to spread the word about Refugees International on Celebrity Apprentice, what were your thoughts?

Bacon: We were thrilled. Nationwide publicity like this is impossible for us to get with our budget. The amount of time devoted to our organization during the final episode and “The More You Know” ad that Annie filmed were great moments for us. A world without refugees is a more peaceful and prosperous one, something that everyone in the U.S. and beyond benefits from. The more people who know about the plight of refugees, the more they will be motivated to act.

PND: On Celebrity Apprentice, Duke noted that raising $700,000 helped Refugees International reach its 2008 fundraising goal. What is your fundraising goal for 2009?

Bacon: In 2009, we hope to raise $4.6 million to support our lifesaving work. This will support efforts to help the people of Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Burma, Colombia, Somalia, and Sudan and will enable our staff to travel to these regions to understand the needs of the displaced better.

PND: Talk about the outpouring of support from the poker community during Celebrity Apprentice.

Bacon: The poker community has been fantastic. Throughout the Celebrity Apprentice series, Annie stressed how generous professional poker players are and we certainly witnessed that. Over the last few months, we have been privileged to work with Annie and many of her friends who are well-known in the poker world. Two pros - Howard Lederer (Annie’s brother) and Phil Hellmuth - were the biggest contributors at the celebrity silent auction featured in the last episode. Many of Annie’s friends flew across the country that night to help raise money for Refugees International. Many more contributed during the auction of Ivanka Trump’s jewelry in Episode 8, where we received $245,000. In addition, Annie’s friends in the poker community have launched a campaign on Twitter to match the $250,000 prize that Joan Rivers won. We can’t thank them enough.

PND: What outreach activities does Refugees International have planned in the coming year?

Bacon: Refugees International will soon be releasing a short video directed by Matt Dillon calling for more assistance to displaced people in South Sudan, where people are attempting to rebuild their lives after 21 years of civil war. In an area larger than the state of Texas, there are only 10 miles of paved road.  Providing access to clean water, education, and health care there are all major issues. We will also be releasing reports on the needs of displaced people from Darfur, Colombia, Iraq, and Pakistan following trips to these areas.

PND: Piers Morgan and Trace Adkins, the finalists from Celebrity Apprentice Season 1, revealed that their charities have seen long-term growth as a result of the reality series. What residual effect from Celebrity Apprentice do you expect?

Bacon: The number of people who know about Refugees International’s work since Celebrity Apprentice has skyrocketed and people are continuing to send us donations in support of Annie. After the finale, the number of visits to our website tripled. Clearly, more people are learning about the struggles faced by refugees around the world. We hope that this translates into more lifesaving assistance and protection for the nearly 42 million people uprooted by conflict around the world.

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “In the valley of the blind, the one eyed man is king.”

The Celebrity Apprentice is over. What a joke! If Donald Trump was really hiring someone, who do you think he would pick? I think that when Joan Rivers threatened to not come back, Trump assured her she would be the winner. That’s just my opinion, …

CEREUS Network Traffic Rises with Celebrity Apprentice

Among those tuned in to the season finale of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice was Tokwiro COO Paul Leggett. Finalist Annie Duke is a sponsored poker pro of Ultimate Bet, which is owned and operated by Leggett’s company. He watched as comedian Joan Rivers became the Celebrity Apprentice winner and shared his thoughts with Poker News Daily.

Sunday’s boardroom played out in front of a live studio audience in New York City. Show host Donald Trump asked the two finalists from last season’s Celebrity Apprentice, Piers Morgan and Trace Adkins, who should take home the show’s $250,000 check for charity that goes to its winner; both said that Rivers should. NBA star Dennis Rodman and figure skating legend Scott Hamilton agreed, while West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James advised the real estate mogul to select Duke. Leggett told Poker News Daily who should have won Celebrity Apprentice: “I think Annie deserved to win. In my opinion, she was the best competitor with the most business acumen.”

Duke represented the poker community, whose members came out on multiple occasions to help raise money for charity. Perry Friedman paid $10,000 for a wedding dress in one episode. Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel purchased a single cupcake for $5,000, while Ultimate Bet’s Phil Hellmuth bid $25,000 for a round of golf with LPGA pro Natalie Gulbis, a contestant on the show. In a blog by Daniel Negreanu on Full Contact Poker, it was revealed that Howard Lederer, Duke’s brother, contributed $100,000 during the final episode to help his sibling.

On how poker was cast during Celebrity Apprentice, Leggett commented, “Annie showed that poker players are extremely intelligent and competitive. Despite the many negative comments from Joan Rivers, I think that Annie’s success on the show has cast poker in a positive light and shown players as a cohesive and generous group that has a sense of community and a charitable spirit.” A pre-taped segment that aired during the finale included “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and Matt “mattg1983” Graham sending their best wishes to Duke.

As a sponsored pro of Ultimate Bet, Duke serves as one of the main faces of the U.S.-friendly online poker room. As such, Leggett was overjoyed when he learned that the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner would head to New York City to begin filming. Leggett told Poker News Daily, “We were excited about the prospect of seeing Duke compete on Celebrity Apprentice. We saw Annie’s appearance as an opportunity to go beyond our usual reach of the poker world to non-poker playing America for some fantastic brand exposure.”

Leggett revealed that a “a major increase in traffic” has occurred as a result of Duke’s weekly exposure during the two hour NBC reality series. The show began airing on March 1st. According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, between March 13th and March 25th, the CEREUS Network boasted over 4,000 real money ring game players on eight days. Since then, the 4,000 mark has been broken just once (April 13th). CEREUS is currently the seventh largest online poker network worldwide and the third largest that accepts U.S. players behind PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. The new network was formed back in November after the player bases of Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker were merged. On Sunday nights, Ultimate Bet qualified players for an opportunity to win an Aruba Poker Classic prize package. The Main Event of the promotion, which takes place next Monday, is dubbed “Annie Duke’s Apprentice Challenge.”

In an interview with Poker News Daily last week, Hellmuth stated that he would consider becoming a member of the cast of Celebrity Apprentice Season 3 if asked. The series’ third celebrity version and ninth overall installment is slated to hit television airwaves in the beginning of 2010. Leggett gave his two cents on how Hellmuth would fare: “Phil would be great, but very different. He is much more expressive and explosive. The audience couldn’t help but be engaged by his antics and outbursts, which would be inevitable if he competed in Trump’s boardroom. Phil is passionate about everything he does and is just as charity-minded as Duke.  I think he’d go deep if he went on the show.” Hellmuth owns the record for number of WSOP bracelets won at 11 and has made three World Poker Tour final tables.

Duke and Hellmuth collaborate on Fox Sports Net’s “Best Damn Poker Show.” In addition, Duke has appeared on NBC’s “1 vs. 100,” serving in the “mob,” and also on a bevy of televised poker tournaments. Leggett noted that Duke’s vast experience in front of television cameras was beneficial during Celebrity Apprentice: “I think Annie’s experience with the Best Damn Poker Show has helped her in some ways because she was already comfortable in front of a camera. She was also very aware of how perceptions can be created or skewed by the editing process.”

A special thank you from all of us here at Poker News Daily to Tokwiro COO Paul Leggett.

Annie Duke Discusses Outcome of Celebrity Apprentice Season 2

Sunday night marked the conclusion to the second season of NBC’s hit reality show Celebrity Apprentice. Falling to comedy icon Joan Rivers in the finale was none other than Annie Duke, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and one of the top names in the industry. She sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss the result.

Duke raised over $730,000 for Refugees International, her chosen charity, including $460,000 that was generated during the final episode alone. She told Poker News Daily that she was taken aback by the outpouring of support: “I am really happy that I was able to raise so much awareness for Refugees International. They are an extremely small charity and do amazing work. The money that my friends helped raise allowed Refugees International to reach its goal for 2008. In the end, I feel like that made them a winner.” Duke’s Ante Up for Africa, a charity that she founded along with Norman Epstein and actor Don Cheadle, works hand in hand with Refugees International to bring awareness and funding to help the victims of the crisis in Darfur and elsewhere.

The Ultimate Bet pro has gone one step further and is now spearheading an effort to raise an additional $250,000 for Refugees International, the amount she would have earned for winning Celebrity Apprentice. Duke explained, “Everyone who feels like Refugees International should have gotten the $250,000 and poker players who deserve not to be called members of the Mafia should donate anything they can, even if it’s just $1.” Rivers’ charity, God’s Love We Deliver, earned over $500,000 from the Celebrity Apprentice; Refugees International took in $730,000.

The reality series’ finale was promoted as an epic showdown between hated archrivals. Duke and Rivers had battled it out over the course of the 11 week season, with the poker pro holding an edge in total victories (7-6), record as a Project Manager (2-0 to 1-1), money raised, and even defeated Rivers heads-up in a fundraising challenge. This time around, out of five criteria judged during the final task, Rivers won three, propelling her to the win. Duke talked about her mood on Sunday night after show host Donald Trump announced his decision: “Obviously, I was disappointed, but I can’t say the result was unexpected. Whichever way the result went, I played the game well and represented poker players well. I can walk away with my head held high. I was really proud of the way I played the game. I went into Celebrity Apprentice saying that I didn’t want to trash talk anyone, didn’t want to lie to anyone, and didn’t want to be underhanded.”

Celebrity Apprentice Season 1 winner Piers Morgan and runner up Trace Adkins both recommended that Trump hire Rivers. In the end, the cast commended Rivers’ energy at the age of 75. Duke explained, “Trump decided who should be the Celebrity Apprentice on different criteria and I guess I misunderstood what the task was being judged on. It was his decision and he’s the one who gets to decide.”

Several in the poker industry, including Team PokerStars Pro staple Daniel Negreanu, questioned why Duke selected Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick to be on her team with her first pick, rather than wait in a similar strategy to Rivers. Duke explained, “If Melissa was on my team, she probably wouldn’t work. I’d get criticized if I lost because she didn’t work out. I felt like I only had five people to choose from and knew that Brande could bring in $90,000.” At the end of the day, Team Duke raised $460,000 from the silent auction, whereas Team Rivers mustered just $150,000.

Duke claims that she was not told about the process of picking teammates before it occurred, although Melissa Rivers explained to NBC cameras that she had discussed strategy with her mom beforehand. Consequently, the elder Rivers did not select her daughter until her last pick, knowing that Duke would not draft her. The WSOP bracelet winner observed, “It was very interesting that they were bragging about discussing it in advance. We weren’t told, but they were and got to discuss strategy. The fact that they had discussed strategy beforehand shows you why Melissa shouldn’t have been among the people able to be picked. I was disappointed that ‘Team Rivers’ carried over into the finals.” The heated environment led to Duke and Rivers occupying separate rooms to watch the finale.

Others have questioned Duke for supporting a charity that focuses on those in need outside of the United States. Refugees International works with not only those in Africa, but also around the world. In fact, during a short vignette that aired during the Celebrity Apprentice finale, a beneficiary from Iraq was interviewed. Duke responded to critics: “I wish that people would understand that political borders are artificial. It’s upsetting to say that political boundaries are somehow important to the human condition. Americans have no idea what it’s like to have your government try to kill you. We take for granted the protection of our government.”

With Celebrity Apprentice Season 3 slated to air in the beginning of 2010, speculation has already begun as to who will comprise its cast. When asked if Duke would consider a return to next season’s edition, she responded, “I would say that I’m past that.” However, Negreanu expressed interest in a recent Full Contact Poker blog in joining the show, while Phil Hellmuth told Poker News Daily that he would also consider being on it. Duke remarked, “I think it would be great if another poker player went on there. The poker community is so incredibly generous.”

Finally, last Friday night, Duke had dinner with the group of men she became friendly with during the Loews Hotel challenge this season. Appropriately, the group dined at a restaurant called Room Service, which is located on East 21st Street in New York City. Duke recalled, “My boyfriend Joe said to me, ‘That’s really funny. They picked a restaurant called Room Service.’ I didn’t understand, so Joe had to point out to me that it was funny.” Duke excelled in providing room service during the episode, leading to a lifelong friendship.

Rivers, meanwhile, told Poker News Daily that winning the Celebrity Apprentice was “like picking up your poker hand and finding out you’ve got a royal flush — but in my case, its a hot flush.”

A special thank you from all of us here at Poker News Daily to Annie Duke for taking time out of her week during Celebrity Apprentice to break down each episode. We look forward to reporting on her at the 2009 WSOP.

Poker Industry Reacts to 2009 Celebrity Apprentice Winner Joan Rivers

On Sunday night, the finale of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice Season 2 saw comedy icon Joan Rivers defeat World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Annie Duke in a complex task featuring a silent auction prior to a performance of Cirque du Soleil’s Wintuk. On Monday, the poker industry reacted to the decision by real estate mogul and show host Donald Trump.

On the online poker community PocketFives.com, the mood was mixed. Many of poker’s faithful sided with Duke, while others noted that Rivers won the show’s featured task. One PocketFiver noted, “Joan did win the final task. Standard TV entertainment. At least some charities benefit.” In fact, Rivers’ charity (God’s Love We Deliver) and Duke’s charity (Refugees International) earned over $1.2 million combined from the reality series. They will also experience residual exposure from Celebrity Apprentice in the future. On the finale, Celebrity Apprentice Season 1 winner Piers Morgan boasted that his charity, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, was able to construct a $60 million wing at its offices by virtue of the publicity on popular reality program.

Other poker players took exception to the terms used by Rivers and her daughter, Melissa, to describe poker players during the season, which lasted 11 episodes. The Rivers family labeled Duke a “whore,” “pit viper,” and “Nazi” and called poker players “trash.” Duke compared Rivers to a “cancer” in a battle of words. One PocketFives.com poster noted, “Annie deserved to win. And I believe there are a LOT of poker players (who also dabble in the world of business) that may want to b**** slap Joan and Melissa sometime… borderline slanderous statements may come back to bite her.”

Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu weighed in on the outcome of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. In a blog posted on Full Contact Poker, Negreanu noted, “Going into the last task, it was pretty clear that Annie was a huge favorite to win. Of the five criteria, she had one of them in the bag- fund raising.” Negreanu revealed that Duke’s brother, Howard Lederer, donated $100,000 during the silent auction. Ultimate Bet’s Phil Hellmuth told Poker News Daily that he contributed $80,000. In total, the event raised $460,000, which was triple the take of Rivers’ gala. Negreanu questioned Duke selecting ally and Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick with her first pick: “She could have picked Brande last, as Joan did. I was surprised to see this obvious mistake. Seriously, it was a major tactical error. Herschel ended up being a rock star on the challenge.” The elder Rivers selected her daughter with her third and final pick, knowing that Duke would not draft Melissa Rivers to her team.

In the final boardroom, which played out in front of a live studio audience in New York City, the two finalists from Season 1, Morgan and country music star Trace Adkins, were asked for their opinion on who should be the next Celebrity Apprentice. Both favored Rivers, with Morgan claiming that she deserved to win after taking down three of the five criteria on the final task. Adkins’ answer was more cryptic; the singer merely said that Rivers “had that charitable thing.” Negreanu hypothesized, “His vote, and this is all speculation, I think had a little bit to do with the charity chosen. That’s just a total guess on my part, but I think with him being a full-blooded American, he preferred a charity that would benefit people in the U.S.” Duke was playing for Refugees International, an organization that she works closely with as part of Ante Up for Africa.

World Series of Poker (WSOP) Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack extended his congratulations to Duke even though she did not win the reality program’s second celebrity installment. In his Twitter feed, Pollack commented, “Proud of [Duke] 4 an incredible season on C.A. + representing the poker community w/smarts, style + grace! U r our champion + hero!”

The Celebrity Apprentice will return in early 2010 for Season 3, the ninth installment of the show overall.

Joan Rivers Defeats Annie Duke in Celebrity Apprentice Finals

The finale of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice wrapped up on Sunday night with comedian Joan Rivers besting poker pro Annie Duke. Rivers’ charity, God’s Love We Deliver, will receive $250,000 plus money raised earlier in the season.

The setting of the live three hour Celebrity Apprentice finale was the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The competition began on March 1st with 16 contestants, eight men and eight women. Ten weeks later, Rivers emerged as its champion. After West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James and Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick were fired last week, Rivers and Duke returned to their suite in Trump Towers. The duo was anything but pleasant to each other, with Rivers summing the mood up, “I think you’re really smart. I think you’re going to be fabulous competition, but we don’t have to be best friends.”

Six former contestants returned to help Duke and Rivers in their final task. A coin flip was used to determine who would receive the first pick. Duke chose heads, won, and selected Roderick, Rivers selected Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker, Duke picked NBA legend Dennis Rodman, Rivers selected country music star Clint Black, Duke chose comedian Tom Green, and Rivers selected her daughter, Melissa, with the final pick. The younger Rivers told her mother not to select her early on since previously calling Duke a “whore pit viper” would mean the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner would likely not pick her.

The task was to host a VIP party and silent auction featuring celebrity experiences. Teams were asked to incorporate a Limited Edition Celebrity Apprentice Kodak digital picture frame and also sell tickets to the Cirque du Soleil show Wintuk. Duke and Rivers would be judged on five criteria – the amount of money raised, level of Kodak product integration, level of charity integration, the celebrities in attendance, and the overall guest experience. Rivers dubbed the battle “good versus evil” and Duke made it a goal to raise $500,000. The Ultimate Bet pro commented, “I want to beat Joan Rivers with an exclamation point. Unless she raises $700,000, I know I’m going to win.”

After both teams had met with Kodak executives, Duke immediately put her cell phone to work, calling fellow poker pro Perry Friedman, who had already appeared on two episodes during the second season of Celebrity Apprentice. Duke commented, “The fact that Joan Rivers called all poker players ‘white trash’ helps me because I can call up my poker player friends and say, ‘I’m playing against Joan Rivers and guess what she said about you?’” Friedman offered to donate $20,000 to the cause.

Rivers also got on the horn, telling one prospective donor, “I’m doing the Celebrity Apprentice and it’s between me and a girl who’s the biggest piece of shit in the world.” At the same time, she quickly grew tired of her assigned event planner, as a lack of vision allegedly led to the event planning company pulling out of the Celebrity Apprentice finale. Meanwhile, Duke, who was seeking to purchase ice sculptures, visited the event planning offices and was promptly shown the exit. She told NBC cameras, “The other team didn’t like them and so the event company has quit. This is fucked up.” The incident occurred after 5:00pm on a Friday, leaving both Rivers and Duke scrambling to organize the massive fundraiser the next day.

Duke lashed because of her predicament, commenting, “Now I’m freaking out because I have a raw space. I can’t believe that because Joan Rivers doesn’t know how to treat another human being, I became collateral damage.” The live studio audience in attendance in New York cheered loudly at the comment. Duke then asserted, “It was war before this happened, but now I am going to crush her like nothing you’ve ever seen.” The WSOP veteran continued to vent her frustration, telling one phone call recipient, “This woman needs to die,” a comment that was later frowned upon by show host Donald Trump during the live boardroom.

Rivers tackled the dilemma of not having an event planning company onboard by turning to her charity for help. The President, CEO, and a bevy of volunteers from God’s Love We Deliver came to the rescue. Duke received a breakthrough of her own when she made contact with an event planner that owned a warehouse full of supplies. She explained, “The number of people who have dropped their lives to come out for me is amazing.”

The morning of the event, Duke left Trump International Hotel and Tower with Green. Duke filled the comedian in on the Celebrity Apprentice gossip since Green was fired in Week 3: “I have been maligned and my character has been assassinated every week. She started attacking me in the most personal way.” Green retorted, “That’s not personal; it’s just a joke.” At the venue, Rivers’ setup involved each guest walking through an oversized Kodak picture frame to bid on auction items such as an Amsale dress, a game-worn Brett Favre jersey, and a necklace worn by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Rodman donned his signature drag queen outfit and took pictures with those walking the red carpet at Duke’s event, who included her brother Howard Lederer, Ultimate Bet Star Player “Hollywood” Dave Stann, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch, boxers Bernard Hopkins and Joe Frazier, and figure skating champion Oksana Baiul. Characters from Wintuk also turned out, interacting with guests and even juggling with Duke.

Hellmuth bid on a round of golf with Natalie Gulbis, a former contestant on Celebrity Apprentice who was one of three candidates not to appear at the finale (Khloe Kardashian and Tionne Watkins were the others). He commented, “$25,000 for a round of golf with Natalie? That should get it done.” Rivers commented on those in attendance at Duke’s gala: “Annie has people that have cash stuck in their shoes. I don’t have those people, so if we’re going to win, we’re going to win on all of the other criteria.” Rivers’ event featured “Desperate Housewives” star Kyle MacLachlan, comedian Kathy Griffin, “American Idol” contestant Constantine Maroulis, and the cast of the Broadway hit “Chicago.”

The final boardroom began with Duke defending poker as a game of skill separate from gambling. She explained to Trump, “Poker is a skill game, so you can think of [my friends] as investors.” Trump then inquired, “Poker is also a gamble?” Duke responded, “Less than the stock market.” Referring to Duke, Rivers chimed in, “This is so disgusting. This is everything I did not believe in for 75 years. I’ve lived my life with honor.” She then insinuated that poker players are members of organized crime, noting, “I was told your money is all Mafia money.”

In the end, Rivers’ team raised $150,830 for her charity. Duke tripled that total, recording $465,725. Kodak executives also gave the nod to Duke on charity integration using digital picture frames as well as in-party signage. The other three categories – celebrities in attendance, Kodak integration, and overall guest experience – all were won by Rivers, giving the longtime comedy staple a 3-2 edge. Nevertheless, Duke remained optimistic. The Poker News Daily columnist remarked, “I’m really happy. I came away with really great friends. Charity and friends: That’s what makes the world go round.”

Trump then brought in the winner and runner up of Celebrity Apprentice Season 1, Piers Morgan and Trace Adkins (respectively); both said they would hire Rivers. Rodman and figure skating legend Scott Hamilton, who was fired in Week 2, agreed. Contrastingly, James suggested that Trump hire Duke. Rivers argued that she should be the Celebrity Apprentice because she represents “winning and business in the new way that this country is taking on.” Duke responded, “If it’s about raising money, I did better. If it’s about winning more challenges, I did better.” Donald Trump, Jr. gave his two cents: “As a business person, I really respect that Annie lives and breathes game theory: No emotion; she just makes decisions.”

In the end, however, Rivers was crowned the Celebrity Apprentice for Season 2. The two adversaries embraced after Trump announced his decision. Duke’s charity, Refugees International, received over $700,000 from the NBC reality show, while Rivers’ charity gained over $500,000. Celebrity Apprentice will return in one year for Season 3, its ninth overall.

Celebrity Apprentice to Return for Season 3

On Sunday, World Series of Poker bracelet winner Annie Duke will square off against talk show host Joan Rivers in the finale of Season 2 of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. According to NBC Universal, the popular reality series has been renewed for Season 3.

The final episode of Season 2, which airs on Sunday night at 8:00pm ET and runs for three hours, will feature Duke and Rivers hosting VIP parties and private auctions prior to a New York City production of the Cirque du Soleil show Wintuk. The current installment of the reality franchise began back on March 1st and occupied a two hour time slot on Sunday nights. Over the course of the 10 weeks since then, the show was truncated to an hour just once, making room for the extended premiere of NBC’s new drama Southland, which was created by the personalities behind E.R.

Celebrity Apprentice Season 3 will mark the ninth overall edition of the show. The first six seasons, one of which was set in Los Angeles, ended with candidates being hired to manage projects for real estate mogul Donald Trump. Bill Rancic won the show’s original installment, which premiered back in 2004. He was hired to develop Trump Tower Chicago, which makes its home on the pristine Chicago River in the city’s bustling downtown. Kelly Perdew was the second apprentice hired by Trump. Perdew directed development of Trump Place in New York City. Kendra Todd became the first female apprentice during Season 3 and assisted with the construction of a mansion in Palm Beach, California. Randal Pinkett won Apprentice’s fourth installment and worked with Trump Entertainment, while Sean Yazbeck assisted in the building of Trump Soho after winning Season 5. The final Apprentice candidate hired was Stefanie Schaeffer.

During each episode, teams are charged with a task that typically centers on a major corporate sponsor. Companies that have had their products touted during the second season of Celebrity Apprentice include Zappos.com, ACN, Loews Hotels, All detergent, Lifelock, Schwan’s, and Right Guard deodorant. Eight men and eight women were cast for the show’s second season, its eighth overall.

Last time out, America’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan survived an onslaught of personal attacks by fellow contestant Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth to defeat country music star Trace Adkins in the finals of Celebrity Apprentice Season 1. Morgan has appeared on several episodes during the current Celebrity Apprentice and most recently advised Trump who the final two contestants should be. As a result, West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James and Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick were fired during last week’s show, setting up the showdown between Duke and Rivers on Sunday. Other celebrities who competed last season included supermodel Carol Alt, boxer Lennox Lewis, Mixed Martial Arts fighter Tito Ortiz, “Sopranos” star Vincent Pastore, and actor Stephen Baldwin. The latter two appeared during the Loews challenge this year.

According to a press release by NBC Universal announcing the return of Celebrity Apprentice for its third season, the current installment is averaging a 3.5 rating and a 9 share among adults 18-49. Overall, it is attracting 8.6 million viewers. Trump commented about his Apprentice franchise, “Its Emmy nominations and great success have translated into a wonderful experience. Working with Mark Burnett has been terrific and I am greatly honored that NBC has renewed us for yet another season, our ninth.” During the half-hour time block prior to the 11:00pm ET local news, NBC claims that Celebrity Apprentice has bested regular competition for six straight weeks among adults 25-54.

The Celebrity Apprentice’s producer, Mark Burnett, is also behind such reality hits as CBS’ Survivor and Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? Celebrity Apprentice Season 3 will air in Spring of 2010.

Rivers, Duke Make Final Push for Celebrity Apprentice Finale

We’re in the home stretch to the finale of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. On Sunday night at 8:00pm ET, World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Annie Duke will square off against comedian Joan Rivers in what promises to be a high-octane three hour conclusion.

Here’s what we know about the final episode of Celebrity Apprentice Season 2: Duke and Rivers will battle it out in a complex task that incorporates fundraising, leadership ability, and pure determination. Yahoo Television gives the following description of the finale, revealing its central task: “In the season finale, former celebrity contestants return to help the two finalists throw a pre-theater VIP bash preceding a performance of the Cirque du Soleil show Wintuk. The party also includes a silent auction.” A portion of the finale will play out in front of a live studio audience in New York City.

In a preview for the show that aired at the end of last week’s episode, it appears that Duke leads a team that includes comedian Tom Green, NBA star Dennis Rodman, and Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick, who has been one of her strongest allies throughout the show. Rivers will lead three celebrities of her own: country music star Clint Black, daughter and producer Melissa Rivers, and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker. No indication of how the teams were selected was given. Rodman was fired amid a boardroom intervention earlier this season after repeated drinking led fellow Celebrity Apprentice contestant Jesse James to conclude that he had a real-life problem.

On Friday, Duke and Rivers will battle over the television airwaves. Duke is slated to appear on Access Hollywood, a syndicated celebrity news program. The show airs throughout the United States; check your local listings for more information. A press release distributed by Ultimate Bet on Thursday announcing Duke’s appearance on the popular entertainment program states, “True to her nature at the tournament tables, the world poker champion has remained calm while enduring an onslaught of personal attacks from Joan Rivers throughout the reality series.” Duke has been compared to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini during Celebrity Apprentice. Rivers also labeled her a Nazi.

Meanwhile, Duke’s adversary will be making her rounds. Rivers will appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Friday. The show airs following The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC. Fallon took over hosting duties from Conan O’Brien in March. O’Brien, in turn, will replace Jay Leno next month, as Leno takes on a weekday program on NBC airing at 10:00pm ET. Rivers revealed to Poker News Daily that she is currently in London and will return to New York on Friday for Fallon’s show. On Saturday, she will be attending the theater in the Big Apple with her grandson and will then perform in New Jersey. Duke told Poker News Daily that she is having dinner with the group of men she befriended during the Loews Hotel challenge earlier this season on Friday night.

It was also revealed this week that Duke’s fellow pro at Ultimate Bet, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, will appear on the Celebrity Apprentice season finale, although his role is not yet known. Hellmuth nearly turned up during a challenge earlier this season in which contestants were asked to auction off jewelry from Ivanka Trump’s line for charity. Professional golfer Natalie Gulbis, who was a member of Duke’s opposition, called up Hellmuth and asked him to bid against Duke’s team. However, the Ultimate Bet pro declined.

The second season of Celebrity Apprentice began airing on March 1st with 16 contestants. The reality series is actually in its eighth season overall and is hosted by real estate mogul Donald Trump. Over time, it even produced a spin-off, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. Previous winners of Trump’s Apprentice series include Bill Rancic, Kelly Perdew, Kendra Todd, Randal Pinkett, Sean Yazbeck, Stefanie Schaeffer, and Celebrity Apprentice Season 1 winner Piers Morgan.

Joan Rivers Talks to PND About Annie Duke and Celebrity Apprentice

This weekend, comedian Joan Rivers will square off against archrival Annie Duke in the finale of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. The three hour episode airs at 8:00pm ET. Rivers sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss her mindset headed into the finals.

Poker News Daily: Why did you sign up for Celebrity Apprentice? What was appealing about the show?

Rivers: The fact that Melissa and I could have five weeks together was very appealing. The challenges of the show were also appealing. I love a challenge. Celebrity Apprentice has been very good for my charity, God’s Love We Deliver. It’s a local charity for me and I’m very involved with them. We’ve raised over $125,000 for them.

PND: Had you watched previous seasons of the show?

Rivers: I have never seen it before. I knew it was about raising money for charity, but I thought it was actually doing tasks to help your charity out, not pulling out a list of contacts and making calls. I got my Rolodex real fast.

PND: You’ve had an ongoing clash with poker player Annie Duke. In your opinion, when did the feud start and why?

Rivers: It started from the very beginning. Annie is a very good poker player obviously, but plays people like poker. Poker should be kept at the poker table. God knows I love poker. If you look at that painting with the dogs playing poker, I’m the fifth one on the right. Suddenly, it evolved into “Joan doesn’t like poker players.” I started in Las Vegas.

My downstairs neighbor plays slots, so it’d be like me saying, “I hate slots.” It got out of hand and became ridiculous. My father worked his way through medical school playing poker. What I do like about poker players is that they keep the masseuses up all night in Las Vegas. No one uses masseuses at night except for poker players and entertainers.

PND: You mentioned to Piers Morgan on last week’s episode that your biggest problem with Duke is that she is manipulative. Can you explain how she’s manipulative?

Rivers: It’s not a “fun” manipulative, if you know what I mean. We all know how to play each other. We’re all good business people. You don’t invite yourself out to dinner with me and then go tell Brande that I asked you, but I didn’t ask her.

PND: What was your own strategy coming into the game?

Rivers: I used the same strategy that I have used throughout my life and it’s been a good one: Put blinders on and just go forward. Don’t look to your left and don’t look to your right; just concentrate on where you’re going and go the extra mile. I am such a hard worker. I am talking to you right now and have three meetings in the next four hours. Then, I get on a plane to London, have two meetings there, and will be back on Friday to appear on Jimmy Fallon’s show. On Saturday afternoon, I’m taking my grandson to the theater and then performing that night in New Jersey. On Sunday, I have the Celebrity Apprentice finale.

PND: You and show host Donald Trump seem to have a considerable amount of history together. Can you talk about your relationship with Trump prior to the show?

Rivers: I’ve seen him around and was always friendly with his ex-sister-in-law and his sister. I have great respect for Donald. He’s an extremely smart man. Don’t ever be fooled by Donald. He didn’t get to where he is by luck.

PND: Talk about your relationship with your daughter, Melissa Rivers, on the show. Is that indicative of your relationship away from Celebrity Apprentice?

Rivers: Probably. I’m a very family-oriented person. Business is business; work is work. When every chip is down, my family is always first. That’s the way we were brought up.

PND: Talk about your reaction to Melissa’s firing.

Rivers: If Melissa had been fired for something she did wrong or a lack of work, then that’s fine. However, she was fired for duplicity, sleaziness, and high school pettiness. Annie found the stupid blonde and knew damn well that she had to get rid of her competition. When we were all girlfriends in the beginning of the show, Annie went down the line saying things like, “Claudia Jordan is lazy” and “Brande Roderick is stupid.” She said that Melissa and I were her biggest competition. Annie is a smart person, but at some point, you have to push yourself away from the poker table.

PND: Heading into the final episode, what will it take for Joan Rivers to win?

Rivers: If winning means money, I don’t win, but that’s what brought this country to its knees. Look at the Bernard Madoffs and the AIGs: If it’s only about money, then I don’t want to win. If it’s about playing a great game, I never stopped and I won a lot. I brought in a lot of money, but that wasn’t all I did.

PND: If Celebrity Apprentice producers called you to compete on a future season, would we see you on air?

Rivers: In a second. Give me a task. Say that I have 24 hours to build the Brooklyn Bridge and I’ll do it. Give me 24 hours to play poker and get into a tournament and I’ll do it. I love challenges.

PND: Where does your love for challenges stem from?

Rivers: I think my career has been a series of challenges. I’ve written books, produced plays, and have two new series coming out. It’s always something new. When you’re a child, you say, “I want to do that.” I’m still like a little kid in that respect. I’m the Benjamin Button of comedy.

Annie Duke Reveals Strategy for Celebrity Apprentice Finale Against Joan Rivers

Poker News Daily: Congratulations on making the finals of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. In your opinion, how do you measure up against Joan Rivers?

Duke: Joan Rivers is Joan Rivers and that’s a big battle for me. It’s one of the reasons she’s in the finals. If you look at her performance, she only won half of the challenges she was involved in and lost against me as Project Manager. She raised very little money. She does things that wouldn’t be allowed in most workplaces. She also committed the cardinal sin, which was quitting. However, I understand that this is not a real workplace; it’s a television show and Joan is Joan.

PND: How exciting is it to be in the final two heading into this week’s live three hour Celebrity Apprentice season finale?

Duke: I’m very excited. I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished, win or lose. No matter what happens, I’ve raised a ton of money for charity. That’s what my goal was coming into the show, so I’m really happy. I’m very happy to fight for the win against Joan and I don’t think I’m a lay-up in any way, shape, or form. If I were judging the show, of course, I’d pick me.

PND: The stats are pretty stacked in your favor: You’re 2-0 as Project Manager, have never been selected to come back into the boardroom as part of a losing effort, and raised nearly one-third of the money on the show.

Duke: If the show is about fundraising for charity, I win. I’ve raised $200,000 and she’s raised $30,000. If the show is about being effective in challenges, I win. If it’s about being an effective leader and an effective Project Manager, I win. I won against her head to head and won once by writing a jingle against Clint Black. When you look at the categories you’d judge a win on, I have her crushed.

Her argument appears to be that I’m a bad person. Me being a bad person isn’t an argument for her winning. What’s the evidence of me being a bad person anyway? I never threw Brande Roderick under the bus. The only person who spewed words like “white trash” and “Hitler” was her. The only person who talked crap behind people’s backs was her. One side of her mouth accuses me of being self-centered, while the other side throws a tantrum and talks about being the number one icon in the history of comedy.

Piers Morgan pointed that out really well. He is very much of my mindset, which is that you can’t say it’s okay because Joan was defending her daughter, Melissa Rivers. It’s never okay to call someone Hitler. They knew what they signed up for. When you’re faced with the reality of someone being fired, you don’t have the right to throw a tantrum. Show me a workplace where people call each other “white trash” or “Hitler.” In a real workplace, that language would not be acceptable.

PND: Tell us about the process of creating a jingle for Chicken of the Sea tuna against Grammy Award winning country artist Clint Black.

Duke: Brande and I were freaking out in the morning. We felt, at that moment, that the game was rigged. We felt like the world was against us and for Joan Rivers. Here we were in a situation where we had to write a song against Clint Black, so we decided to just have fun with it. I was very sure that we were going to lose and I was going to be fired. When we got to the war room, we started researching jingle lyrics and that’s when everything became okay. It was a branding challenge, not a song writing challenge. Jingles aren’t rocket science. This isn’t Shakespeare. This isn’t Grammy Award winning songwriting. I was in a jingle writing competition. After I closed my computer, it took me 10 minutes to write the jingle. There is no question that Clint’s song was better. If we were writing a song, he’d beat me pretty badly.

When we went into boardroom, I didn’t care. I felt like I had been given such an impossible task and that Brande and I had produced something far beyond what we were capable of. When we were sitting there, Don Jr. read off the positives of our product and his only negative was that we didn’t mention that Chicken of the Sea came in pouches. That’s when I knew we had won.

PND: Many members of the poker playing community will be tuned into NBC this Sunday at 8:00pm ET for the three hour live finale. What can we expect?

Duke: I’m going to have to fight for myself. My main focus will not just be about what I brought to challenges in terms of my ability to execute, win, and fundraise. I’m also going to talk about the fact that Joan quit and spewed epithets that, on previous Apprentice seasons, weren’t considered okay. There is some big drama in this finale. It’s pretty amazing.

In last week’s boardroom, I said that I respect Joan and I stick by that. By this time in the game, I figured out, in my opinion, that Joan was attacking me because she saw I was a strong player. Maybe she manages to get me fired, but Donald Trump loves a fight. Given that Joan wasn’t raising money and her ideas weren’t getting executed during challenges, attacking me brings her along in the game. It’s like a freeroll for her: Either I get fired or it’s a fight to the end of the season. Brande and I talked about how she deserved to be in the final two. Right before the final boardroom, I looked at her and said that she had no shot because Joan knew what she was doing. I respect Joan’s ability to think of that strategy.

PND: What will the determining factor in Donald Trump’s mind?

Duke: A lot of it for me depends on how much people believe what Joan says. What they see on television is someone who is confident, but can rub people the wrong way. What they didn’t see was someone who lied. What they didn’t see was someone who backstabbed. You have to believe that I called Brande an idiot for any of Joan’s behavior to make sense. I didn’t stab anyone in the back.

PND: Piers Morgan told Donald Trump that you have the ability to let personal attacks roll right off your back. Is that true?

Duke: I left that show feeling like I had posttraumatic stress disorder. If you talk to my close friends, they’ll tell you how deeply affected I was by what Joan was saying. You can’t be called those things and not be affected by them. In poker, you’re not supposed to scream and cry if you get sucked out on (unless you’re Phil Hellmuth), so I’ve learned to keep my composure in the face of adversity. It also comes from being a mom. My kids would come home in tears because someone said something nasty to them. What I say is, “If you had a really important thing you wanted to ask about, would you ask that person their opinion?” Would I ask Joan Rivers for advice? No, I don’t value her opinion. How could her opinion of me have any sway over me?

When people say hurtful things, they’re looking for a reaction. They get off on it otherwise they wouldn’t say it. It makes them feel powerful. Why would I react? It’s my choice to give them that power. By not responding to her, it drove her batty. Joan couldn’t stand that she wasn’t getting a reaction out of me. She kept escalating the level of attacks trying to get me to come back at her. My children and I talk about this when we watch Celebrity Apprentice and it’s the big lesson I give them: I’m asking them to do as I do.

PND: Readers of Poker News Daily called you out for comparing Joan Rivers to a cancer. Can you comment on it?

Duke: She was a negative force in the room when we got down to the final four. The health of the room was dropping. Then, Joan left and Brande, Jesse James, and I finally became excited that we had made the final four. It was an appropriate analogy. It’s not disrespectful to people with cancer. I don’t regret that comment and consider it an accurate representation of what happened.

Annie Duke Versus Joan Rivers in Final Two of Celebrity Apprentice

Next Sunday is shaping up to be a showdown of biblical proportions, as World Series of Poker bracelet winner Annie Duke squares off against archrival Joan Rivers in the finale of NBC’s second season of Celebrity Apprentice. The three hour live final episode airs at 8:00pm ET. Note that this article contains language that is not appropriate for all audiences.

Last week, producer Melissa Rivers and her mother, Joan Rivers, lashed out at Duke and Roderick. The younger Rivers was ousted at the end of last week’s episode with her mother in tow, leaving the viewing audience to wonder whether the 75 year-old former talk show host would return to the NBC reality series. However, Joan Rivers arrived shortly after the presentation of this week’s task began. Duke commented, “I wasn’t surprised Joan came back. Joan is completely full of shit in everything she does. There’s a reason she got fired by the TV Guide Channel: She’s a bitch.”

This week’s task challenged the teams to create a jingle and 30 second commercial for Chicken of the Sea, one of the world’s leading brands of tuna. Team Athena, which consisted of Duke and Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick, found itself up against Grammy Award winning musician Clint Black. Teams had to create their own lyrics and devise a new tune, but were also instructed to incorporate phrases from the original jingle. Roderick was Project Manager of last week’s task, forcing Duke to assume the leadership position this week despite the circumstances. Appropriately, Black, the winning Project Manager last week, was chosen to reprise his role once again.

Duke and Roderick immediately began researching the brand and crafting lyrics, although the two were undermanned in terms of musical talent and number of team members. Duke commented, “Neither Brande nor I is musically-inclined in any way, shape, or form.” She continued, “If my musical ability were described as ‘slim,’ Brande’s would be described as ‘none.’” Black brought his guitar into the team’s recording studio and compiled the jingle, while Rivers and West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James created the 30 second ad spot. Black elected to start several lines of the jingle with the word “naturally” to match what he thought Chicken of the Sea executives wanted.

Rivers questioned whether her team’s tune should be peppier and wanted to add a “cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, splash” punch line at the end. However, Black felt the addition would take away from the jingle, noting, “It was a risk we didn’t need to take.” Show host Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, summed up the end result of the task: “This is going to come down to whether Clint listened to the executives.” Meanwhile, Duke and Roderick created the 30 second ad spot before moving onto the jingle. The radio spot surrounded two mothers at a playground talking about the convenience of Chicken of the Sea.

Despite overwhelming odds against them, Duke and Roderick produced a catchy, modern jingle. The Ultimate Bet pro commented, “As I started listening to it, I was like, ‘This is catchy,’ but then I saw the [reactions of] other people in the room.” She later told NBC cameras, “If we win, that will be one of the high points of my life.” Rivers, meanwhile, was adamant about adding her punch line, but Black preferred her to walk across the stage holding a sign identifying the song during the team’s presentation. Rivers candidly explained, “You’re just allowed to walk across, but you’re not allowed to say anything. I am now doing it the way Helen Keller would have done it.”

Duke gave the presentation on behalf of her team and noted that a female voiced the song because 80% of Chicken of the Sea’s customers are of that gender. Whatever the outcome, the popular poker player was content. She explained, “If we lose and we have to go into the boardroom, it takes the edge off because I can walk away from this competition knowing that I did something incredible.” In the end, Black’s country background proved to be his downfall, as Chicken of the Sea executives felt that the delivery was “limited” in its nationwide reach. Duke exclaimed, “I just beat Clint Black in a songwriting contest!” Duke elevated her record to 2-0 as Project Manager (she also resoundingly defeated Rivers on a fundraising task two weeks ago), has never been brought into the boardroom as part of a losing effort, and was responsible for 30% of the money raised over the course of the show. Black took the fall for his team and was fired.

The four remaining contestants were immediately called back into the boardroom and it was revealed that Celebrity Apprentice Season 1 winner Piers Morgan would interview them. In the end, two more would be fired, setting up next week’s finale. Roderick was the first to be interviewed. Morgan questioned her intelligence and told Trump, “I don’t think she’s smart enough. I think it would demean your show because I don’t think she’s up to that.”

Rivers quelled Morgan’s doubts about her stamina, pointing out that she has two published books and a Broadway play. Rivers then added that she defended her daughter because “We’re a very small family. We were all killed by the Nazis, which tells you what I think about Annie.” Morgan then asked what her central issue with Duke is. Rivers responded, “My main problem with Annie is that she’s very manipulative. She is a poker player. That’s all she is. She is a mean, vicious, divide-and-conquer person.” Morgan told Trump that he questioned Rivers’ relationship with her daughter, but liked her energy of the 75 year-old.

Morgan labeled Duke “the smartest contestant by quite a long way.” He added, “You can say anything you’d like. She’s got the money at the end of the rainbow and doesn’t care what you say about her.” Morgan questioned James’ lack of fundraising prowess as well as being withdrawn throughout the show. Married to actress Sandra Bullock, James has kept his personal life out of the Celebrity Apprentice in stark contrast to other contestants. In the boardroom, Duke explained to Trump why she deserved to be in the final two: “I never lost as Project Manager. I think my last win was against what looked like insurmountable odds. I raised 30% of the money on a 16 man show. When my team lost, no one had a whisper of thought about bringing me into the boardroom.”

Trump questioned whether Roderick had reached the final four by virtue of riding Duke’s coattails. Duke gave her two cents: “She’s perfectly capable on her own. I was instrumental in the wins of my team.” However, Roderick was the first contestant fired from the boardroom, leaving Duke, James, and Rivers. Trump then turned his attention to James, questioning why he would save significant donors for the later stages of the show with no guarantee that they would ever be used. The lack of an effusive personality and being a poor fundraiser resulted in James being fired, setting up a showdown next Sunday in the Celebrity Apprentice Season 2 finale pitting Annie Duke against Joan Rivers.

The three hour live event kicks off at 8:00pm ET on NBC. Rivers admitted, “I am very unhappy at who I’m playing against because Annie is such a player. Her life is about playing. I will do what I have always done in the past: Put on blinders and do everything I can to win.” Duke countered, “I don’t think Joan Rivers is a nice person. I don’t think you can be a nice person and say the things she has about me and my friends. I’m now taking this personally.”

Annie Duke Speaks on Melissa Rivers and Joan Rivers Celebrity Apprentice Debacle

Poker News Daily: Does being called a whore and a pit viper bother you?

Duke: I’ve watched all of these shows. I can see where people might develop a bad opinion of me. I understand that people think I called Brande Roderick an idiot, but I didn’t. If you believe that, then I look like an asshole. I understand that people think I’m too aggressive or too in your face. This is the first time I watched the show and asked myself how someone could possibly have had a bad opinion of me. It took 10 challenges for me to feel that way.

PND: Melissa Rivers went on a tirade of epic proportions at the end of the episode. Take us through it.

Duke: She felt like I was throwing her under the bus. However, she threw herself under the bus so beautifully that I didn’t have to say a word. If people are wondering why I had so much to do during the task, but wasn’t under attack in the boardroom, it was because Right Guard said they liked the concept, but not the photography and layout. Those were the only two things I didn’t do. Melissa was in charge of the photography, so it was either Melissa or Brande at fault.

I was clear with Brande that I had a lot of responsibilities. I made it clear to Jim Cramer that I didn’t ask for that much responsibility. Melissa's main idea for the magazine was that we should profile David Lee’s first date. It’s for SI! No one wants to see that. She’s been deeply personal in the game and has been obnoxious to panel members in the boardroom. She’s jumped across the aisle and thrown her own team under the bus. Melissa was having this weird paranoid fantasy and kept trying to get rid of me. There was nothing I needed to do to push her over the edge. I’m not saying that if I had to, I wouldn’t have tried to set her up, but I didn’t. To win the game, you have to make sure that everyone else gets fired.

PND: Was the barrage of anti-Semitic comments from Joan Rivers troublesome?

Duke: There are things you can trivialize and things you can’t. We’re talking about the slaughter of millions of people based on their race and religion. We saw that happen in Rwanda and Kosovo too. This is a problem that everyone should be sensitive to and it's still happening today. It shouldn’t be a Jewish thing or a Nazi thing; it should be a human thing. From the very beginning with the “Sophie’s Choice” comment to the Nazi comment at the end of the show, Joan has trivialized the events.

What did I do to deserve that kind of commentary besides not liking her daughter? Donald Trump is still trying to figure that out too. I have a very critical eye of myself. I have never lied and never made any personal attacks. I defended poker players last night. I didn’t lie to anyone. I didn’t cheat. I didn’t conspire. I didn’t bring it down to a personal level.

PND: In the boardroom, you said that Brande was your stronger competition. Is that really the case?

Duke: Both Rivers make the assumption that I’m trying to get rid of Melissa because she is the stronger competition. Let me explain it. We know our team is going to lose, which will leave us with a two people, so we are more likely to lose again. Brande was just Project Manager, so if I’m on a two-man team with Brande, I’ll be Project Manager. Who is more likely to get fired if you lose? The Project Manager! I don’t have a very strong case against Brande and I can’t use the money raising argument. I’m going to be Project Manager, which is bad for me, and Brande is much more likable than I am, which is also bad for me.

Let’s say that I’m on a two-man team with Melissa. She has lost as Project Manager and wants to win, so she will be Project Manager again. She’s weak at fundraising and she’s also less likable. I’d be heads-up against Melissa and she’d be drawing dead. By that time in the game with all of the personal attacks, I incorporated a life equity decision. When I walk away from the show, I need to have my soul intact. There was no question that Brande deserved to be there more. I didn’t want to reward Melissa’s crap.

PND: Talk about Joan Rivers rushing off the show. Do you think she will be back next week?

Duke: At the time, I didn’t think about whether she was coming back as opposed to her decision to leave in the first place. It feels like it’s a lose-lose. Let’s say that she threatens to quit, walks off, and never comes back. It’s bad for Joan because it shows her to be unprofessional and it’s bad for Melissa because she should be able to fight her own battles. Let’s say Joan walks off, but returns. Now, she looks like she was being a drama queen. We all know Trump’s mantra is that you don’t quit. Tionne Watkins got fired this season for volunteering to support her Project Manager in the boardroom.

PND: Amid the end of show tirade, Joan made the comment that Celebrity Apprentice wasn’t about charity, when in fact that was the main reason you signed up for it. She then insinuated that poker players were members of the mob and were beyond white trash. Were you proud of how you handled the situation?

Duke: I was proud of myself. All I did was defend poker players. They came out and helped raise money, asking nothing in return. Poker players believe in charity. Where were Joan’s friends? She was disparaging my friends and my community, but where was her community in all of it? She had raised somewhere between $25,000 and $40,000. Poker players came out and raised $200,000 for charity. I’m not sure that I was angry at anything she said before that moment. I signed up for the show, signed a release, and knew that I might have to defend myself against attacks like that. The community, however, doesn’t deserve scandalous attacks like the one Joan made.

Joan Rivers Calls Poker Players Trash, Annie Duke a Nazi on Celebrity Apprentice

The confrontation between Joan Rivers and Annie Duke was taken to a new level on this week’s episode of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. Joan’s daughter, Melissa Rivers, took the fall as a result of her team’s loss, leading the elder Rivers to label all poker players “trash” and call Duke a Nazi in a profanity-laced tirade. Note that this article contains language that is not suitable for all audiences.

Previous episodes have been highlighted by Joan Rivers comparing Duke to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. This week’s task challenged the teams to create a four-page spread in Sports Illustrated (SI) for Right Guard Fast Break. Each ad would prominently feature New York Knicks Power Forward David Lee, a rising star in the NBA. Because of last week’s loss, Kotu was down to just two members. Show host Donald Trump sent West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James to the team, which ultimately chose country music star Clint Black to be its Project Manager. Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick became Project Manager of the all-female team Athena, which featured Duke and the younger Rivers, who is a producer by trade.

Melissa Rivers immediately threw out ideas for the spread, but was given the cold shoulder by Duke and Roderick, who had formed a bond during recent installments of the popular reality series. Duke told NBC cameras, “Melissa came up with some cockamamie idea. This isn’t for Redbook. This isn’t for some women’s magazine. This is for SI. Men read SI. If that’s her main idea she’s going to offer up, she’s going to be cut out of the process.” Duke devised the idea of shooting Lee entirely nude with a basketball covering his private parts. The idea was later tweaked to include only the waist up. The shot would be paired with a tagline reminding readers that Right Guard was the only thing Lee needed to wear.

The younger Rivers’ annoyance with Roderick and Duke continued to build throughout the episode. She explained, “The way Annie talks and the rudeness and the sense of entitlement and thinking that she’s so much better than everybody else – That annoys me. Annie is beyond arrogant.” Meanwhile, her opponents, Kotu, met with Right Guard executives, who emphasized the importance of the “power stripe,” an important branding element. For Athena, this component of the product was not discussed on air.

Duke created a four-page spread showing a typical day in Lee’s life. Each shot showed the NBA star being comfortable and, more importantly, being dry. Melissa Rivers commented, “Brande thinks she’s in charge of the task, but it’s clearly Annie. Annie is totally manipulating Brande.” The tension in Athena paralleled the strife in Kotu, where Black chose to run with his own ideas, as has been the case in previous episodes. James created the concept of showing how Lee, a small-town kid from Missouri, entered the high-pressure New York City NBA market. While Black incorporated parts of James’ vision, he still brushed off others, leading the motorcycle enthusiast to become detached throughout the episode. He could regularly be seen staring at his Apple computer.

Athena went to a local club to shoot images for its spread. Melissa Rivers directed the photography, but Duke commented, “I think Melissa knows she’s the odd man out, but frankly I don’t need to conspire against Melissa. I think Melissa is doing a good job of conspiring against herself.” James was equally unhappy, stating in a side interview during the task, “Clint sucks. The ad’s cheesy. The layout’s cheesy. The photos are cheesy. It’s a bummer.”

Duke attempted to make Melissa Rivers feel more at home on the team. However, she later told NBC cameras, “Brande told me that Melissa was having a paranoid fantasy about us conspiring against her, so I tried to make sure I was pulling her in privately. It absolutely made it seem like I wasn’t on Brande’s side. Playing cards is all about game theory, managing your opponents, and trying to figure out very logical strategies to counteract. There are ways to manipulate your competitors.” Duke then checked in with the Kotu, attempting to gauge her adversaries’ moods. Joan Rivers, who was seated next to James at the time, critiqued, “Annie plays people so brilliantly. She’s so despicable. She’s so duplicitous. I can’t wait for her to get her first facelift because she’s going to need two doctors.”

James’ frustrations finally boiled over. In the waning hours of the night, he told Black that he disapproved of the team’s final project. The conversation was highlighted by James telling the country superstar, “You need to pack your shit and go home.” The star of CNBC’s “Mad Money,” Jim Cramer, who served as Trump’s eyes and ears during the episode, then visited Athena. His stay included Duke pointing out various areas of the task that she was responsible for, which included branding and the team’s presentation. Cramer was impressed by Duke’s positioning: “I think that Annie set it up so that if they lose, Annie doesn’t take the bullet. It’s a rather remarkable position to be able to take credit for the good, but certainly not be hit if they don’t win.” Duke gave Athena’s presentation to the Right Guard executives, while Black explained Kotu’s message. In the end, the executives sided with Kotu, sending Duke and Athena to the boardroom.

In the boardroom, Ivanka Trump questioned why Roderick delegated the key elements of the task to Duke. The World Series of Poker bracelet winner told the panel, “I doubt that there’s anyone in this game who wants to win more than I do.” While watching from the team’s suite, Kotu’s Joan Rivers quipped, “You’re damn right. You’ll bury your mother for it.” In the middle of the boardroom, Trump passed a note to Cramer, whispered to him, and then reminded the contestants that raising money for charity would mean a considerable amount in the later stages of Celebrity Apprentice. Duke and Roderick are the number one and two fundraisers on the show to date, respectively, leaving Trump to fire the younger Rivers.

The dismissal ignited a melee among Duke, Roderick, and the Rivers family. Joan Rivers told her team, “You have a Nazi and a follower. I don’t work with scum.” Instead of exiting the building immediately, as is customary, Melissa Rivers instead fled to her mother, telling off Celebrity Apprentice staff in the process. To two producers, she stated, “Fuck you. Fuck you. I’m not doing an interview.” Between the edited profanity, the words “whore” and “pit vipers” were clearly audible. Passing Duke and Roderick in the hallway, Melissa Rivers greeted, “Fuck you both. Goodbye.”

Joan Rivers, who was packing her belongings to leave as well, told Duke and Roderick, respectively, “You are a piece of shit. You are a stupid blonde.” Joan Rivers then fired a shot across the bow of poker players everywhere, stating, “Your people give money with blood on it. I met your people in Las Vegas. None of them have last names. You’re a poker player. A poker player! That’s beyond white trash. Poker players are trash, darling, trash.” Both Rivers entered an elevator and left Trump Towers, with Melissa Rivers shouting, "Lying fucking whores."

Next Sunday, the final five (or four if Joan Rivers has truly quit the show) return at 9:00pm ET on NBC.

Annie Duke Comments on Being Compared to Hitler, Mussolini

This week on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, comedian Joan Rivers compared World Series of Poker bracelet winner Annie Duke to Hitler. It’s a comment that has not sat well with one of the top female players in the game. Duke sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss her reaction.

Poker News Daily: In an interview with Amanda Leatherman during the World Poker Tour Championship, you stated that you were surprised Joan Rivers didn’t recant her comments after watching them unfold on television. Instead, she apologized to Hitler on Twitter.

Duke: We’ve all been in situations where we’ve been in heated arguments. There are things we wish we hadn’t said. You have a camera on you 15 hours a day on Celebrity Apprentice. You say things that you wish you could take back. I watched the first two episodes and the producers cut the aggressive parts together. I was trying to be aggressive and my perception was that I was spreading it out enough such that it wouldn’t be an issue. I wish I had laid back a little bit and thought about the editing.

In the cold light of day, after you are away from the weird emotions that come with the game, you see some of these things and you feel bad. When you see Joan saying that I have 16 faces, comparing me to Hitler, or insinuating that my friends are in the Mafia, I wouldn’t expect her to feel bad. Especially since she’s Jewish, I felt like comparing me to Hitler was the one thing she’d regret. Referencing Hitler trivializes the Holocaust. Instead of regretting it, she went one step further.

PND: Talk about the ongoing feud between Joan’s daughter Melissa and Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick.

Duke: I wish I had seen what was happening between Brande and Melissa. After Episode 3, I was always away from Brande. I allowed what I was hearing from Melissa about Brande’s performance to influence me and I believed her. I felt Melissa was the better and stronger player and deserved to be there more than Brande. Instead of fighting Melissa, Brande just allowed others to make decisions and move along. I wish I had figured that out earlier. I felt bad that, as a poker player, I couldn’t read that situation better. I wish I had seen what Melissa was doing. She is very petty, talks behind people’s backs, and has a weird dynamic with her mom.

PND: Watching the Schwan’s episode, I felt as if you stuck your neck out campaigning for turkey meatballs more than you should have, especially coming off a win. How did you see the situation at the time?

Duke: I protected myself really well. The food was judged on taste and originality, but you also had to produce a marketing plan. Even if the food wasn’t good, the lack of a marketing campaign was going to be blamed. In the boardroom, there was a very long discussion about our lack of a marketing campaign, which was the responsibility of Melissa Rivers and Jesse James.

I was trying to get them to understand that originality was important and I was the only person on the team who could cook. Melissa has never cooked a thing in her life and Jesse wanted to do the marketing. I agreed to make three dishes and then let them choose. I made a batch of whole wheat pasta and a batch of regular pasta and had my team do a blind taste test. I said if the gluten-free pasta didn’t win the taste test, we wouldn’t do it; all three team members chose it. Now how am I going to get into trouble?

We walked into the boardroom and had no marketing plan, but won anyway. They don’t show me in my private interview freaking out that I hadn’t seen a marketing plan. We walked into the boardroom and Donald Trump asked how we did. Melissa hadn’t cooked and said, “If we lose, I think it’s because of the food.” The next think out of Trump’s mouth was, “Jesse, why didn’t you produce a marketing plan?” The food won us the task.

PND: Talk about the previous boardroom, which saw Joan Rivers defend an auction strategy of pooling the team’s money together to make a hefty profit margin on one item.

Duke: The poor quality of her auction came down to the decision to put all of the bidders on one item, which ensured there would be pieces that wouldn’t sell. I felt that it was disrespectful to Ivanka Trump, but Joan said the task was about making money. Trump jumped to her defense, which was interesting, but she raised the least amount of money on her team. If she wants to argue that it’s solely about money, then the person who raised the least amount should be fired. Joan raised $8,000. I think that it says a lot about Joan’s relationships with other people. It explains why she keeps disparaging my friends. How else can she explain it? She disparages her own friends for not coming out to bid for charity and disparages my friends for coming out with ulterior motives.

PND: Melissa Rivers and Joan Rivers ardently defended each other despite being on different teams. Is that fundamentally against the rules of business?

Duke: This is a business task and it’s like competing corporations. There have been cases where brothers or fathers and sons are heads of different corporations. It would be grounds for removal by a Board if one person helped the other out. Do you think for a second that my brother (Howard Lederer) has ever called me up and said, “Full Tilt Poker is doing something big that is going to hurt Ultimate Bet?” Of course not. You can’t do that, which was Piers Morgan’s point. In business, you can’t do that. The fact that they’re doing it across the aisle is grounds for removal.

PND: Is being a good fundraiser enough to win Celebrity Apprentice?

Duke: Clearly, I’m a good fundraiser. Over the course of two years, I’ve helped raise $2 million for the crisis in Darfur with the help of Don Chealde, Norman Epstein, and the amazing poker and celebrity communities. I know how to get people to understand the importance of an issue. While that looks like the most salient thing about me, I think there’s more. I’m someone who works their ass off. You saw Melissa lying on the floor. You saw Jesse staring at his computer. I’m someone who’s very good at making sure my ideas are heard because I believe in them. The turkey meatballs idea is a good example. Managing the kitchen during the cupcake challenge is another example. I’m someone who is willing to take risks when I believe in an idea.

During the show, I’m not always right. During the ACN task, I didn’t have any ideas I believed in, so I didn’t speak up. I’m selective when I speak up and I’m willing to risk colossal failures if I believe in an idea. I’m also banking on my professionalism in the boardroom to win, but I think that’s a given. I happen to have someone who isn’t acting professionally acting as a foil.

Joan Rivers Calls Annie Duke Hitler on Celebrity Apprentice

This week marked a brand new chapter of the rift between World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Annie Duke and comedian Joan Rivers on Celebrity Apprentice. The two hour show, which airs on NBC at 9:00pm ET on Sunday nights, was highlighted by Rivers comparing Duke to Hitler.

Last week marked the first part of a task that challenged the teams to raise money for charity by auctioning off jewelry from Ivanka Trump’s line. Whichever team made the most profit would win. Duke served as Project Manager of her team, Athena, during the task. The opposition, Kotu, pooled the team’s money together in order to elicit a massive bid for one item. The rift between Duke and Rivers was initiated when the popular female poker player would not blame Playboy Playmate Brande Roderick for the team’s loss last week. Instead, Duke fingered R&B singer Brian McKnight, who was given the boot for being lackadaisical as Project Manager.

Professional golfer Natalie Gulbis called Duke’s Ultimate Bet colleague Phil Hellmuth to fundraise against her. In response, Hellmuth notified Duke of her opposition’s plans. Hellmuth commented, “Natalie called me and she wants to talk to me in a few hours, but you’re my girl.” Duke then stated to NBC cameras, “When I found out that a friend facilitated someone getting in touch with people to try to fundraise against me, you can imagine I was not happy.” Duke called the mystery middleman and lambasted him, stating, “Why the f--- would you do what you did? You were f------ played. I suggest you call [Natalie] and tell her never to lie to you again.”

The phone conversation played out in front of Joan Rivers and country music singer Clint Black, prompting the former to retort, “The venom that came out – This is a bad, bad, bad person.” The younger Rivers questioned if Duke was simply upset that her opposition was being creative in calling Hellmuth: “If Annie had thought of [the idea], it would have just been brilliant, but because someone got her, it sent her around the bend.” Hellmuth was a noticeable no-show to the live fashion show and auction.

Showing up to New York City on Duke’s behalf were Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian (who is also an Ultimate Bet personality), Perry Friedman, and Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch. The first item auctioned off was sold to the former MIT Blackjack Team member for $25,000. The second item brought in $52,000 as a result of a bid by Ian. West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James, who was on Duke’s team, commented about his Project Manager: “Once Annie knew where the money was, she went right after it.” The third item auctioned off by Duke’s team saw Roderick model a piece of jewelry that went to a donor for $50,000. Roderick commented, “Annie was a great auctioneer. She really knows how to take money from people, but that’s what she does for a living.”

Kotu’s strategy of pooling the team’s money together to turn a large profit on one item ultimately backfired. The first piece of jewelry went unsold, while the second went for just $12,000. The elder Rivers then intervened, sharing auctioning duties with Black, which helped generate larger bids. The third item auctioned off by Kotu fetched a bid of $83,500, the largest single amount raised. On the model donning item number four, Rivers joked, “Valerie is bulimic.”

In the boardroom, Duke and the Rivers family teed off on each other. On Kotu’s strategy, Duke commented, “I think it was disrespectful to Ivanka to not make sure that every piece got sold. It’s about being respectful to the charity. It’s about being respectful to the task. It’s about being respectful to Ivanka.” Joan Rivers did not take Duke’s criticism likely, firing back, “You’re a despicable human being. You’re a perfect poker player. You’d spit on the ground and drown your own mother in it… You’re not that smart. Your ego is so beyond where you are.”

After then comparing Duke to Hitler, the Poker News Daily guest columnist explained, “I’m the one who, when I call [poker players] and tell them to get on a plane at 6:00am to come help me, they do.” In the end, Duke’s fundraising efforts led Athena to a significant margin of victory, profiting $153,000 in comparison to Kotu’s $92,000. The win meant that Duke’s charity, Refugees International, received $245,000, the largest paycheck in Celebrity Apprentice history. To date, the show has raised over $700,000 for the contestants’ beneficiaries.

Duke took a side interview with NBC cameras as an opportunity to defend herself against Rivers’ attacks. She explained, “To out of the blue come up with the things Joan said – I’m nutty and I’m Hitler – I think she’s demonstrating the qualities she accused me of. This woman is completely f------ dead to me.” Rivers cried in the boardroom when prodded by show host Donald Trump as to who should be fired, but Gulbis took the fall for her lack of fundraising as well as picking jewelry that was not visible on the runway.

The second task of the Sunday night show asked teams to devise a new frozen food and marketing campaign for Schwan’s Live Smart line. Athena selected James to be its Project Manager, while Kotu saw Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker step up. Duke immediately suggested turkey meatballs and gluten-free pasta as a potential item to sell. Researching products online, she claimed, “The Italian style meatballs are one of their best-sellers and they don’t offer that on the low-fat menu.” Melissa Rivers once again attacked her teammate, telling NBC, “Annie mode is that she’s going to get her way come hell or high water. Her giving up on an idea is impossible.”

Duke and Roderick headed to the kitchen to work on creating several dishes in hopes of James picking one later. In the kitchen, Duke boasted, “I’m the total woman. I can cook, I raise my children, and I give a good ----job.” Walker and Black, meanwhile, devised a soy ginger chicken dish, which the elder Rivers felt was too salty. She suggested adding orange juice to spice up the flavor, creating the final product.

When asked by Trump in the boardroom about James’ leadership, Duke responded, “I think Jesse did well in some cases and not so well in others. I think he was relatively impervious to some suggestions.” Duke felt that she and Roderick were locked out of the marketing side of the task, which fell on the shoulders of James and Melissa Rivers. James finally settled on the turkey meatball concept and, in the end, Schwan’s executives liked Athena’s dish better, sending Kotu to the boardroom once again. This time around, Walker was fired from Celebrity Apprentice for coming up with the idea for the chicken-based dish as well as a dessert that could not be properly packaged.

Next week features more of the spat between the Rivers family and Duke. The preview shows the elder Rivers calling Duke “white trash.” The show airs at 9:00pm ET on NBC. Six contestants remain.

Phil Hellmuth May Challenge Annie Duke on Celebrity Apprentice

Last week on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, Ultimate Bet pro and Poker News Daily columnist Annie Duke stepped up to be Project Manager on a task that challenged the teams to sell Ivanka Trump’s jewelry for charity. Duke’s competition knew they needed to be creative to raise more money than the World Series of Poker champion and may even enlist the aid of her archrival, Phil Hellmuth. Duke sat down with Poker News Daily to talk about the cliffhanger, which will resume this Sunday at 9:00pm ET on NBC.

PND: Ivanka Trump called you out in the boardroom for not stepping up to be Project Manager. What was your reaction to her comments?

Duke: I agreed with her. I had been waiting until the next fundraising challenge to be Project Manager and it turned out that there was a considerable amount of time before the next one occurred. I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid being Project Manager on the next challenge regardless of what it was. I got very lucky that it happened to be about raising money. There is short-term luck in any type of game.

PND: Your opponents have been creative, going so far as potentially enlisting the help of Phil Hellmuth this week. Is that flattering that they think you’re such a threat?

Duke: They view me as a threat in that type of challenge because on the previous two fundraising tasks, I had raised the most money. They definitely see that me being on the opposing team is a problem. They have a double problem, though, because the other strong fundraiser is Brande Roderick and we’re sitting on the same team. Obviously, the preview for next week doesn’t show how it goes with Phil. A little research would have let them know that Phil is one of my close friends. There are people who would have been better choices, but interestingly enough, but I don’t think some of them would go against their own. People thought it’d be better to call a guy like Daniel Negreanu, but I don’t think Daniel would do that.

PND: One of your teammates, Jesse James, stated in a private interview that he was holding back his contacts for a task that he was Project Manager of. Did that surprise you?

Duke: I didn’t know about that comment at the time. I didn’t hold a tremendous amount back regardless of who was Project Manager. During the wedding dress challenge, I raised $35,000 and didn’t need to raise that amount to be safe. I was on the show to raise money for charity, so I didn’t want to hold back. I didn’t consider my charity to be more important than anyone else’s.

I wanted to be Project Manager on a fundraising task not to make money for my charity, but rather because it was the safest task to be the leader. If it's true that Jesse had resources and we lose, then his neck is on the line. The only issue is that, strategically, even if you feel you are safe, you have to make an argument to be in the final two on the show. If Donald Trump thinks you’re a poor fundraiser, it will be hard to make it.

PND: You called Perry Friedman for this task to bid on an item of jewelry. He also paid $10,000 for a wedding dress in a previous episode. What’s your relationship with him?

I’ve known Perry forever. We’ve been really good friends for a long time. I’m friends with all of the Tiltboys, but have known Perry for a very long time. I also know Rafe Furst, Phil Gordon, and Andy Bloch really well.

PND: Had you thought about contacting Phil Hellmuth for the task to bid on an item?

Duke: I did talk to Phil, but he had just had a baby, so it was hard for him to show up. In this task, people could bid over the phone, but the only person who did that was my brother.

PND: We’d be amiss if we didn’t ask you about your feud with Joan Rivers and Melissa Rivers. You saw it unfold last week. What were your thoughts?

Duke: I was pretty shocked with Melissa. The comments she was making starting two weeks ago behind my back weren’t nice. They’re off base. I’m pretty self-aware of what my faults are. She kept talking about me taking over the room, but since Week 2, I have been sitting in the background. Clearly, she doesn’t want to be on the chopping block. As you get down to fewer and fewer people remaining, there is definitely a hierarchy of who’s going to go. She sees me as her biggest threat, so she keeps saying bad things about me.

You heard Trump describe Melissa as “bratty” to Piers Morgan. The thing that upset me with Melissa this week was her comments about Brande. Back in Week 4, I felt like Claudia had stepped out of line in her commentary towards Melissa. I find it ironic that Melissa is acting that way now towards Brande. She kept saying I was two-faced for praising Brande. Whatever Brande has done in the past is irrelevant to her performance on the present task. If she’s doing well, as a boss, I am going to compliment her and encourage her because it helps the team.

PND: Do you see any similarities between yourself and Piers Morgan, who won the first season of Celebrity Apprentice?

Duke: I deeply respected Piers and liked him a lot. What I thought was interesting was that for everyone saying he was mean, I never heard him say anything bad about anyone. He was direct, he was confident, and he knew he was very smart. He was always a gentleman. There are some parallels there. For some of the reasons he rubs people the wrong way, I rub people the wrong way. There are a lot of people out there who would rather have people be nice to their face regardless of what they say behind their back. I’d rather you tell me to my face. Brande confronted me to my face and that’s what I liked a lot about her. Piers also approached the game very strategically and not as anything personal. He approached it as a game and that’s similar to me.

PND: You had dinner with Joan Rivers in which you talked about Brande Roderick. Joan claimed you called the former Playboy Playmate “stupid.” What was actually said?

Duke: What I said was that I felt like Brande was drafting and should be the next one fired assuming there was a reason to. I said she had to go and she was dragging the team down. Joan, because everything is personal to her, interpreted that as me saying Brande was an idiot, which wasn’t what I said.

I have a lot of opportunities to say how I feel in private interviews. If the Celebrity Apprentice had any footage of me saying that Brande is an idiot, they would have used it. The fact that they didn’t have any footage of it obviously means I never said it. I’m sorry Joan interpreted anything I said as meaning Brande’s an idiot. I find it interesting that Joan didn’t understand how harsh my criticism of Brande was. I find it interesting that she was upset because I wasn’t mean enough. Her own daughter didn’t criticize Brande heavily enough. What I said about Brande was so much more detailed and harsher than what her own daughter said.

PND: After being laid back during the Lifelock task, Brande took note of everyone’s criticisms and has come back strong during this episode. Talk about her transformation.

Duke: Poker players should take note of what Brande did. The contrast between Brande and Melissa is important for people to understand the problem of tilting. Brande didn’t tilt because of the comments I made. She listened to them, decided that I was right, updated her strategy, and I gave her some table talk. If people are willing to listen in an unemotional way to table talk, it’s helpful. Melissa, contrastingly, went totally on tilt. She is starting to disintegrate. She was confrontational to George Ross in the boardroom and she is obviously not doing herself any favors with Brande or me, which is bad because there are only four people left on the team. This is all from her acting with her emotional brain. Instead of trying to solve the problem as Brande did, she is just flailing about in a way that is damaging her chances of winning.

Poker Industry Versus Melissa and Joan Rivers on Celebrity Apprentice

This week’s episode of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice featured the poker industry, represented by Ultimate Bet pro and World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Annie Duke, square off against Joan Rivers and her daughter, Melissa. Next week’s installment could even feature an appearance by Duke’s arch-rival, Phil Hellmuth.

Two tasks were included in this week’s two hour-long episode of Celebrity Apprentice. In the first, teams were asked to come up with packaging and retail store displays for Lifelock, an identity protection service. The two teams, Athena and Kotu, would be judged on brand message, originality, and overall design. Athena selected R&B artist Brian McKnight as its Project Manager, while professional golfer Natalie Gulbis stepped up for Kotu.

Duke had not yet volunteered to be Project Manager. She told NBC cameras in comments reiterated in a recent interview with Poker News Daily, “When you do any of these advertising challenges, it’s very subjective and depends on what the client wants. I didn’t want to manage something I had very little control over.” The winning Project Manager on Sunday would receive $20,000 for the charity of their choice. Duke is playing for Refugees International, which works closely with Ante Up for Africa, a charity she started along with actor Don Cheadle.

Duke’s team, Athena, met with executives from Lifelock. She prodded Todd Davis (Lifelock’s CEO) and another official for three keywords to describe the company. She also inquired as to whether the campaign should emphasize the benefits of obtaining Lifelock or be more fear-based. One of the executives explained in an interview with Celebrity Apprentice cameras, “Annie seemed to be the one that was asking questions and taking the lead.”

The construction shop that created the in-store displays for both teams was located in across town in Brooklyn and closed at 8:00pm. A few hours prior to the deadline, Duke’s team still had not sent any representatives to direct the shop’s workers, prompting the WSOP bracelet winner to instruct West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James and Playboy Playmate Brande Roderick to head there. She cautioned McKnight that she was performing a task that wasn’t her job, leading teammate Melissa Rivers to comment, “Annie is tending to absolve herself of any responsibility. She started laying the groundwork in case it doesn’t go over well tomorrow.”

McKnight was laid back throughout the episode, whereas Gulbis quickly assigned tasks from the start and deferred to comedian Joan Rivers in several instances. The elder Rivers came up with the idea of using Kotu’s celebrities as a central selling point. Above each team member's likeness, a thought bubble appeared explaining why Lifelock was important to them. Meanwhile, chaos engulfed Athena, with Duke continuing to prod McKnight to adhere to the construction schedule. She explained, “Brian should have been more aware of the deadline and he certainly should have been more on point with the other side of the team. He was too laid back.”

Roderick chose to take a backseat during the task, flirting with the construction staff rather than help push the process along. The lack of progress caused Duke to chastise, “I can give Jesse a pass because he’s sick, but there was someone else who knew what the deadlines were. To have Brande, who was literally just wood floating down the stream, is a hindrance more than a help.” James developed a stomach bug during the episode, but continued to compete.

In the end, Athena chose to use Davis’ likeness in a similar advertising concept to what the company had already successfully employed. Contrastingly, Kotu was praised for its use of celebrities. Its creativity was the deciding factor, as Gulbis was awarded $20,000 for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. The decision by Lifelock executives sent Duke’s team into the boardroom. Joan Rivers fully anticipated Duke to throw Roderick under the proverbial bus. She told NBC cameras, “I had dinner with Annie and she said, ‘Brande has to go. Brande’s stupid. Brande is not helping the team. We’ve got to get rid of Brande. She is an idiot.’”

However, the boardroom featured Duke blame McKnight for his lack of attention to deadlines. Joan Rivers promptly exploded at the poker icon, claiming, “Annie is a trouble-maker. She’s a snake.” However, show host and real estate mogul Donald Trump later asked Duke to evaluate Roderick. She commented, “Brande doesn’t stick her neck out. I think that, in poker, you have people who play to last and people who play to win.” Ivanka Trump then quipped to Duke, “You’re the dominant personality every time you’re on a team. You’re very authoritative. You’re very assertive except when it counts.”

Joan Rivers continued to unleash her angst against Duke while watching the boardroom unfold, at one point throwing a wine glass at the floor and shouting, “This girl has been such a conniver.” Joan Rivers decided to leave the suite so she would not have to be in the same room as Duke. However, outside the door was none other than her arch-rival. The two exchanged words in a heated argument, ending with Duke explaining, “Joan is overprotective of her daughter. She felt like I didn’t defend Melissa enough or lay into Brande enough.” Annie apologized and Melissa Rivers was spared being fired.

The teams were then called back into the boardroom, where Trump announced that their next task would begin immediately. The money-raising task featured teams selling pieces from Ivanka Trump’s jewelry line for charity in an auction. Duke stepped up to be Project Manager and appropriately squared off against Joan Rivers. Duke promptly delegated tasks to her team members. James was put in charge of designing the auction’s preview guide, Roderick selected outfits for models to wear and dealt with their agency, and Melissa Rivers was tasked with selecting jewelry.

Many of Joan Rivers’ interviews with NBC cameras during task featured quotes such as “Annie would spit on the ground and drown her own mother in it if it gave her a step forward in her life. She’s a… She’s not a nice person.” Her daughter chimed in, “Annie is very aggressive about raising money and she almost bullies people.” Duke stated that whoever raised the least amount of money on her team would join her in the boardroom should Athena ultimately lose the task.

The strained relationship between Duke and Roderick was repaired during the second task. Melissa Rivers mocked their closeness, commenting, “I’m really pissed at Annie’s two-facedness.” Gulbis, on Joan Rivers’ team, came up with the idea of soliciting Duke’s competition in the poker world to bid against her team. She focused in on Hellmuth and explained, “I want to see Annie’s reaction to seeing arguably one of the greatest poker players of all-time fundraising for me, not her.” Hellmuth is a fellow Ultimate Bet pro and owns the record for the number of WSOP bracelets won with 11.

The end of the cliffhanger show featured the first Celebrity Apprentice winner, Piers Morgan, called in by Trump to help be his eyes and ears. The episode continues next Sunday, April 19th, at 9:00pm ET on NBC. Hellmuth did not appear in its preview.

Annie Duke gets “Dirty with Midgets”

Poker News Daily: Talk about the double firing at the end of Sunday's episode of Celebrity Apprentice. TLC singer Tionne Watkins was dismissed after she volunteered to come back to the board room and reality star Khloe Kardashian was fired for missing time on Celebrity Apprentice due to a DUI charge.

Duke: I was kind of surprised. I knew that there might be an issue when Melissa Rivers asked for volunteers. Notice that I didn't volunteer. I was surprised that we lost the task. I was surprised that Tionne went home, but I was even more surprised that both teams lost the task.

PND: Talk about what went through your head when you learned that both teams had lost the task.

Duke: Trump made it clear right away that Perez Hilton loved our video. He was also clear that Perez hated Kotu's. When they played the videos in the boardroom, everyone was laughing at ours. I didn't even understand Kotu's. I didn't get the joke that it was about masturbation. How would we not think we had won? When it turned out that we had both lost, I realized that the executives asked for a viral video, but they really wanted a commercial. The key to understanding our mistake was that both teams came up with midgets.

PND: In the preview for this week's episode, you get into a spat with talk show host Joan Rivers. What can you tell us about it?

Duke: Joan apparently said that I would spit on the ground and drown my own mother. I can assure you that I do nothing to deserve that comment. Whatever you might say about me being direct, I don't screw people over.

I'm kind of ambivalent about it. On the one hand, what she says is so beyond the norm and I'm not sure it deserves a response. It's a level of comment that you don't need to respond to. On the other hand, it's also not fun to hear it. When people ask me if I liked doing Celebrity Apprentice, I say yes, I enjoyed almost everything about the show. I enjoyed the people I worked with and the majority of the tasks. However, I had some things said to me by Joan that no one should have to hear.

PND: In the boardroom, were the lines of personal versus business crossed between Clint Black and Joan Rivers and between Donald Trump and Khloe Kardashian?

Duke: When I found out that Clint cut Joan out of the process, I thought it was bad judgment on Clint's part. Joan took it very personally in the boardroom and I felt like she stepped over the line. She got extremely personal with Clint and none of her criticisms were about him as a Project Manager. Instead, they were about him as a man.

Everyone on the task was shocked. There was no one else to fire but Clint, who had not only locked his team out of the creative process, but physically locked his team out of the editing room. Obviously, there isn't anyone else to fire. To Clint's credit, he said that. Whatever you want to say about Clint, he did the right thing. He took full responsibility for the project and assumed full responsibility for its failure. Trump commended him for that. Khloe missed most of a past task because she was doing one of her classes. I don't understand what that has to do with Clint locking his team out of the editing room.

PND: You had said that All Small and Mighty's brand managers were looking for a commercial instead of a viral video. Can you explain that further?

Duke: On Celebrity Apprentice, you have people who are really smart and in the case of Jesse James, one of the best marketers out there. Everyone came up with the same idea: midgets. The one thing that the executives praised was the branding. I was in charge of it for my team. They said that Athena really understood the brand. We had “3X” flash really big on the screen, had three midgets, and Jesse said every brand message. I knew that at some point during the season, two people would have to get fired in the boardroom. The number of weeks compared to the number of people didn't add up.

Annie Duke Absent from Boardroom Bloodbath on Celebrity Apprentice

On Sunday night on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice, show host Donald Trump fired not one, but two contestants in an episode that severely strayed from its mantra of, “It's nothing personal, it's just business.” Fortunately for World Series of Poker Champion Annie Duke, she was not among the two contestants fired as part of a boardroom bloodbath.

This week's task was to create a viral video of up to one minute in length for All Small and Mighty laundry detergent. Prior to the task, the teams were reshuffled, notably splitting up Joan Rivers and her daughter Melissa and setting the stage for a family feud. Executives from All told the two newly-formed teams that they would be judged on originality, buzz-worthiness, and branding. The winning Project Manager would receive $10,000 for the charity of their choice.

Duke, who told her teammates several weeks ago that she would be Project Manager on the next money-raising task, did not volunteer to lead. Instead, the new Athena chose Melissa Rivers to be Project Manager, while the new Kotu selected country music star Clint Black. R&B singer Brian McKnight was away at a concert during the episode and will be assigned to a team next week. The younger Rivers noted, “I have 15 years of producing live and taped videos.” Black has produced more than a dozen music videos for his country hits.

In Athena's brainstorming session, Duke suggested midgets giving “Monster Garage” host Jesse James a bath, playing on the “small and mighty” brand name. She told her team, “There's no one on Earth who wouldn't open that video.” James declined the opportunity, prompting Duke to question the esteem she held for the West Coast Choppers CEO: “I'm really annoyed right now because there's a really good idea floating around. I thought Jesse was really strong. I was really happy he was going to be on our team, but now I feel like he's being a hindrance. I don't like people who won't step up.”

Black, meanwhile, chose to run with a dirty joke that used the phrase “do the laundry” as a metaphor for sex. The end of his vision entailed an actor saying, “It was a small load; I did it myself,” insinuating masturbation using All as a lubricant. Joan Rivers was against the idea from the start and was vocal throughout the episode of her distaste for Black and his idea. The elder Rivers threw out incomplete ideas, which Black was not appreciative of, instead deciding to pursue his original concept.

Duke was faced with convincing James to appear in the commercial. She immediately began researching the concept, telling NBC officials, “The first thing I did was show Jesse how many hits something with the word 'midget' in the title gets, which is a lot. It needs to be outrageous.” James finally agreed. Duke, who was adamant throughout the early part of the show that her idea was the correct one to film, was then sent by Melissa Rivers with TLC singer Tionne Watkins to collect props for the video. On her reasoning for sending Duke, Rivers commented, “I sent Annie because she can be pretty intense and I wanted to give Jesse a little breathing room away from her.”

Kotu's hired actor struggled to deliver Black's message and was dismissed, prompting the Project Manager to assume the role himself. However, the actor was a “little person” and Joan Rivers, LPGA golfer Natalie Gulbis, and reality star Khloe Kardashian questioned the overall vision. Meanwhile, Melissa Rivers received a phone call from Duke about branding, prompting Rivers to roll her eyes and say, “I was glad that Annie went to get the costumes with Tionne because Annie believes that even if she's not the leader, she at least tries to position herself as the puppet master.”

The rift between Black and Joan Rivers widened throughout the show. Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker returned from an obligation as a member of Kotu and, upon hearing what his team's idea was, speculated, “I think Clint misses his wife,” actress and singer Lisa Hartman. Walker suggested adding in thought bubbles to spice up the video and make it flow better, an idea that was ultimately embraced in the final cut.

In the board room, Joan Rivers lashed out at Black: “I'm taking this very personally.” The talk show host and comedian vowed to discard her Clint Black CDs and stated she did not want to see the singer after the show. Upon the airing of Kotu's video in the board room, Trump once again turned to Duke for objective commentary. On her opponents' viral video, Duke commented, “I thought it was terrible. I didn't understand it and it certainly wasn't viral. It wasn't pushing the edge.” Duke also noted that she represented All's demographic perfectly. which was women over 25 years-old with children.

In the end, the executives from All disliked both team's videos, leaving each Project Manager to select two team members to take back into the boardroom, where two contestants would be fired. Black selected Gulbis and Kardashian, while Melissa Rivers selected Playboy Playmate Brande Roderick and Watkins. Duke escaped the massacre that was about to unfold and is one of the nine contestants remaining.

Watkins told Melissa Rivers that she would return to the boardroom to support her Project Manager. In the end, the move proved fatal. Trump alluded to Bradford Cohen, an attorney who was fired during the second week of The Apprentice Season 2. Trump explained his significance: “He was the leader of the pack and was doing fantastically well and he volunteered to come back. He came back and I said, 'You volunteered to come back, you're fired.' Never volunteer for execution.” Trump promptly fired Watkins and allowed Melissa Rivers and Roderick to return to their suite.

Instead of firing Black for his poor decision on the viral video's content, Trump asked each person if they wanted to stay or return home and pursue other business endeavors. In the end, he lambasted Kardashian, who missed an episode of Celebrity Apprentice to attend to a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charge in Los Angeles. Kardashian explained, “I have a DUI and I have to take classes in order for me to be here... I've taken full responsibility from the second I got it.”

Trump turned up the heat, chastising, “I hate people who drive under the influence. I know three families who lost children to drunken driving. If I had known you would have been missing time on the task for a DUI, you would have never been on the show.” Trump gave $20,000 to Kardashian's charity, The Brent Shapiro Foundation for Alcohol and Drug Awareness, and fired her on the spot.

Celebrity Apprentice returns next Sunday at 9:00pm ET with two tasks in one episode. The preview features a spat between Joan Rivers and Duke that gets so heated, special backup is brought in. What that means remains to be seen.

When Will Annie Duke Become Project Manager on Celebrity Apprentice?

Five weeks have passed in NBC's Celebrity Apprentice and we have not seen Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke be Project Manager. In order to win money for her charity, Refugees International, and impress show host Donald Trump, she'll need to take on a leadership role in the future. Duke explained her game plan to Poker News Daily.

PokerNewsDaily: Congratulations on surviving another week of Celebrity Apprentice. When will we see you be Project Manager?

Duke: I really liken being Project Manager to knowing your table in poker. They are very similar conceptually. When you first sit down in a table, you're not looking to get involved in a huge decision. You try to avoid big decisions early on because those are where you can make mistakes. The more information you have about your opponents, the better off you are when you take a more aggressive stance.

I don't know any of these people on Celebrity Apprentice. Being Project Manager is like that big decision in poker. There is no other point where you have a bigger risk of getting fired. You're automatically in the board room if you lose. If you are Project Manager, you want to have the best chance of winning the task because you don't end up in the board room and you end up with a win, which is important in the long-run.

By this point, I know my team's strengths and weaknesses, but I'm still working on figuring out who is vulnerable to being fired. That involves listening to Trump, who is clear about who is weak and who is strong. If you're Project Manager, you can bring weaker people into the board room if you lose.

PND: What task would be ideal for you to serve as Project Manager on?

Duke: After Episode 4 (the ACN task), I said to my team that we should be Project Manager for the tasks we're good at. For me, thats the next money raising task. They said okay, but no one on my team should ever agree to that. I raise more money than anyone else on my team. If it's a money raising task, I'm not going to get fired. Let's say that you're someone who can't raise a lot of money. You should be Project Manager on that task because I'm going to make sure you win. That's an objective task: Whoever has the most money wins. The other tasks, like this week's Loews episode, are subjective. You have much less control over the outcome and you don't want to be Project Manager.

Everyone was so emotional from the board room after the ACN task and I took advantage of that. I'm trying to wait for a money raising task, but what if there isn't one? Natalie Gulbis hasn't been Project Manager and Melissa Rivers hasn't been either, so there are other people on my team who haven't stepped up. However, if I want to be seen as a leader, I have to step up. The question is, can I hold out?

PND: You mentioned that you have been paying attention to who Trump wants to fire on your team. What can you share so far?

Duke: I was the only person who knew Trump wanted to fire [TLC singer] Tionne Watkins. Trump had clearly said asked her why she didn't sing. Tionne responded that her Project Manager didn't ask her to. Had Claudia Jordan been listening to Trump, she might have been saved.

I think he still wants to get rid of Khloe Kardashian. On the ACN challenge, he asked if she did anything. This past week, he criticized her for not being there. Joan Rivers missed three days and it wasn't even mentioned.

PND: The episode ended with a board room intervention with Dennis Rodman. What did you see leading up to that moment during the task?

Duke: When we started, it was 10:00am and Dennis had two vodka cranberries in his hands. It was obvious that he started drinking early. He was being disruptive on our side and when the guests were coming in, he was screaming on his phone. It was clear that he was under the influence and being disruptive. I didn't see him walk off and I had no idea that he had gone drinking with a guest.

We knew that it had gone from funny to concerning. He's a really big dude. He's 6'8” and I've seen him explode in front of Clint Black during the previous task. Before, it was Rodman being inappropriate, but it turned into something else.

When we got into the board room, I was asked about it and made some comments that they didn't air about his behavior. Jesse James started the process. Everyone was very concerned and Dennis responded like people were trying to persecute him. He kept talking about his five championships and what he's done in the past. However, it's not what you've done in the past, it's the road you're heading down now. Everyone was very concerned for another human being. It was long, painful, and I hope nothing but for him to get help.

PND: What's been the reaction of the poker playing community as Celebrity Apprentice has aired?

Duke: I get very biased feedback when people come up to talk to me. I appreciate the positive feedback, but I also realize that it's not a fair sample. I don't read the blogs and I don't read the newsgroups. I don't think that would be productive.

I can tell you what I see on television. In the first couple of episodes, I was an antagonist, but I also got shit done. I haven't trashed talked anyone. I totally understand why someone wouldn't like me. I have an assertive personality. In the last three episodes, I see someone who does their job and helps their team.

I stand behind the strategy that I came with. I hope that people notice I haven't talked down at anyone. I try to deliver things in an objective way. Yes, I'm direct, but I do it through the business eye. I don't get into the personal stuff. In Episode 4, where clearly our team had the most conflict of all, I wasn't involved. People have a right to their opinions. They have a right to feel the way they do, but what you've seen on the show is a very accurate portrayal of who I was.

PND: Do your kids watch the show with you?

Duke: They've been getting into it. My ex-husband calls me up after every episode. We're very amicable and he's one of my biggest boosters. Joe [my boyfriend] is a great sounding board. He's in the industry and has an objective eye on the show. He can tell me about the way it's edited. It's interesting to get his perspective. He understands why the show is cut the way it is.

Celebrity Apprentice airs at 9:00pm ET on Sunday nights on NBC and runs for two hours.