Annie Duke has never been afraid to speak her mind. It’s something I witnessed first-hand at the Ultimatebet.com Aruba Poker Classic media game, where I watched her terrorise one guy who asked for her advice and promptly proceeded to ignore it.

Later that night at Phil Hellmuth’s rooftop party, I listened while Duke’s voice sailed over the top of the general chatter as she directed her team in a fiercely competitive game of Trivial Pursuit. So it’s perhaps not surprising that in the introverted world of social misfits we call poker she has ruffled a few feathers.

It’s something she is aware of, but hardly concerned by when we sit down to talk.