LAS VEGAS — Former “Celebrity Apprentice” star Annie Duke has won $500,000 and become the first woman to win the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in Las Vegas.

Duke beat 63 others in no-limit Texas Hold ’em and bested fellow poker professional Erik Seidel late Sunday in a best-of-three finals.
The tournament held at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip featured players squaring off in a bracket-style tournament, facing one opponent at a time. The single-elimination event started Friday.
Duke, known as one of the world’s best poker players, had only made it out of the opening round once in the previous five tournaments.
Duke beat Andy Bloch, Darvin Moon, Paul Wasicka, Jerry Yang and Dennis Phillips before defeating Seidel.
The tournament is scheduled to air on NBC beginning April 18.