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Annie Duke is the winner of the 2010 NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship.

Poker’s iconic first lady defeated longtime friend and mentor, Erik Seidel in the invitational tournament’s championship round, earning $500,000.

"I'm so excited to win such a prestigious event and join the likes of Huck Seed, Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth as Heads-Up Champion," said Duke.

"I came into this tournament really focused and it feels great to finally break through in this event."

Duke endured a hard fought battle over three days to make her way through the 64-player, single-elimination bracket style tournament. She faced off against notables Andy Bloch, Darvin Moon, Paul Wasicka, Jerry Yang and Dennis Phillips before being pit against Seidel in the best-of-three championship round.

The final round against Seidel proved to be a daunting challenge for Duke, who won the third match after being tied at one each.  

Seidel, who has known Duke since her teens and was a regular at the famed Mayfield Club in New York along with Duke’s brother Howard Lederer, said on his twitter page that it was the "easiest loss of his career."

The eight-time World Series of Poker Bracelet winner earned $250,000 for second, bringing his lifetime tournament earnings to just under $10 million.

Duke is the first woman to win the sixth annual NBC-televised event, presented by GoDaddy.com. In 2009, notable pro Vanessa Russo was at the cusp of earning that distinction, having faced Huck Seed in the championship round before falling to Seed in two matches.

Duke’s championship victory marks her biggest win since her first place finish at the inaugural 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions where she defeated Phil Hellmuth heads-up for the winner-take-all $2,000,000 top prize.