Howard Lederer was born into in a family of five where he loved participating in various card games when he was young. He found himself getting very competitive in these card games while competing against his father. After finishing secondary school, Howard made a decision to put college on hold for a bit and moved to New York City to participate in some formidable chess. While playing chess, he was brought in to a poker game going on in the rear of the room. Howard’s first 2 years were rough as he would play countless hours and lose a majority of the time. He made some additional cash by becoming an assistant for the poker enthusiasts. He theorized he could improve his game by analyzing his life away from poker. He brought about an effort to get more sleep and focus even more on poker.
The real advancement in his game happened when he started gambling at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon association where the best players would regularly challenge each other. He was able to access a number of the greatest minds in chess. With their assistance, he would sharpen his strategic thinking skills. Howard used these strategy ideas in the game of NL hold’em.
Howard Lederer also assisted his sibling Annie Duke learn poker. Annie Duke was a great student of the game as she would always be asking questions about how to make the correct choice. Howard Lederer told Annie Duke to head out to Sin City and compete in the World Series of Poker tournaments. She is one of the best female players the poker arena ever. He moved to Vegas in 1993 and participated in cash games for the subsequent 10 years. When the WPT grew in popularity, he made the decision to compete in more tournaments.
