Howard Lederer was born into in a family of five in which he loved betting on numerous card games when he was young. He found himself getting really competitive in these card games as he was playing his dad. After graduating from high school, Howard decided to put college on hold for a little while and headed to New York City to compete in some big-time chess. While competing in chess, he was brought in to a poker game taking place in the back of the room. Howard’s first 2 years were tough as he played extensive hours and fail to win a majority of the time. He made some extra money by being an assistant for the poker enthusiasts. He believed he could better his game by adjusting his life away from poker. He brought about an effort to acquire more rest and focus attention more on poker.
The actual advancement in his game happened when he started wagering at the Mayfair Club in New York. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon club where the greatest players would often challenge each other. He was able to access several of the foremost minds in chess. With their help, he would tweak his strategic thinking techniques. Howard applied these strategy concepts to the game of NL holdem.
He also helped his sibling Annie Duke master poker. Annie Duke was a great student of the game as she constantly asked questions about how to make the correct decision. Howard told Annie to move out to Sin City and compete in the World Series of Poker tournaments. Annie is one of the strongest female players the poker world today. Howard Lederer relocated to Vegas in 1993 and played cash games for the successive decade. When the WPT grew in popularity, Howard decided to participate in more tournaments.
