Howard Lederer lived in a family of 5 where he enjoyed taking part in numerous card games at a young age. He discovered himself getting really aggressive in these particular card games as he was playing his father. After finishing Sr. High school, Howard made a decision to put college on hold for a bit and headed to New York City to participate in some formidable chess. While competing in chess, he was brought in to a poker game taking place in the rear of the room. Howard’s 1st 2 years were tough as he would play countless hours and lost a majority of the time. He earned some extra money by being an assistant for the poker enthusiasts. He believed he could improve his game by balancing his life outside of poker. He made an effort to acquire more sleep and focus even more on poker.
The actual advancement in his abilities began when he began betting at the Mayfair Club in New York. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon club where the best gamblers would regularly play against each other. He was able to access some of the best players in chess. With their assistance, Howard would sharpen his logical thinking abilities. Howard applied these strategic concepts to the game of NL hold’em.
He also assisted his sister Annie Duke master the game of poker. Annie was an excellent student of the game as she would always be asking questions about the right way to make the proper decision. Howard Lederer told Annie Duke to head out to Vegas and compete in the WSOP competition. Annie is one of the strongest women players the poker world has ever seen. He relocated to Sin City in 1993 and competed in money games for the next decade. When the WPT gained popularity, he decided to participate in more tournaments.