Howard Lederer was born into in a family of 5 in which he loved playing various card games when he was young. He found himself becoming really competitive in these card games as he was playing his father. After graduating from Sr. High school, Howard decided to place higher education on hold for a little bit and headed to New York City to play some serious 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 extensive hours and fail to win a majority of the time. He made some additional cash by being an assistant for the poker players. He judged he might improve his game by balancing his life away from poker. He brought about an effort to get more rest and concentrate even more on the game.
The actual advancement in his skills happened when he began playing at the Mayfair Club in New York. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon club where the best gamblers would frequently challenge each other. Howard was able to access some of the foremost minds in chess. With their assistance, Howard Lederer would sharpen his strategic thinking skills. He applied these strategic ideas to the game of No-Limit hold’em.
He also helped his sister Annie Duke master poker. Annie was an excellent student of poker as she would consistently be asking questions about the right way to make the proper decision. He told Annie to move out to Sin City and compete in the WSOP tournaments. Annie Duke is one of the strongest female players the poker world ever. Howard moved to Sin City in 1993 and played money games for the next decade. When the World Poker Tournament grew in popularity, Howard decided to participate in more tournaments.
