Howard Lederer was born into in a family of 5 in which he liked taking part in numerous card games when he was young. He discovered himself getting very competitive in these card games as he was competing against his father. After finishing Sr. High school, Howard made a decision to put college on hold for a bit and moved to New York to participate in some formidable chess. While playing chess, he was introduced to a poker game taking place in the back of the room. Howard’s 1st two years were difficult as he would play many hours and lose a majority of the time. He made some extra money by being an runner for the poker players. He judged he could better his game by balancing his life outside of poker. He made an effort to get more sleep and concentrate more on the game.
The real advancement in his abilities began when he began gambling at the Mayfair Club in New York. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon club where the the most favorable players would regularly challenge each other. Howard was able to access a few of the best minds in chess. With their assistance, Howard Lederer would tweak his cunning thinking abilities. He used these strategic concepts in the game of No-Limit hold’em.
He also helped his sister Annie Duke learn poker. Annie Duke was a great student of poker as she would always be asking questions about how to make the correct choice. He told Annie to head out to Las Vegas and play in the World Series of Poker tournaments. She is one of the strongest women players the poker world today. Howard relocated to Las Vegas in 1993 and competed in money games for the next decade. When the WPT gained popularity, Howard made the decision to play more tournaments.