Howard Lederer lived in a family of 5 in which he loved participating in various card games at a young age. He found himself becoming very competitive in these card games as he was competing against his father. After graduating from Sr. High school, Howard made a decision to place higher education on hold for a bit and headed to New York to compete in some serious chess. While playing chess, he was brought in to a poker game taking place in the back of the room. Howard’s first two years were rough as he played countless hours and lose most times. He earned some additional money by being an runner for the poker players. He theorized he might improve his game by analyzing his life away from poker. He made an attempt to acquire more rest and focus attention more on the game.
The actual improvement in his skills happened when he started playing at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon association where the the most favorable players would often challenge each other. Howard was able to access some of the best players in chess. With their assistance, he would hone his logical thinking abilities. Howard applied these strategic ideas to the game of No-Limit holdem.
He also assisted his sibling Annie Duke master poker. Annie was a superb student of the game as she constantly asked questions about the right way to make the proper decision. Howard told Annie to head out to Las Vegas and play in the World Series of Poker tournaments. She is one of the greatest women players the poker world has ever seen. Howard moved to Vegas in 1993 and played money games for the successive decade. When the WPT gained popularity, he made the decision to compete in more tournaments.
