Howard Lederer was born into in a family of 5 where he liked participating in various card games when he was young. He discovered himself becoming very competitive in these card games as he was competing against his father. After graduating from high school, Howard made a decision to place higher education on hold for a little while and relocated to New York to play some serious chess. While playing chess, he was introduced to a poker game going on in the back of the room. Howard’s initial two years were rough as he would play countless hours and do not win most times. He made some additional cash by becoming an runner for the poker players. He judged he possibly could better his game by adjusting his life away from poker. He made an effort to get more rest and focus more on poker.
The real improvement in his game happened when he began betting at the Mayfair Club in New York. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon association where the greatest players would often play against each other. He was able to access a number of the foremost minds in chess. With their help, Howard Lederer would tweak his strategic thinking techniques. Howard applied these strategy ideas to the game of No-Limit holdem.
Howard also helped his sibling Annie Duke master the game of poker. Annie Duke was an excellent student of poker as she would always be asking questions about the right way to make the proper choice. He told Annie Duke to move out to Las Vegas and compete in the WSOP competition. She is one of the strongest women players the poker world ever. He relocated to Las Vegas in 1993 and participated in cash games for the successive 10 years. When the WPT gained popularity, he decided to compete in more tournaments.
