Howard Lederer grew up in a family of 5 where he enjoyed participating in various card games at a young age. He discovered himself getting very aggressive in these card games while competing against his father. After finishing Sr. High school, Howard decided to put higher education on hold for a bit and moved to New York City to compete in some serious chess. While participating in 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 a majority of the time. He made some extra cash by becoming an runner for the poker players. He believed he could boost his game by balancing his life outside of poker. He made an effort to acquire more rest and focus attention even more on poker.

The actual improvement in his game began when he began gambling at the Mayfair Club in New York. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon association where the greatest gamblers would often play against one another. He had access into a few of the greatest minds in chess. With their assistance, he would sharpen his logical thinking techniques. He applied these strategic concepts to the game of No-Limit texas hold’em.

Howard Lederer also assisted his sibling Annie Duke learn the game of poker. She was a great student of the game as she constantly asked questions about how to make the proper choice. He told Annie to head out to Las Vegas and play in the WSOP tournaments. She is one of the greatest women players the poker arena ever. He relocated to Sin City in 1993 and competed in money games for the successive 10 years. When the WPT grew in popularity, Howard made the decision to participate in more tournaments.