Howard Lederer was born into in a family of 5 in which he liked participating in numerous card games at a young age. He found himself becoming very competitive in these card games while competing against his father. After graduating from secondary school, Howard decided to place college on hold for a little while and headed to New York City to participate in some formidable chess. While participating in chess, he was introduced to a poker game going on in the back of the room. Howard’s first two years were tough as he would play extensive hours and don’t win most times. He made some additional money by being an runner for the poker enthusiasts. He believed he possibly could boost his game by analyzing his life outside of poker. He made an effort to get more sleep and focus attention more on poker.
The definite improvement in his game happened when he started betting at the Mayfair Club in New York. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon club where the best players would regularly challenge each other. Howard was able to access several of the best players in chess. With their help, he would tweak his cunning thinking skills. He applied these strategic concepts to the game of NL Texas Holdem.
Howard also assisted his sibling Annie Duke learn the game of poker. Annie Duke was a superb student of the game as she constantly asked questions about how to make the proper decision. Howard told Annie to move out to Vegas and play in the WSOP tournaments. Annie is one of the best female players the poker world has ever seen. Howard relocated to Vegas in 1993 and competed in money games for the following 10 years. When the WPT gained popularity, he decided to play more tournaments.