Howard Lederer was born into in a family of five in which he loved gambling on various card games at a young age. He found himself becoming really competitive in these particular card games while competing against his father. After finishing Sr. High school, Howard made a decision to put college on hold for a little while and moved away to New York to participate in some big-time chess. While participating in chess, he was introduced to a poker game going on in the rear of the room. Howard’s first 2 years were difficult as he would play countless hours and lost most times. He made some extra cash by being an runner for the poker players. He judged he could improve his game by analyzing his life away from poker. He made an effort to get more rest and focus attention more on the game.
The definite improvement in his abilities began when he began wagering 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. He had access into several of the best players in chess. With their help, Howard Lederer would tweak his strategic thinking abilities. He used these strategy ideas in the game of NL texas hold’em.
He also helped his sibling Annie Duke learn the game of poker. Annie Duke was a great student of the game as she would consistently be asking questions about the right way to make the proper decision. He told Annie Duke to head out to Las Vegas and compete in the WSOP tournaments. She is one of the greatest women players the poker arena has ever seen. Howard headed to Las Vegas in 1993 and played money games for the following 10 years. When the World Poker Tournament grew in popularity, he made the decision to play more tournaments.