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 getting very competitive in these card games while competing against his father. After graduating from high school, Howard made a decision to place higher education on hold for a bit and relocated to New York to participate in some formidable chess. While playing chess, he was brought in to a poker game going on in the back of the room. Howard’s first 2 years were difficult as he would play countless hours and don’t win a majority of the time. He earned some additional cash by becoming an assistant for the poker enthusiasts. He theorized he could improve his game by analyzing his life outside of poker. He made an effort to acquire more rest and focus more on poker.
The actual advancement in his game began when he began gambling at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon club where the greatest players would often challenge one another. He had access into some of the best players in chess. With their assistance, he would sharpen his cunning thinking skills. He applied these strategic ideas to the game of NL hold’em.
He also assisted his sibling Annie Duke master the game of poker. Annie Duke was an excellent student of the game as she would consistently be asking questions about the right way to make the correct decision. He told Annie to move out to Vegas and play in the World Series of Poker competition. She is one of the greatest women players the poker arena today. Howard headed to Las Vegas in 1993 and played money games for the following decade. When the WPT gained popularity, he made the decision to participate in more tournaments.