Howard Lederer lived in a family of five in which he enjoyed playing different card games at a young age. He found himself becoming really aggressive in these particular card games while competing against his dad. After finishing Sr. High school, Howard made a decision to place college on hold for a little while and moved away to New York City to compete in some serious chess. While competing in chess, he was brought in to a poker game taking place in the rear of the room. Howard’s first two years were rough as he played extensive hours and lost a majority of the time. He made some additional money by being an assistant for the poker players. He judged he possibly could boost his game by adjusting his life away from poker. He made an attempt to get more sleep and concentrate even more on poker.
The real advancement in his game happened when he started wagering at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon club where the best gamblers would regularly challenge each other. He had access into several of the greatest minds in chess. With their help, Howard would sharpen his strategic thinking techniques. Howard applied these strategic ideas to the game of NL Texas Holdem.
Howard also assisted his sister Annie Duke master poker. Annie was a great student of the game as she would always be asking questions about the right way to make the correct decision. He told Annie to head out to Sin City and compete in the WSOP competition. Annie is one of the strongest female players the poker arena today. Howard moved to Vegas in 1993 and participated in money games for the next 10 years. When the WPT grew in popularity, Howard decided to compete in more tournaments.