Howard Lederer was born into in a family of 5 in which he loved gambling on various card games at a young age. He found himself getting very competitive in these particular card games as he was playing 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 City to participate in some formidable chess. While playing chess, he was introduced to a poker game going on in the rear of the room. Howard’s initial two years were rough as he would play countless hours and fail to win most times. He earned some extra money by being an assistant for the poker enthusiasts. He theorized he could boost his game by analyzing his life outside of poker. He brought about an effort to get more sleep and focus attention more on poker.

The real advancement in his skills began when he began playing at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon club where the best players would frequently wager against each other. Howard had access into a few of the greatest players in chess. With their help, he would hone his strategic thinking techniques. Howard applied these strategy concepts to the game of NL hold’em.

He also helped his sister Annie Duke learn the game of poker. Annie Duke was an excellent student of the game as she would always be asking questions about how to make the correct choice. Howard Lederer told Annie Duke to head out to Vegas and compete in the WSOP competition. Annie is one of the best female players the poker world ever. He relocated to Sin City in Nineteen Ninety Three and played cash games for the following decade. When the WPT grew in popularity, he decided to play more tournaments.