Howard Lederer grew up in a family of five where he liked betting on various card games at a young age. He found himself becoming very competitive in these card games while playing his dad. After graduating from secondary school, Howard made a decision to place higher education on hold for a little while and headed to New York to participate in some big-time chess. While playing chess, he was introduced to a poker game going on in the back of the room. Howard’s first two years were rough as he would play extensive hours and fail to win a majority of the time. He made some extra cash by being an runner for the poker players. He believed he possibly could better his game by analyzing his life away from poker. He brought about an attempt to get more rest and focus attention more on poker.
The real advancement in his abilities began when he started gambling at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon club where the greatest gamblers would frequently challenge each other. He was able to access a few of the greatest minds in chess. With their assistance, he would hone his logical thinking skills. Howard applied these strategy ideas to the game of NL hold’em.
Howard Lederer also assisted his sister Annie Duke master the game of poker. Annie was a great student of poker as she constantly asked questions about the right way to make the proper decision. Howard told Annie Duke to move out to Vegas and compete in the World Series of Poker tournaments. Annie Duke is one of the greatest female players the poker arena today. He headed to Las Vegas in 1993 and competed in cash games for the subsequent 10 years. When the WPT gained popularity, Howard made the decision to play more tournaments.