Howard Lederer was born into in a family of five in which he liked gambling on numerous card games when he was young. He discovered himself getting really competitive in these card games while competing against his dad. After finishing secondary school, Howard decided to put college on hold for a bit and moved to New York City to compete in some formidable chess. While playing chess, he was brought in to a poker game going on in the rear of the room. Howard’s 1st two years were tough as he would play many hours and fail to win most times. He earned some extra cash by being an assistant for the poker players. He theorized he might improve his game by balancing his life away from poker. He made an effort to get more sleep and focus even more on the game.

The real advancement in his abilities began when he started wagering at the Mayfair Club in New York. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon association where the the most favorable players would often challenge one another. Howard had access into several of the foremost players in chess. With their assistance, he would tweak his cunning thinking techniques. Howard applied these strategy concepts to the game of NL hold’em.

Howard Lederer also helped his sister Annie Duke master poker. She was a great student of the game as she would always be asking questions about the right way to make the correct decision. Howard Lederer told Annie Duke to move out to Vegas and compete in the WSOP tournaments. Annie Duke is one of the best female players the poker arena ever. He relocated to Sin City in 1993 and played cash games for the following decade. When the World Poker Tournament grew in popularity, he made the decision to play more tournaments.