Howard Lederer was born into in a family of five in which he enjoyed taking part in various card games when he was young. He found himself becoming very competitive in these particular card games while playing his dad. After graduating from high school, Howard decided to put college on hold for a little while and moved to New York to participate in some big-time chess. While competing in chess, he was introduced to a poker game taking place in the rear of the room. Howard’s initial 2 years were tough as he would play countless hours and fail to win most times. He made some extra cash by becoming an assistant for the poker players. He judged he might improve his game by balancing his life outside of poker. He made an effort to get more sleep and concentrate more on poker.
The actual improvement in his abilities happened when he began playing at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon association where the best players would frequently challenge one another. He had access into a number of the foremost players in chess. With their help, Howard Lederer would tweak his strategic thinking techniques. He applied these strategy ideas to the game of NL Texas Holdem.
Howard Lederer also helped his sibling Annie Duke learn poker. Annie Duke was a superb student of the game as she constantly asked questions about how to make the correct decision. He told Annie to move out to Vegas and compete in the WSOP tournaments. Annie Duke is one of the strongest female players the poker world has ever seen. Howard relocated to Las Vegas in 1993 and participated in money games for the next 10 years. When the WPT gained popularity, he made the decision to compete in more tournaments.