Howard Lederer was born into in a family of five in which he enjoyed participating in different card games at a young age. He discovered himself getting very competitive in these particular card games as he was competing against his father. After graduating from Sr. High school, Howard made a decision to put college on hold for a little bit and moved away to New York to play some serious chess. While playing chess, he was brought in to a poker game going on in the back of the room. Howard’s 1st 2 years were tough as he would play countless hours and do not win a majority of the time. He earned some additional cash by becoming an runner for the poker players. He believed he possibly could improve his game by adjusting his life outside of poker. He brought about an attempt to get more rest and concentrate even more on poker.

The actual advancement in his skills began when he started wagering at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon association where the greatest players would often challenge each other. Howard was able to access some of the foremost players in chess. With their assistance, Howard would tweak his strategic thinking abilities. Howard applied these strategy concepts to the game of No-Limit hold’em.

Howard also helped his sibling Annie Duke learn the game of poker. Annie was a great student of the game as she would consistently be asking questions about how to make the proper choice. He told Annie Duke to head out to Sin City and play in the WSOP competition. Annie Duke is one of the best female players the poker world today. Howard relocated to Vegas in 1993 and participated in cash games for the next decade. When the WPT gained popularity, he made the decision to compete in more tournaments.