Howard Lederer lived in a family of five in which he loved gambling on various card games when he was young. He discovered himself becoming very aggressive in these card games while competing against his dad. After graduating from Sr. High school, Howard decided to put college on hold for a little while and relocated to New York City to compete in some big-time chess. While playing chess, he was brought in to a poker game going on in the rear of the room. Howard’s initial 2 years were tough as he played many hours and do not win a majority of the time. He made some extra money by being an runner for the poker players. He theorized he might improve his game by balancing his life away from poker. He brought about an effort to get more sleep and concentrate even more on poker.
The actual improvement in his abilities happened when he began wagering at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon association where the greatest players would regularly challenge each other. He was able to access a few of the greatest minds in chess. With their help, Howard would tweak his strategic thinking skills. Howard applied these strategy ideas to the game of NL holdem.
Howard Lederer also assisted his sibling Annie Duke learn poker. She was an excellent student of poker as she constantly asked questions about how to make the proper choice. He told Annie Duke to head out to Las Vegas and compete in the World Series of Poker competition. Annie is one of the strongest women players the poker world today. He moved to Las Vegas in 1993 and participated in cash games for the next decade. When the World Poker Tournament grew in popularity, he decided to play more tournaments.