Howard Lederer grew up in a family of five in which he enjoyed participating in different card games when he was young. He discovered himself getting really competitive in the above-mentioned card games as he was playing his dad. After graduating from high school, Howard decided to place higher education on hold for a bit and moved to New York City to compete in some serious chess. While participating in chess, he was brought in to a poker game going on in the rear of the room. Howard’s initial 2 years were rough as he played countless hours and lost most times. He made some additional cash by becoming an runner for the poker enthusiasts. He judged he might better his game by analyzing his life outside of poker. He brought about an effort to acquire more sleep and focus attention even more on poker.
The definite improvement in his game happened when he began playing at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon association where the best gamblers would often wager against each other. Howard was able to access some of the best minds in chess. With their help, he would sharpen his strategic thinking techniques. Howard applied these strategic ideas to the game of NL Texas Holdem.
He also assisted his sister Annie Duke learn poker. Annie Duke was a great student of the game as she constantly asked questions about how to make the correct decision. Howard Lederer told Annie Duke to head out to Las Vegas and compete in the WSOP tournaments. Annie is one of the strongest women players the poker arena has ever seen. Howard Lederer headed to Las Vegas in 1993 and participated in cash games for the following 10 years. When the WPT gained popularity, he decided to compete in more tournaments.