Howard Lederer lived in a family of five where he liked gambling on different card games when he was young. He found himself becoming really aggressive in these card games while playing his dad. After finishing high school, Howard made a decision to put college on hold for a little while and headed to New York to play some serious chess. While playing chess, he was introduced 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 most times. He earned some additional money by becoming an runner for the poker players. He theorized he could improve his game by adjusting his life outside of poker. He brought about an effort to get more rest and focus even more on the game.
The actual advancement in his game happened when he started playing at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon association where the best players would regularly challenge one another. Howard had access into several of the foremost minds in chess. With their assistance, Howard Lederer would tweak his logical thinking abilities. Howard applied these strategic ideas to the game of No-Limit holdem.
Howard Lederer also assisted his sister Annie Duke master the game of poker. She was a superb student of poker as she constantly asked questions about how to make the correct decision. Howard told Annie to move out to Sin City and compete in the WSOP competition. Annie Duke is one of the best women players the poker arena has ever seen. He headed to Las Vegas in 1993 and competed in cash games for the successive 10 years. When the WPT grew in popularity, Howard made the decision to participate in more tournaments.