Howard Lederer lived in a family of 5 in which he liked playing different card games at a young age. He discovered himself becoming very aggressive in these card games as he was playing his father. After graduating from high school, Howard made a decision to put higher education on hold for a little while and headed to New York to compete in some formidable chess. While playing chess, he was brought in to a poker game taking place in the back of the room. Howard’s initial 2 years were difficult as he would play many hours and lose a majority of the time. He made some additional money by becoming an assistant for the poker players. He believed he could better his game by analyzing his life outside of poker. He made an effort to acquire more rest and focus attention more on the game.
The actual advancement in his game happened when he began playing at the Mayfair Club in New York City. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon club where the the most favorable gamblers would regularly challenge one another. Howard was able to access a few of the foremost players in chess. With their help, Howard would sharpen his strategic thinking abilities. He applied these strategic ideas to the game of NL Texas Holdem.
He also assisted his sister Annie Duke master the game of poker. She was an excellent student of the game as she would consistently be asking questions about how to make the proper choice. He told Annie Duke to move out to Vegas and compete in the WSOP competition. Annie Duke is one of the best female players the poker world ever. He moved to Sin City in 1993 and played money games for the successive decade. When the World Poker Tournament grew in popularity, Howard decided to participate in more tournaments.