Howard Lederer
Howard Lederer, known as
“The Professor” as of late, claims that his fuel for
poker was sparked at a young age because of his father.
As a child, he usually found himself engrossed in card
games and felt a competitive need to beat his dad at the
household sessions. Moving out when he was 18, Lederer
decided on Columbia University for his undergraduate
degree but never got far with his studies when he
relocated to New York City.
Lederer’s passion at the time was for another strategy
game – chess. He frequented local chess clubs to hone
his game. One of these clubs featured a back room
dedicated to poker and Lederer began his lifelong
obsession with the game. Despite being a world-class
professional in his later years, he struggled at the
game early on. He eventually found himself sitting
alongside the likes of Steve Zolotow, Dan Harrington,
and Erik Seidel at the Mayfair Club, which was largely
dedicated to poker at the time.
In the late ‘80s, Lederer began to frequent the WSOP and
cashed in a few events. He also decided to teach his
sister Annie Duke the ropes of the game. From his
teachings, she has managed to rack up a laundry list of
WSOP accomplishments herself. During the ‘90s, Lederer
relocated again to Las Vegas to focus on high-stakes
cash games.
While he continued to fare well at the World Series, it
wasn’t until 2000 that he won his first bracelet in the
Omaha H/L split event. In 2001, Lederer won his second
bracelet at the Lowball 2-7 event. Even though he was
still mainly a cash game player, Lederer took an
interest in the up-and-coming World Poker Tour and
decided to participate in more tournaments. Since 2002,
he has gone on to win 4 major tournaments including the
2002 World Poker Finals, the 2003 Party Poker Million,
and back-to-back wins at the Bellagio Five Diamond
Classic in 2003 and 2004.
An extremely accomplished poker player, Howard Lederer
is somber at the poker table with an almost unreadable
face. He is quiet and focused yet still a force to be
reckoned with at any event he enters. As commendable as
his poker resume is his resolute to stay close to his
wife and son. He always chooses time with them over the
poker tournament circuit. He currently plays at
Full Tilt Poker.
Back
to Poker Players.
This article or portions of this article
may not be used in any form without permission.
|
