How well do you know poker? Do you know your odds of winning with Big Slick over a pair of fives? Maybe Howard Lederer could help you. Not only is he one of the most tactical poker players in the world. His nick name, the Poker Professor, serves him right and has given him the opportunity to release poker games for the cell phone, and, well, books.
Howard grew up in New Hampshire and got well acquainted with card games before he turned into a teenager. He would sit in the living room, playing everything from poker to black jack and learned to compete with his friends and family. Today, we can tell that his parents were good mentors as they succeeded not only with Howard, but with his sister Annie Lederer, better known as Annie Duke. Howard’s mind was set on winning especially after beating his father in card games and up to this date, he strongly believes his father never intentionally let him win.
In College, Howard soon discovered that chess was more and more important to him. He decided to move to New York and pursue his past dreams of becoming a professional chess player, but instead got hooked on a poker game at the chess club. The obsession of the game became more and more apparent as he spent up to 80 hours per week, sitting there, playing nothing but poker. He ended up broke almost every time but learned how to improve his game over time.
Full Tilt Poker Bonus CodeHoward failed to make a profit on the poker game and instead moved to the nowadays legendary Mayfair Club. But instead of playing backgammon and bridge like most of the other club members, Howard started to examine Texas Hold’em No Limit. It was a newly introduced game to the world of card games and the excitement of something brand new quickly spread among a few players, such as WSOP champion Dan Harrington and poker professional Erik Seidel.
Howard’s next attempt to advance in the poker business was to move to the heart of gambling, Las Vegas. After doing so, he quickly realised that poker was becoming more popular for every day that passed. Some time passed and Howard’s bankroll had increased significantly. He was now participating in high stake Limit and No Limit games and made a good profit. But when he wanted to evolve even further, he asked his competitive sister to join him at the tables in Vegas. Some time after that, she moved to his brother’s town and they quickly picked up each others’ skills.
Today, Howard and Annie belong to the World Series of Poker hall of fame. Howard has won cash prizes in over 30 WSOP tournaments and won a total of two bracelets. Annie has also been crowned as the most successful poker player in the history of WSOP. And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s been a little rivalry over the titles between the two, as Annie has beaten Howard out of several tournaments at the final tables.
If you’re going to play Howard at the tables, know this: he is stiff and still like Phil Ivey and almost as unpredictable as Gus Hansen. To beat his bluffs, you’d probably need the mind of a better professional, or a polygraph.