Howard Lederer is a renowned poker player who has become known for his distinctive style of play. In addition to being one of the smartest players in the game, “The Professor” also has very good family bloodlines. His sister, Annie Duke, is also a professional poker players and his other sister, Katy Lederer, is a well known poet and author.
Much of Howard Lederer’s poker style can be attributed to his father, who was a teacher in New Hampshire. There, Howard learned an intellectual style that would follow him and give him his characteristic nickname, as well. He played chess in high school and became known as one of the top chess players. Later, he enrolled at Columbia University in New York. It was in the city that he finally found poker and began to learn the nuances of the game. He learned to play at the famous Mayfair Club, which houses other budding stars like Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington.
It didn’t take Lederer long to learn poker, as well. He became one of the best players in the city and in 1994, moved out to Las Vegas to try his hand at the game against the world’s best.
It was in Las Vegas that Howard Lederer gained his reputation as being one of the most intellectual, analytical players on the professional tour. He has attempted to share his wisdom with novice players through a series of videos entitled, “Secrets of No Limit Hold’em”. In addition to that, Lederer is the founder and operator of a poker camp. In addition to that, Lederer has hosted numerous television broadcasts and has become one of the most recognizable faces in the game.
At the tables, Lederer’s style is evident to all who play with him. He shows tremendous focus, yet never gets flustered. Lederer’s poker style, according to him, includes portions of Zen wisdom. The Professor is also very protective of his younger sister. He has, on occasion, chastised other professionals for trying to tear down Annie Duke. One of those players was Daniel Negreanu, who has since cleaned up the issue. He and Lederer are now friends. Lederer has also had issues with loud mouthed Tony Guoga in the past, which came to a head in 2003, when refused to shake the player’s hand following a tournament in Paris.
When it comes to online poker, you will only find Howard Lederer at Full Tilt Poker, a site he helped to build. He plays all of his poker there and can be routinely found in bigger cash games on the site.
He has had great success playing poker in live tournament settings. His all time poker tournament winnings are more than $3.4 million, with his cash game winnings adding to that. In addition, he has the distinction of holding two World Series of Poker bracelets.
Lederer’s personal life is somewhat unique, as he is a practicing vegan. Lederer made that change in his life when he was obese. In order to lose weight, he actually went through surgery and spent a good portion of time running and working out. He currently enjoys lots of outdoor activities in order to stay in shape and keep himself in tip-top condition physically.
Lederer is a resident of Las Vegas, where he lives happily with Suzie, his wife. The couple has one son, Mattias, and at least three dogs to their credit.
Howard Lederer is playing at Full Tilt Poker!
