Born in 1964, in Concord, New Hampshire, Howard Lederer is also known in the world of professional poker as “The Professor”.
Born into a family of intellectuals, he has always exhibited a natural ability in games requiring clear-headed analytical thinking. As a child and a teenager, he was a talented chess player. His move to New York after high school was meant to be a continuation of his development as a world-class chess player, as the Big Apple with its numerous chess clubs was a fertile soil where a young talent could take roots and grow.
He attended Columbia University, and played chess at the Mayfair Club where he met Eric Seidel and Dan Harrington.
Soon, chess would be replaced by poker on the trio’s agenda though, and even though he admitted he saw little success in his early years as a poker player, Lederer soon emerged as one of the smoothest, best-articulated and skillful poker players in the area.
As a natural continuation of his evolution as a player, poker as means of making a living soon began to make sense to Howard.
He moved to Las Vegas in 1994, and began playing high stakes poker there. One of Howard’s sisters is Annie Duke, also a well know professional poker player currently endorsing Ultimate Bet, together with fellow professional Phil Hellmuth.
Probably on account of his positive approach to the game, (he’s applied zen philosophy to his game theory) success didn’t wait long to tag along.
To day, Lederer has 37 money finishes in different WOP events, has 2 golden bracelets and a 5th place finish in the 1987 WSOP Main Event.
He also has 2 WPT titles, 3 WPT final tables and 8 money finishes.
It is rumored that he’s made almost $5 million in tournament winnings in his professional career.
Lederer once got into a short-lived conflict with Daniel Negreanu over the latter’s remarks concerning his sister, Annie. Negreanu promptly apologized though, and they are now good friends.
Apparently The Professor doesn’t particularly appreciate poker playing loud-mouths either, and on one account refused to shake notorious smack-talker Tony Guoga’s hand, after being eliminated from a tournament.
Lederer has been struggling with weight issues through most of his adult life. He once earned the nickname “Bubba” from none other than poker legend Doyle Brunson in this respect, and once won a $10,000 prop bet by eating a cheeseburger despite being a vegan.
He eventually chose to take care of his weight problems through gastric bypass surgery.