Poker Professional

Howard Lederer - "The Professor"

Howard Lederer is one of poker's most accomplished names. It is no mystery to why he takes the diagnostic and more serious approach to the game with his father being a writer and linguist, Lederer's background was purely academic and that is why he is best known as "The Professor."

The Lederer family would commonly gather on the living room floor and play all sorts of card games, including poker. But it was chess that was the grounds for Howard Lederer's delay from school for a year. One day at the chess club, he noticed a poker game being held in the back room and began to join the sessions regularly. Ever since, he became addicted to the game and would work all throughout the day and play at night, until he realized that he would need sleep in order to perform well.

The Mayfair Club in New York is where Lederer sharpened his poker skills at the newly introduced No-Limit Hold'em poker games with big poker names Dan Harrington, Steve Zolotow, Jay Heimowitz, and Erik Seidel. Howard Lederer is big brother to Annie Duke to whom he would give poker advice.

Lederer decided he needed to move to Las Vegas, Nevada in order to develop his game further. In 1994, his career began to boom when he won his first Hall of Fame Poker Classic title in the $2,500 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw. A year later he protected that title by winning his second $3,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw at the Hall of Fame Poker Classic.

At the World Series of Poker 2000, Lederer really started to make his mark, when he took over the $5,000 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event and carried off $198,000 along with a World Series of Poker bracelet. The poker pro followed it up with another bracelet win at the WSOP $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw 2001.

Now having two WSOP bracelets, he went on to collect two more World Poker Tour titles. In 2002, Lederer won the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em at the Main Event in the World Poker Finals bringing in $320,400. And at the Party Poker Million II Cruise, he conquered the $5,000 Limit Hold'em in 2003 where he also was awarded the "Player of the Year" by the World Poker Tour contest.

Year after year Howard Lederer was the star marking the beginning of one out of three Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic WPT Championships at the $2,500 No Limit Hold'em event 2003 and again in 2004, and his third championship in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event in 2004.

With his Wife and son Mattias, poker living in Las Vegas has proven successful for Howard Lederer.

Over $3,200,000 is the sum of all his live tournament earnings.