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Howard Lederer's nickname is well deserved. He is just about the smartest
man that will ever sit down at a poker table. He has analyzed every poker
situation that will ever come up, and he knows exactly what to do at all
times. He is the kind of man who sees the logic in the way that the universe
has aligned. To Lederer, the Ace of spades and the Northern Lights are
intertwined. It just depends on the way that you look at them.
Howard Lederer is loved by his fellow poker players. He is willing to
discuss the game with just about anybody he encounters, and people recognize
him as a massive wealth of knowledge. If you have a question about poker,
Howard has the answer. If you want to know how you should have played a
certain hand in a particular situation, go ask Howard (it is hardly
surprising that Howard is also a top television commentator). Howard is a
very close friend of Gus Hansen, and the two spend hours together working
out in a gym and analyzing poker (although judging from Howard's girth it
looks like he needs to spend more time analyzing the gym equipment and less
time on the cards). If you could ever commit Gus and Howard's conversations
to paper you would have a guaranteed best seller. Howard is also rightly
famous for his tutorship of his sister, Annie Duke. Annie is arguably the
most successful female player ever, and she has won more money at the WSOP
than any other woman.
Howard Lederer is a part of the famed East Coast poker contingency that
plied their trade at the legendary Mayfair Club in New York. This group
included Erik Seidel, Steve Z. and 1996 World Champion "Action" Dan
Harrington. In the mid-eighties, Howard and the boys were one of the first
groups to play No-Limit Hold'Em in New York. They would play for up to 10
hours a day, and then they would analyze the game all night. Howard has said
that this period was more about research than competition, and it wasn't
long before the bright lights of Vegas beckoned them all.
Howard's playing style is difficult to define. Much like Phil Hellmuth,
Howard possesses all the gears and will shift gears seamlessly. He is a
chameleon who adapts to his table.
But one thing is crystal clear. When Howard is playing his "A" game he is
second to none. During the first season of the WPT Howard was playing his
best poker. He made the final table of the Foxwoods and Party Poker Million
events, and then he went on to win both. Watching him play and seeing his
hole cards in those events is an embarrassment of poker riches. There is so
much information to be had. Any serious fan of poker should get those DVDs
and analyze them, because they are an intimate glimpse into the thought
processes of a man at the top of his game. Howard wouldn't want it any other
way.
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