United States
Biography
Howard Lederer is a professional poker player currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2000 and 2001 Lederer won two World Series of Poker events. He has another 43 WSOP cashes on his record and two World Poker Tour titles.
Intro
Howard Lederer was born in 1963 in Concord, New Hampshire. He is mostly known in the poker world for winning two WSOP bracelets along with two WPT titles as well as establishing and managing the infamous Full Tilt Poker online poker site.
Background
From an early age Lederer was a keen chess player and spent most of his time playing the game. He moved to New York in his late teens to study at the Columbia University and discovered some of the biggest chess clubs in town, the Marshall Chess Club and Manhattan Chess Club. That's where Lederer picked up poker. He soon got good at it and eventually moved to Las Vegas seeking higher stakes and more juicier action.
World Series of Poker
Lederer has two World Series of Poker bracelets in his trophy collection and a total of 43 WSOP cashes. In 2010 he finished second in the non-bracelet Tournament of Champions invitational event collecting his biggest WSOP cash prize of $250,000.
Lederer won his first bracelet in 2000 when he took down the $5,000 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event for almost $200,000. It took only one year for Lederer to win his second one. In the summer of 2011 he won the $5,000 No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw tournament and took home just over $160,000 in cash along with the prestigious trophy.
Howard Lederer's Top 8 WSOP Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $5,000 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo | 1st | $198,000 |
| 2001 | $5,000 No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw | 1st | $165,870 |
| 1993 | $1,500 Omaha Limit | 2nd | $35,535 |
| 2009 | WSOPE £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha | 2nd | £126,134 ($207,946) |
| 1994 | $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Split | 3rd | $31,800 |
| 1994 | $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em | 3rd | $46,950 |
| 2004 | $1,500 Seven Card Razz | 3rd | $28,600 |
| 2008 | WSOPE £2,500 Limit H.O.R.S.E. | 3rd | £30,250 ($55,016) |
World Poker Tour
Lederer has two World Poker Tour titles to his name along with three more first place finishes in non-championship events. Lederer won his first WPT tournament in 2002 when he came out victorious in the World Poker Finals $10,000 Main Event in Mashantucket for more than $320,000. Just one year later Lederer triumphed in his second WPT championship event, the Party Poker Million II $5,000 Limit Hold'em and collected almost $300,000 for his win.
Howard Lederer's Top 5 WPT Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | World Poker Finals $10,000 Main Event | 1st | $320,400 |
| 2003 | Party Poker Million II $5,000 Limit Hold'em | 1st | $289,150 |
| 2003 | Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em | 1st | $220,820 |
| 2004 | Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em | 1st | $339,842 |
| 2004 | Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha | 1st | $139,680 |
Other Achievements
In January, 2008 Lederer scored the biggest cash prize in his career of almost $1.1 million which he collected for winning the Aussie Millions $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em Challenge. Two years later he took home $250,000 for the runner-up finish in the FullTiltPoker.com Doubles Poker Championship Finals in Las Vegas. Lederer was also a regular at some of the most popular TV poker shows such as Poker After Dark and Sky Sports' Poker Million. He won a number of these televised tournaments taking home six-figure cashes.
Sponsorship
Lederer was the founder and one of the directors of the Full Tilt Poker online poker site. He also represented the brand in live tournaments. In 2011 along with two other Full Tilt directors, Rafe Furst and Chris Ferguson, Lederer was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for money laundering and fraud.
Did you know?
- In September, 2012 after more than a year of silence Howard Lederer did a seven-hour interview with PokerNews' Matthew Parvis. In the series of seven half an hour episodes, called “The Lederer Files” Howard tells his side of the Full Tilt story.
- Lederer is a brother to another famous poker player, Annie Duke.
