Can you believe they’ve even got a Wii game?
The brother/sister act of Howard Lederer and Annie Duke is one of the most famous in poker. Lederer has been around poker for a long time, and he taught his sister to play a few years ago. They both have had success, with each winning millions of dollar individually in their careers.
If the two had to play each other you would have to give the edge to Lederer. He taught Annie all she knows, and his experience is far more extensive than hers. Anything could happen in a poker game, but I think Lederer would win more if they played numerous times.
Annie Duke can be pushed around if she suffers a beat or two, and tends to play like scared money late in games. Annie has a history of knocking out her brother in tournaments, but Howard may not have that killer instinct against his little sister that he normally does.
Most professional poker players spend the lion’s share of their playing time in live games. The big-name tournament players are famous because of the television coverage of their live play. Lots of these players play online, but it’s not like the live tournament scene. Most celebrity poker players are sponsored by an online poker site. They wear the site’s logo in live events and play on the site for periodic promotions or whenever they want to.
Full Tilt Poker has professionals Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Clonie Gowan, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen and Allen Cunningham on their team.
PokerStars has Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Barry Greenstein, Isabelle Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Tom McEvoy, Victor Ramdin, Vanessa Rouso, and Humberto Brenes.
UltimateBet sponsors professionals Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Jim Worth, Devin Porter and Annie Duke.
The explosion in the popularity of poker the last few years has seen everything that can somehow be attached to the game marketed and sold. This includes books, games, calendars, cards and even poker camps.
It may seem like a novelty idea, but poker camps have become very popular and are big business recently. A number of professional poker players either run their own camp or are affiliated with one in some way. Howard Lederer helps run Poker Reality Camp, Camp Hellmuth is run by Phil Hellmuth and even Doyle Brunson got in on the act with his son Todd Brunson in the Super System Poker Camp. One of the most popular and well-known camps is the WPT Boot Camp run by the same people that produce the World Poker Tour.
With a wide range of admission fees (from as low as $1,500 to as high as $3,500 and up), is it worth shelling out the cash? It’s worth noting that anyone who thinks they can’t learn a few things from a poker pro is a fool, and deserves to keep making mistakes at the table. Internet message boards indicate that most poker players (novice or experts) find the camps well worth the time and money because of the close interaction with the pros and the close attention paid to skills that are actually helpful at the table. If you do have a couple extra grand, attending a poker camp may be a good investment to improve your game and win more cash.
The Poker Players Alliance is a non-profit organization that was created to be one voice for the promotion, integrity and protection of poker players. Its initial issues were protecting professional players from companies profiting from their likeness without paying out royalties. Since the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act came into effect late last year, the organization has had a new primary cause.
The organization has grown to over 747,000 members and has hired former U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato as its Chairman. Many big-name players are members, and Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Greg Raymer are on the Board of Directors. The organization works tirelessly to have the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act repealed, and recent developments indicate that they are making progress.
They were in full support last April when Rep. Barney Frank introduced a bill that would open up the U.S. market for gaming. The PPA also ran the successful “Write Your Congressman” day on June 15, 2006.
Howard Lederer is one of those elite players that have been on the poker scene for a long time. His first WSOP cash was 20 years ago last month, and he’s one of the best no-limit hold’em players in the history of the game. But that’s not me talking; that’s Doyle Brunson’s opinion of him.
Remember the geeky chess club guys in high school? Geeky stereotype notwithstanding, Howard had a real passion and talent for chess as a young man and moved to New York after college to pursue his passion for the game. It was in the backrooms of NYC chess clubs that Howard soon discovered the magic of poker games, and the rest as they say is history.
Howard’s record of achievement speaks for itself with over $3.3 million in tournament winnings alone. He has two WSOP bracelets and two WPT titles, and was the 2003 WPT player of the year. Not a bad collection of awards for the trophy case. He’s also been a high-stakes cash game player since 1994, and his total winnings can only be speculated upon.
When the poker boom hit in 2003, Howard contributed to poker’s expansion in the form of television commentary and instructional material. With proven students like his sister Annie Duke tearing up Vegas cash games, he quickly cashed in on instructional books and DVD’s as his celebrity continued to grow. His calm demeanour makes him one of the most trusted poker personalities on the scene today; a great image to have when you’re selling poker strategy. He’s an advocate for poker etiquette, and even refused to shake the hand of antagonist Tony Guoga after being knocked out of a tournament by him.
His big years were from 2000 to 2004, when he won the bulk of his tournament winnings, but he has shown consistency since the late 80’s. He hasn’t been a dominant force on the tournament scene over the last few years but his many responsibilities to the game keep him away from the tables more than in the past. Not to mention his passion for golf and Grateful Dead concerts (he’s rumoured to have attended over 125).
Lederer is also part of the design team for Full Tilt Poker and he provides commentary and game analysis on FullTiltPoker.net’s “Learning from the Pros”. You’ll also find him on FSN’s “Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament” or running his Poker Fantasy Camp with other Full Tilt Poker stars. He can be found at most big events going on in Vegas, but the one place you don’t want to find the “Professor” is sitting across from you at a poker table.
