Tag Archives: Howard Lederer

On Different Views and Scenarios

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Hi,

I have several questions to ask. Hope you have time. Thanks in advance!

  1. In NL100, I oftentimes witness players buying in with $10, $15, $20 or may be $40. Well, I believe playing the short stack has its own advantages. However, I’m wondering if how should I deal and play with it when I have a full buy-in, at least. Any idea?

    Consider that I was in early position and with 88 I limped in. At middle position, with $20, I folded to a short stack. Such player raised to $4 and everyone else folded including both the small and big blinds. It was then my turn, but I don’t know what to do. I was considering if I’d call his raise or just re-raise him. If I’d call his raise, it would be a goodbye for my set on the flop and if I’d re-raise him, he might opt to go all in. At some point, I thought of folding. What do you think? I’m really sick and tired playing at a table full of short stacks, any advice?

  2. I really wonder if there’s any difference playing at NL tournaments than at cash games. I believe in NL tournaments, I have to lose first a lot of chips before I could have my set. And in a cash game, you can always reload, and there is always a chance to win back any losses.

    Because of the difference, I just always try to play big pairs and AK, AQ and may be KQ and AJ. I’ve always stayed away from suited connectors. And typically, I’m on all-in or fold mode. And in the event my hands are hold up, I go back to average or even above average at the later stage of the game. But sadly, I always end up with the least chips. Any advice for me? Is there any specific hand I should play?

  3. Professionals at High Stakes Poker on GSN tend to always play very loose cash games. In fact, there was one player who raises with A4o. He was then called by someone with K9s. Flop came and brought 9. The player with K9s earlier thought he had the best hand. I don’t know what’s going on. I believe they were just playing loosely then.

Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Raymond Feld
Raymond,

  1. Players with short stacks are going to try and push with big hands and try and double up. My suggestion is to try and play small ball poker and keep the pot small. The other option is to be aggressive and raise more often than normal and get out the way when they push with big hands.
  2. Tournaments are very different than cash games. You have to change your starting hand requirements based on what position that you are in on the table. I would recommend picking up a book or DVD on Texas Holdem. Phil Hellmuth and Howard Lederer have good DVD’s but Dan Harrington’s Harrington on Holdem is the best set of tournament books you can buy.
  3. Players on High Stakes Poker are very loose and very aggressive with their hands. You will also notice big fluctuations with their stacks overall. Watch some of the better players like Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, David Benyamine, and Jennifer Harman and you will see a good mix between loose and solid. Overall, those 4 are usually among the biggest winners around. This year Phil Ivey and David Benyamine are #1 and #2 in amount won online on Full Tilt Poker.

Howard Lederer – “The Professor”

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Howard Lederer grew up in New Hampshire as the son of an English teacher and linguist. Through school and college his gaming interest centered on chess. While attending college at Columbia University in New York City, he was introduced to poker and soon began playing at the famed Mayfair Club. The Mayfair Club was also home to other poker great Dan Harrington, Jay Heimowitz, and Steve Zolotow. He picked up the nickname of “The Professor” at the table due to his studied approach to the game.

Lederer began playing in major tournaments in 1987 when he played at the World Series of Poker. He made the money that year in the $1,500 Limit Holdem event and made the final table of the Main Event. He would eventually finish in 5th place, taking home $56,250. He would make two final tables at the WSOP the next year, placing 7th in both the $1,000 Limit Omaha and $1,500 Limit Holdem events. Lederer would continue to make numerous final tables at the WSOP through the 1990’s, but could never quite break through.

2000 was when Lederer achieved his first major title. He would enter the $5,000 Omaha 8 or Better event at the WSOP and wound up heads-up with Allen Cunningham. In the end, Lederer would come out on top and take home his first gold bracelet and $198,000. Now that he taken home his first major title, he returned to the WSOP the following year hoping to make a repeat performance. Lederer made the final table of the $5,000 2-7 Draw event and eventually came out on top after a heads-up match with Freddy Deeb. Lederer would take home $165,870 for this win.

Lederer would not cash in any events in the 2002 WSOP but he was able to win the first of two WPT titles. First, he won the Main Event of the World Poker Finals to take home $320,400 and then less than 6 months later; he won Party Poker Million, taking home $289,150. Lederer would then have good success in the preliminary events of the Five Star WPT Championship at the Bellagio in 2003 and 2004. He took down three events totaling nearly $700,000. Lederer would then go on to cash 7 times at the 2007 WSOP, making 4 final tables.

After the 2004 WSOP, Lederer fell of the poker map for the most part. He did have a few cashes but other poker related business ventures took up a lot of his time. He helped to create Full Tilt Poker and also put out several poker DVD’s. He also runs the Howard Lederer Poker Fantasy Camp.

It wasn’t until the 2008 Aussie Millions that Lederer made a significant win in the poker world. He was able to take down the $100,000 buy-in No Limit event, which netted him his biggest score in poker to date at nearly $1.1 Million. He would then cash three times at the WSOP, which included a final table. He then went to the WSOP Europe and made the final table of the H.O.R.S.E. event. He finished 3rd in the event.

Lederer has admitted that his other businesses have gotten in the way of him working on his game but has recently stated that he will be playing more and looks forward to being competitive again. With almost $5 Million in tournament winnings, Lederer already has established himself as a champion. Now that he is beginning to refocus on poker, the “professor” should continue to school players at the table for a long time to come.