Howard Lederer is arguably the smartest poker player in the entire world. He is one of only four players with more than one WPT victory and more than one WSOP bracelet; he is a chess champion and a member of the Mayfair Club. His sister, poker pro Annie Duke, credits him with teaching her to play the game. He has also created an evolutionary chart for becoming a poker master, which is derived from Zen Buddhism's four stages of enlightenment.

He is thought to be the smartest player in the world because he knows that he has to risk money in order to make it, and to make money without risk, he has to own the table where the game is played. He has multiple jobs away from the table; he is a commentator for various poker shows and he also runs a poker fantasy camp.

Most notably, Howard Lederer is the owner of TiltWare, the parent company to the wildly popular Full Tilt Poker. It's not known exactly how much that company is worth, but judging by the number of players on-site at any given hour, it is estimated to be worth up to five billion dollars.

Lederer is known as the Professor, and his other claim to fame is the radical physical changes he underwent during his storied career. When he first came onto the poker scene, he was very obese, but a dietary change and a commitment to physical activity have put him into the best shape he's ever been in.