Howard Lederer remembers his first time. It was back in the 1990s, during a rehearsal dinner prior to the wedding of his sister and fellow poker pro Annie Duke. Lederer had just won a tournament, which led to a small write-up in a poker magazine. ‘One of the guests approached me with a copy of the magazine,’ recounts Lederer, ‘and asked me to sign it. I gave him the autograph but thought it was strange.’

It may have been strange back then, but no more. These days hulking Lederer – a man with a patient disposition and kind eyes that turn unnervingly piercing when he decides to stare down an opponent – cannot pass through a casino without drawing attention.