David Sklansky
Encyclopedia
Life and career
Sklansky was born and raised in Teaneck, New JerseyTeaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, and a suburb in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 39,776, making it the second-most populous among the 70 municipalities in Bergen County....
, where he graduated from Teaneck High School
Teaneck High School
Teaneck High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school, which is part of the Teaneck Public Schools district in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States...
in 1966. He attended the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, but left before graduation. He returned to Teaneck and passed multiple Society of Actuaries
Society of Actuaries
The Society of Actuaries is a professional organization for actuaries based in North America. It was founded in 1949 as the merger of two major actuarial organizations in the United States: the Actuarial Society of America and the American Institute of Actuaries...
exams by the time he was 20, and worked for an actuarial firm.
Sklansky is generally considered a top authority on gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
. He has written many books on poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
, blackjack
Blackjack
Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
, and general gambling.
Sklansky has won three World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...
bracelets, two in 1982 ($800 Mixed Doubles, and $1000 Draw Hi
Draw poker
Draw poker is any poker variant in which each player is dealt a complete hand before the first betting round, and then develops the hand for later rounds by replacing, or "drawing", cards....
) and one in 1983 ($1000 Limit Omaha Hi). He also won the Poker By The Book invitational event on the 2004 World Poker Tour
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...
, outlasting Phil Hellmuth Jr
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...
, Mike Caro
Mike Caro
Mike A. Caro is a professional poker player, pioneer poker theorist, author of poker books, and casino executive.-Author:...
, T. J. Cloutier
T. J. Cloutier
Thomas James "T.J." Cloutier is a professional poker player from Richardson, Texas. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006.-Early years:...
, and Mike Sexton
Mike Sexton
Michael Richard Sexton is an American professional poker player and commentator. He is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.-Early years:...
, and then finally overcoming Doyle Brunson
Doyle Brunson
Doyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to...
.
Sklansky attended the Wharton School of Business
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
for a year before leaving to become a professional gambler. He briefly took on a job as an actuary
Actuary
An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries provide expert assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms ....
before embarking into poker. While on the job he discovered a faster way to do some of the calculations and took that discovery to his boss. The boss told him he could go ahead and do it that way if he wanted but wouldn’t pass on the information to the other workers. "In other words, I knew something no one else knew, but I got no recognition for it," Sklansky is quoted as saying in Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez is an English poet, writer and critic who publishes under the name A. Alvarez and Al Alvarez....
's The Biggest Game in Town. "In poker, if you're better than anyone else, you make immediate money. If there's something I know about the game that the other person doesn't, and if he's not willing to learn or can't understand, then I take his money."
Sklansky resides in Henderson, Nevada
Henderson, Nevada
-Demographics:According to the 2000 census, there were 175,381 people, 66,331 households, and 47,095 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,200.8 people per square mile . There were 71,149 housing units at an average density of 892.8 per square mile...
.
Books
Sklansky has authored or co-authored 13 books on gambling theory and poker. His books are published by Two Plus Two Publishing. His book cover art often features hand guns. His 1976 book Hold'em Poker was the first book widely available on the subject.In 2010 Slansky and Alan N. Schoonmaker released a book titled `DUCY?. The title is an acronym his fans at twoplustwo.com had coined because he often ended his posts by asking, "Do you see why?" The book tells readers how to combine mathematics, logic, probability theory, psychology, and "out of the box" thinking to come up with creative solutions to their problems.
| Book Title | ISBN |
|---|---|
| Gambling for a Living by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth Mason Malmuth Mason Malmuth is an American poker player, and author of books on both poker and gambling. He is the owner of Two Plus Two Publishing, which publishes books and runs an online gambling discussion forum.Malmuth was born and grew up in Coral Gables, Florida... |
(ISBN 1-880685-16-7) |
| Getting the Best of It by David Sklansky | (ISBN 1-880685-04-3) |
| Hold'em Poker by David Sklansky | (ISBN 1-880685-08-6) |
| Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players, 21st Century Edition by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth | (ISBN 1-880685-22-1) |
| Poker, Gaming, & Life by David Sklansky | (ISBN 1-880685-17-5) |
| Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players by David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth, and Ray Zee Ray Zee Ray Zee is the pen name of the author of Hi-Lo Split Poker for Advanced Players and Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players.Born and raised in New Jersey, Zee is now semi-retired from high stakes poker and makes his home in Montana.-External links:*... |
(ISBN 1-880685-23-X) |
| Sklansky on Poker by David Sklansky | (ISBN 1-880685-06-X) |
| Sklansky on Razz Razz (poker) Razz is a form of stud poker that is normally played for ace-to-five low . The object of Razz is to make the lowest possible five-card hand from the seven cards you are dealt. In Razz, straights and flushes do not count against the player for low, and the ace usually plays low... by David Sklansky |
(ISBN 0-87019-050-4) |
| Sklansky Talks Blackjack by David Sklansky | (ISBN 1-880685-21-3) |
| Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big with Expert Play by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, and Mason Malmuth | (ISBN 1-880685-32-9) |
| Theory of Poker by David Sklansky | (ISBN 1-880685-00-0) |
| Tournament Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky | (ISBN 1-880685-28-0) |
| No Limit Hold 'em: Theory and Practice by David Sklansky and Ed Miller | (ISBN 1-880685-37-X) |
World Series of Poker Bracelets
| Year | Tournament | Prize (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 1982 World Series of Poker -Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 104 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament. Jack Straus beat Dewey Tomko to win. -Final table:-Other High Finishes:... |
$1,000 Draw High | $15,500 |
| 1982 | $800 Mixed Doubles | $8,800 |
| 1983 1983 World Series of Poker The 1983 World Series of Poker was held May 9th to May 12th, 1983 at Binion's Horseshoe.-Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 108 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament. Doyle Brunson fell just short in his attempt to win the main event for a third time when he... |
$1,000 Limit Omaha | $25,500 |