David Sklansky - Biography

David Sklansky (born 1947) is an American professional poker player and author.

Life and career

Sklansky was born and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he graduated from Teaneck High School in 1966. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, but left before graduation. He returned to Teaneck and passed multiple Society of Actuaries exams by the time he was 20, and worked for an actuarial firm.

Sklansky is generally considered a top authority on gambling. He has written many books on poker, blackjack, and general gambling.

Sklansky has won three World Series of Poker bracelets, two in 1982 ($800 Mixed Doubles, and $1000 Draw Hi) and one in 1983 ($1000 Limit Omaha Hi). He also won the Poker By The Book invitational event on the 2004 World Poker Tour, outlasting Phil Hellmuth Jr, Mike Caro, T. J. Cloutier, and Mike Sexton, and then finally overcoming Doyle Brunson.

Sklansky attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania for a year before leaving to become a professional gambler. He briefly took on a job as an actuary 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'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.

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.

World Series of Poker Bracelets

External links

• http://www.twoplustwo.com Two Plus Two's official site.
• Hendon Mob tournament results
• World Poker Tour Profile
• PokerListings.com Player Profile
• LePoker.TV video interview with Sklansky