David Sklansky, an American poker professional and renowned author of books on poker, was born in 1947, Hackensack, but was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey. His father was a Mathematics professor at the Columbia University and it is not surprising that David Sklansky is good at mathematics too. After graduating from Teaneck High School in 1966, he went to the University of Pennsylvania to attend Wharton School of Business for further education. While pursuing his studies at the University of Pennsylvania, David Sklansky used to cut classes to play poker with his friends and his mathematical mind was busy analyzing the game and evolving new game theories. He discontinued his studies a year before graduation and went back to Teaneck where he passed a number of Society of Actuaries exams, and took up a job as an actuary for a short time. This job enhanced his computing skill and he even developed faster ways to do some of the calculations. He describes himself as a math and logic prodigy and is aptly nicknamed “The Mathematician”. His passion for the game of poker made him quit his job and he took up poker as a full-time career. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada in order to catch more of gambling action in general and poker in particular.
David Sklansky played exceptionally at the 13th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) to walk away with the first place and $8,800 in Mixed Doubles – Limit Seven Card Stud (Event #7) in May 1982. In the same series, he won the first place and took away $15,500 in the Limit Draw High (Event #12). At the 14th Annual WSOP – Limit Omaha (Event #11) in May 1983, he again won the first place and bagged $25,500.
From 1984 to 2005, David Sklansky participated in many events and regularly won tidy amounts but his third-place finish at the 2006 4th Borgata Poker Open, which fetched him $419,040 in the No-Limit Hold’em Championship, was a significant win after a long time. He won the 3rd place at the No-Limit Hold’em Tournament/No-Limit Hold’em event in March 2007 and took away $13,495. David Sklansky finished 6th at the WPT World Championship/Event Season 5 – No-Limit Hold’em in April 2007 and walked away with $23,280. At the 38th Annual WSOP Limit Hold’em (Event #6) in June 2007, he won $10,310 for his 13th-place finish. In the same series, he finished 5th in the Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo World Championship (Event #24) and earned a good sum of $35,825.
David Sklansky has won the sixth place in the 39th WSOP 2008 – Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball Draw (Event #40) in June and earned a tidy sum of $20,527. In Event #47 – WSOP Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better, he grabbed $19,306 for his 8th-place finish.
Apart from playing poker, David Sklansky shares his knowledge about poker in his thirteen publications. He has authored eight books, The Theory of Poker being the most popular. The remaining five were co-authored by David Sklansky.
Being a casino consultant and expert in game theory, David Sklansky offers his advice to develop new games on internet gaming sites, or casinos. Lakes Entertainment has developed the new casino game World Poker Tour All-In Hold’em with his help.
