Poker Legend and Author of 'The Theory of Poker' David Sklansky Passes Away
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Poker legend and author David Sklansky, who authored 18 gambling books, including one of the most important poker strategy books ever, passed away on March 23 at the age of 78, PokerNews has learned. Sklansky passed away in Las Vegas after experiencing heart failure.
Born December 22, 1947, in Teaneck, New Jersey, Sklansky, who is nicknamed "The Mathematician" for advocating a mathematical approach to poker in the 1970s, won two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets in 1982 and his most recent one in 1983. He appeared on numerous televised poker shows during the 2000s, including the Poker Superstars, which aired on Fox Sports Net during the height of the poker boom.
At the WSOP, Sklansky won the 1982 WSOP Event #7: $800 Mixed Doubles Limit Seven Card Stud, a tournament that paired one man with one woman, alongside Dani Kelly, and followed that up by taking down Event #12: $1,000 Limit 5-Card Draw High. That year, gold watches were actually awarded instead of bracelets. A year later, when the WSOP reverted back to bracelets, Sklansky won his third piece of gold hardware by winning Event #11: $1,000 Limit Omaha.
However, Sklansky is perhaps best known for his gambling-related books, most notably the iconic 1978 book The Theory of Poker, considered by many to be the most important poker strategy book ever.
Sklansky’s reputation and abilities even inspired Brunson to recruit him to pen the Seven-card Stud Hi-Lo Split chapter in his 1979 book How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker, which later rereleased as Super/System.
Sklansky previously told PokerNews of the time, “Even though these guys weren't mathematical, they were often making proposition bets. They were making bets with each other about which hand was better, and then when they met me, they found out that they didn't have to deal it out to find out which was better. I could tell them with pencil and paper which is better. So, I was accepted fairly quickly because they knew it was a big thing.”
Sklansky had $1,410,664 in lifetime tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob. That included a career-best $419,040 for finishing third in the 2006 World Poker Tour (WPT) $10,000 Borgata Poker Open.
"In poker, if you're better than anyone else, you make immediate money,” he is quoted as saying in Al Alvarez's 1983 work The Biggest Game in Town. “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 didn’t play much poker over the past decade. In fact, he only had two small cashes in 2024, his first since 2017, which is when he made a deep run in the WSOP Event #40: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, taking 13th place.
Noted Author
While he’s had success as a player, Sklansky is better known for his prolific writing career having either authored or co-authored 18 poker/gambling books. Some of his better-known works include Hold’em Poker, DUCY? Exploits, Advice, and Ideas of the Renowned Strategist, Limit Hold’em for Advanced Players, and Sklansky Talks Blackjack.
Most recently in December 2023, Sklansky joined forces with Mason Malmuth to release Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em: Help Them Give You Their Money: Exploiting Weaknesses in Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em Games, which is available now on Amazon.
“At one point, I accomplished something that, as far as I know, only JK Rowling has also accomplished, which is, I had three books on Amazon's Top 100 at the same time,” Sklansky once told PokerNews. “They rate their books from like 1 to 5 million. I had three in the top, not high, something like 40, 60, and 80, but they were three at the same time during the Poker Boom.”
Controversies
Sklansky was no stranger to controversy. Earlier this year, he was arrested for domestic battery, though the district attorney declined to file formal charges.
In 2008, Sklansky was embroiled in the Brandi Hawbaker saga, one that ultimately led to her committing suicide. Matt Berkey and company covered the situation in-depth in an episode of Only Friends a few years back.
Poker Hall of Fame?
Some would argue that Sklansky’s career is worthy of the Poker Hall of Fame, though it wasn’t something he aspired to.
“I know bad things about many people in the world. I've heard stories about a lot of the people that are in there, too,” Sklansky told PokerNews. “I was offered the Hall of Fame twice. People came and said, ‘If you put your name up this year, you're going to get it.’ It has people in there that are bad people, and it also has people there who are absolutely not.”
He added, “I like to think that in more recent years it's become a little more legitimate than back in the day when they were just putting up anyone, but there are still a lot of issues. There are people who deserve to be in it that aren't in it. Right now, some of the best players in the world are not even known.”
Regardless of his thoughts and faults, there's no denying that Sklansky was one of the most influential individuals in the game of poker, especially in the 1970s and 80s. PokerNews offers its condolences to the friends and family of David Sklansky.
