David Sklansky is a successful poker pro and one of the most prolific poker and gambling authors ever. PokerStrategy.com's Matt Kaufman sat with David to discuss his career, the benefits of studying poker, the types of games that poker rooms should offer, and much more.
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David Sklansky is one of the most influential thinkers in the history of poker. For decades, he has approached and studied the game from an analytical and mathematical perspective.
Several of Sklansky's strategy books (which can be bought at the TwoPlusTwo Store) are classics which introduced concepts to the public that were previously only understood by the best players in the world.
In this interview with PokerStrategy.com's Matt Kaufman, Sklansky discusses a wide range of topics including his career, current events, and some of his thoughts on different poker variants.
Length: 50 minutes
Producer: MattKaufman
David Sklansky quotes
On revealing poker secrets: "The other pros were not happy about the original books I wrote. They were definitely concerned that I was giving away secrets to the tourists, or suckers, or whatever you want to call them. I didn't have a response that would satisfy them at the time, but as it turns out they probably should be grateful that I wrote those books because so many more people became poker players."
On the game he finds most interesting: "The most interesting poker game is one that's never played in a casino - High/Low Split with a declare... with [that game] you can escape very precarious situations by declaring the right way, so I don't think I've ever topped that game as far as the most interesting."
On the value of poker in other areas of life: "There are just so many things that are obviously related to what you may have to do in your real life. For instance, making decisions based on risk vs. reward in comparison to the probability of a success."
On the types of games that should be offered: "Any game where the strategies can't be easily put into a rule-based format, and where the proper strategy would allow you to play as many as a third of your starting hands."
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