David Sklansky on poker, gambling, cheaters, and more (Runchuks Podcast)

David Sklansky on poker, gambling, cheaters, and more

David is one of the top authorities on the topic of gambling, author of several hugely successful books. He coined several commonly used terms – such as semi-bluff, implied odds, effective odds. Many of the poker theory concepts that David came up with 40 years ago are still relevant in your games today and maybe forever.

David has rubbed shoulders with many of the greats in the industry. Poker players, Norwegian Casino owners, businessmen. He shares some great anecdotes from his encounters with Bob Stupak, Steve Wynn, Donald Trump, and many more.

We also talk about some big stories about cheating and collusion in live games throughout the years. David lifts the curtain up on what’s been happening in Vegas in the 70s and 80s when the gambling industry there was still pretty much a wild-west.

Here are some of David’s books:
The Theory of Poker Applied to No-Limit –
Geeking, Grifting, and Gambling Through Las Vegas –
DUCY? –
Seven-Card Stud for Advanced Players –

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OUTLINE:
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:36 How David Sklansky got into poker
00:10:57 The math and theory of gambling
00:18:10 Bob Stupak – the legendary Norwegian Casino owner
00:24:07 Trump – The Game
00:27:03 Ignorance
00:31:05 The Stratosphere Tower
00:37:23 Gambling exploits
00:44:13 The Theory of Poker
00:57:18 Logic and common sense
01:04:16 Thinking outside of the box
01:15:24 Smart people making mistakes
01:20:54 Think beyond the obvious
01:26:17 Covid research
01:27:47 Father
01:35:08 Finding exploits
01:40:43 The crooked games
01:49:33 Crooked WSOP champions
01:51:33 Mixed games
01:58:39 Cheating in poker
02:05:45 ROI on tournaments
02:08:19 Gambling ideas to find creative solutions
02:17:09 Solving job of innocent people in jail, and other ideas
02:25:40 Larry Flynt story
02:33:22 Who was cheating and who was not
02:37:47 Collusion
02:40:35 Game selection
02:42:25 Cheating business
02:58:35 Poker Hall of Fame
02:59:41 All it takes is one chapter
03:01:44 Please don’t ever say the word EV to me
03:03:19 Algebra and logic
03:11:39 Is Doyle Brunson still a winning player?
03:17:25 Bob Stupak running for mayor of Las Vegas
03:26:49 US elections
03:32:49 Floyd Mayweather story
03:38:03 Morris Chestnut story
03:41:37 What David got from poker
03:45:36 Maybe you better call a doctor
03:48:35 Steve Wynn story
03:54:28 Carl Icahn story
03:58:29 One good thing about not having a real job
03:59:18 Solving problems

If you liked this episode, you power also enjoy some of the following:
Mason Malmuth – David’s long-time friend and colleague. We had a rattling interesting conversation about Mason’s latest book, where he looks at some key events fin history of the world through a lens of gambling –

Richard Turner – The legendary card mechanic, card magician, and card cheat. Richard shared many personal anecdotes about his life, his career, his encounters with the mob, card cheats, and much more –

Michael Franzese – Michael used to be a high ranking member of the feared Colombo crime family. At his most affluent, he generated 5-8 million dollars per week from legal and illegal businesses and became one of the biggest moneymakers in mob history. Michael is the only high-ranking official of a major crime family to ever walk away without protective custody, and survive –