Sklansky is best known for writing a chapter in Doyle Brunsons Super System book and also his own legendary poker book “Theory of Poker”. David is a mathematician who talks fondly of growing up with a father that set him Math puzzles in order to develop the logical part of his brain. David has actually written thirteen Poker books and is a founding member of the Poker publishing company Two plus Two publishing who are a massive poker forum where strategy and serious poker discussions take place daily. Within the poker community he is known as a top authority on gambling.

David prides himself on thinking outside the box. In an interview for the two plus two podcast, he talked about how he was awoken with a gun to his head and immediately used his logical mind to put the robber at ease and ensure he survived the ordeal. The robber even asked him if he could take his car for a drive and eventually returned it unharmed. David was so in control during the robbery that despite being handcuffed and blindfolded he had the presence of mind to admit to the robber that it was partially his own fault he was being robbed because of his failure to implement adequate security in his home, so he felt anything taken was a penalty he deserved to pay.

Sklansky has enjoyed some poker tournament success. In the early 1980’s he won three WSOP bracelets including Limit Omaha and Draw high. He also won a large WPT event when he beat Doyle Brunson heads up after trailing when the heads up battle began.

Many poker fans are not sure whether Sklansky is very intelligent or just quirky. There is little doubt he has a well-developed logical mind. He comes across a little socially awkward on interview and freely admits he prefers dating very young woman. This is not necessarily something that many people would admit to, yet David does so without concern. He has a segment in the two plus two pokercasts where they play a “Sklansky Minute”. This is things that David records during moments of reflection and include such things as asking a telephone operatives their name so they associate their response with personal judgement and therefore give you better help so to reflect well on themselves because you know their name. Sometimes these pieces of advice are rather bizarre.

Check out some of the two plus two podcasts when David is interviewed. I love listening to them whilst I am playing at my favourite poker room bwin.com and trying to win a small stakes poker tournament. It is great entertainment. Whatever you think of Sklansky the person, there is little doubt he has made a massive impact on poker through his work on gambling and poker theory, which are still brilliantly preserved thanks to his body of work in the poker books he has written and published.

I always enjoy listening to a David Sklansky interview on poker or gambling theory and to me he is one of the most interesting poker players in the world.

By Malcolm Clarke

This made me think about the various ways you can learn the game of poker and what exactly is the best poker system for learning in the world. I believe I have a good answer. The answer is experience and hard work. Whilst poker books like The Super System that Doyle Brunson wrote and collated with fellow professionals are useful they form only part of the overall syllabus to educate you in how to play poker.

Learning the correct moves in certain spots requires experience of the situations and analysis of the results you encountered in those spots. You analyse the outcomes and make modifications for a more positive effect in the future. This is where improvement in poker comes from. Over time we hope to eliminate more and more of the fundamental errors all players make moving closer to a complete understand of poker.

Recently I received an email through my poker website relating to a player discussing bankroll. It said something along the lines of, “I own a copy of Super System, Theory of Poker by Sklansky and Harrington on Holdem for Tournaments I, II & III. What is the smallest amount I could start with for my bankroll to run it up to a larger amount?”. I replied to him immediately asking how much all of those books cost him because in my estimation that is well over $150 worth of poker literature!

Whilst collecting these excellent poker books is worthwhile for your poker study away from the tables, this player neglected keeping some of his money available to actually play poker. The books will help this player a great deal in his quest to play good poker, but perhaps I would have set aside half of this money as a means of getting on the tables and beginning to gain the very valuable experience and earning some winnings. From the winnings further books could then be purchased and you get so much more from the books when you understand the concepts discussed in them when you relate the ideas in the book to your own personal play.

I believe the best system in the world for winning poker is learning the game yourself. Doyle Brunson said that he learned the game by self dealing thousands of hands early in his career and learning manually the theory of poker that we all take for granted by reading the many poker articles and books that flood the poker literature markets.

One of the best real money cash game players in the world Patrik Antonius says that he has never read a poker book and simply used live poker experience to learn the game. The best system for success is learning your own unique perspective of poker. I would suggest reading the various poker books and perhaps even subscribing to a poker training website to ensure you do not teach yourself poker errors as you learn (although even if you do, experience will soon show you any mistakes). These books are not the enemy and they do speed up the learning process. Just make sure you are thinking about the game and working it all out.

Nothing beats experience, so within the proper rules of bankroll management get as much poker
experience as you can.

By Malcolm Clarke

I want to ask something regarding the revealing of a hand before showdown. Well, once I heard that you can only do it when there are only two players left and eventually you are the last to act. However, from some people, I also heard that you can’t do such.

Just recently, I read Doyle Brunson’s “Wisdom from a Poker Champion”, and I learned that he typically reveals his hand the same condition as the one mentioned above. Any idea about it?

Thanks! By the way, your site is so great. Congrats!

Tolbert
Tolbert,

This used to be allowed and was standard. In tournaments this is no longer allowed. This is viewed as trying to get an unfair advantage by trying to get a read by influencing the action. A player may receive a penalty up to disqualification for doing this. Some casinos still allow this in cash games, but some don’t.

Todd Brunson primarily prefers to play cash games but has had quite a bit of success in tournaments. Todd’s first big win came at the 1993 Diamond Jim Brady when he won the Main Event title and $198,000. He would then take the $1,500 Limit Holdem event at the Hall of Fame Poker Classic in 1994 for $105,600. It was six years before he would hit his next big score when he would finish 2nd at the Jack Binion World Poker Open in 2000, earning $119,310.

2004 saw Brunson have a very solid year cashing 5 times at the World Series of Poker and twice on the World Poker Tour. He notched his next victory at the Fiesta al Lago that year, winning the $2,000 No Limit Holdem event and over $158,000.

2005 was a big year for players with the last name of Brunson. Doyle Brunson would take his 10th gold bracelet winning the $5,000 Short Handed NL Holdem Event, but first Doyle would have to watch his son go for his first bracelet. Doyle said that while watching his son go for his first bracelet he was more nervous than when he won any of his 10. Doyle would see Todd outlast Allen Kessler heads up and take down his first bracelet in the $2,500 Omaha 8 or Better Event. This would be the crowing achievement for Todd’s 2005 WSOP that saw him make three final table finishes.

Todd would go on to win two Poker Superstars Invitational Tournaments in 2006. These would net him $400,000 per victory. Todd would then cash 6 times in the 2007 World Series of Poker, including his 2nd cash in the WSOP Main Event. 2008 has been a somewhat off year for Brunson tournament wise with him cashing only 5 times in tournaments with no final table appearances. In total, Todd Brunson has made over $3.23 Million in live tournaments.

Todd is a regular player in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio in Vegas and is considered to be one of the best high stakes players on the planet. He won over $13.5 Million in a two day span as part of “The Corporation.” The Corporation was a group of high stakes players that came together to play Billionaire Andy Beal. Todd also wrote the chapter on Stud 8 or Better in Super System 2.

While Todd Brunson may not have as many bracelets or titles as his legendary father, he is still a champion poker player. Chances are he will never be as great as Doyle, but as his track record has shown, he will still be a dominant force in poker and the Brunson name will still one of the top names in poker long after Doyle has left the game.

Bechtel started making a splash in the poker world in 1979 when he was runner-up in the $1,500 NL Event at the World Series of Poker, where he took $38,250. He made final tables in the same even in 1983 and 1984, finishing 4th and 9th respectively. In 1986, 1988, and 1989 he made the money of the Main Event. He finished 6th in the 1988 Main Event.

He didn’t record his next cash in tournament poker until 1992 but it was an impressive one. He took first in the Hall of Fame poker classic, which netted him $214,000. The next year saw Bechtel record his greatest poker accomplishment. The 1993 World Series of Poker saw 220 players put up $10,000 each to take their shot at the Main Event. The event became three handed between Jim Bechtel, Glenn Cozen, and John Bonetti. Glenn Cozen was severely short stacked and looked headed to a strong 3rd place finish until a huge hand between Bechtel and Bonetti. On a flop of 6-K-8 both players check. Bonetti had A-K and Bechtel 6-6. Each likely thought they were trapping the other. On the turn of a 5, all of the money went into the middle and when the cards were flipped the river card 10 was meaningless and Bechtel had nearly a 100 to 1 chip lead over Cozen. It didn’t take long and Jim Bechtel won the 1993 World Series of Poker Main Event and the top prize of $1 Million.

Bechtel would have numerous cashes after the 1993 WSOP but never came close to repeating that same success until 2006. In 2006, Jim Bechtel made the final table of the first ever $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event at the World Series of Poker. That table is considered the strongest final table in the history of the WSOP including legends such as Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Dewey Tomko, and the eventual winner, the late Chip Reese. Bechtel finished a strong 4th in the event for $549,120. The 50k H.O.R.S.E. event was the highlight of his 2006 WSOP, where he had 6 WSOP cashes.

For his career, Bechtel has over $2.5 Million in earnings. For the most part, Bechtel only plays larger tournaments, staying away from the grind of the regular circuit. He also keeps to him, not putting himself on public display like many past champions have. He prefers to quietly go about his business. His hard work has paid off for him as a farmer and as a poker player. He may not be flashy like many past champions, but his quiet workman like ethic has paid off and has made him a poker champion.

Not much is know about how Straus got his start in playing poker, but he was one of the original road gamblers with the likes of Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, and Amarillo Slim. Straus was known as a very creative player that liked to bluff a lot. In fact, one of the most popular stories about him involves him playing a hand blind after going on a rush. After raising, he looked down to see 7-2. The flop came with 7-3-3 and Straus bet out and faced a big raise. Straus figured that his hand was beat at the time but he made the call. On the turn of a 2, Straus made big bet. His opponent started to think and Straus offered him the opportunity to see one of his cards in exchange for $25. He even offered to let the opponent pick His opponent paid him and picked the card that turned out to be the deuce. His opponent eventually put Straus on pocket 2’s to give him a full house and so he folded. After the hand he became known as one of the best bluffers ever.

Jack Straus’ two greatest poker accomplishments came at the World Series of Poker. First, he won the 2-7 Lowball bracelet in 1973 to take home $16,500. The next accomplishment went down in poker legend not just because of what he accomplished, but how he accomplished it.

On the first day of the 1983 Main Event, Jack Straus moved all of his chips into the middle and was called. He subsequently lost the hand. As he went to leave, a chip was discovered that belonged to Straus but was not put in the pot. Some legends say it was under a napkin, while others say it was under his chair. Either event, the floor staff let him continue playing with that single chip and after a while made a comeback to take the chip lead. This is where the phrase “a chip and a chair” came from. The next day Straus made the final table that included Dewey Tomko, Doyle Brunson, and Berry Johnston. Straus made it head-up with Tomko and in the end Straus emerged victorious and took home the bracelet and the $520,000 prize.

Straus would continue to play in tournaments but his style was really more suited to cash game play due to his tendency to bluff a lot. He did well in several smaller events, but nothing compared to his WSOP finishes. Straus died unexpectedly in November 1988 while playing in a high stakes cash game. A heart attack was the cause of death. It is unknown how Straus would have fared in the current poker climate. Chances are that he would have stuck to cash games and thrived. Of course we will never know but the legend of Jack Straus will live on.

Gambling was not his only ambition however. Roberts was a star football player in high school and thought about playing football at the collegiate level. He decided to change his mind and join the Navy. Roberts’ tour of duty was during the Korean War and he spent most of his tour aboard one type of ship or another. This is where he earned his nickname “Sailor” He continued to shoot craps while in the Navy and when he left, he determined that he would be a professional gambler.

Somewhere during the 1950’s, Roberts joined up with Amarillo Slim Preston and Doyle Brunson and they used to travel around the country playing poker and betting on sports. This partnership continued for around six years. In 1962 Roberts was arrested for conducting sports betting over the telephone as a result of the Federal Wire Act. He went to jail for a year, and after getting out, he decided to focus on just playing poker.

He was among the first players invited to play at the World Series of Poker in 1970 and continued to play regularly at the World Series every year. In 1974, Roberts won his first WSOP bracelet in the $5,000 2-7 Draw Event. He outlasted Larry Perkins to take home the $35,850 prize. In 1975 he accomplished what was said to be an ambition of his, and that was to win the WSOP Main Event. He outlasted 20 other players to win the Championship Bracelet and the $210,000 prize.

Technically, every year before 1975, the Main Event winner received a trophy and the prize money for winning the event. 1975 was the first year the physical bracelet was award, so in a way Roberts was the first ever bracelet winner. Later, bracelets were given to past champions once it was determined that bracelets would be the permanent reward for the Main Event Champion.

While Roberts would play for the WSOP for several years, he never attained nearly the same success. His best finish was 8th in the 1982 Main Event. He later died of sclerosis caused by hepatitis. Roberts was remembered by his peers as a very caring man. After a health scare in 1961, Roberts tended to Doyle Brunson after receiving emergency surgery. Also, he was remembered as being a man that would help out a fellow gambler that was down on his luck. When he won the Main Event, it was said that there wasn’t any jealousy in the room.

Sailor Roberts’ poker career was not as long and storied as other champions of the past due to his health, but he was remembered as a good man. While that doesn’t always win the most money at a poker table, it did earn him the respect of those he played with.