"Sklansky the Seminar" (1994)

An older but classic poker seminar that will appeal to poker players of all levels!

David Sklansky is one of the most respected, professional poker players still around. Now, yes, there are plenty of professional poker players as many of them have written books and shared tips, given that we watched and grew up other big names like Mike Sexton, Chris Moneymaker and so on (rest in peace, Mike Sexton). Since the early to mid-2000s, we've enjoyed watching poker like any other sport, and to obtain this VHS tape of a seminar from a professional sharing some tips to all aspiring, amateur and semi-pro poker players is quite fun. (Then again, seminars and webinars are our favorite things to watch and attend, if possible.)

Although this was a supplement to another video, titled Sklansky the Video, this seminar was still neat to watch. Off the bat, Sklansky starts with a brief sermon talking about the benefits, the intensity of poker tournaments and outwitting the competition. As you can tell, Sklansky speaks to an audience wanting to learn his advice and tips, despite this seminar being hosted back in 1994. This seminar is exactly thirty years old, do Sklansky's tips still hold?

As the talk continues, we quoted an interesting tip from Sklansky to which he says this:

"It turns out that the more chips you have, the less they are worth proportionally. In other words, a person who has $10,000 does not have twice a good a chance of winning the tournament as somebody who has $5,000." — David Sklansky

Interesting given that there's this visual stigma that a player with the bigger chip stacks have higher chances of "cleaning house," so to speak. However, Sklansky offers advice to those with a short stack and/or those who started with a large stack of chips but suddenly dwindled. In fact, many players have won tournaments with short stacks which is very encouraging. We're not sure if this strategy works, depending on the situation and the player themselves, but it's great to know that if a player seems to be on the losing end, it doesn't mean that's the end of it. Then again, a player with consecutive losing streaks may want to re-think their skills and strategies, and Sklansky made note of this after an audience member asked such question.

Around the fifteen-minute mark is when Sklansky starts writing and doing some math on the marker board. While the tape cover stated he discussed Game Theory, Sklansky made a brief mention of it but wrote down what looks to be Probability. Of course, because the populace moaning and groaning at the sight of Mathematics, this is key to being a great poker player. Why? Sklansky, from the start of the video, noted that the best poker players do homework, research, and the academics needed to stay ahead and manage their winnings. No apologies here, math is essential, and not needing it means a life of little to no success. That's just the way it is.

After a little math lesson, Sklansky gradually opens up to the audience for some questions about ideas, tips and any advice, big or small, about poker. The presentation ends abruptly.

It is a seminar so it's no different than those live streams you find and watch on YouTube, so what ever was said and presented is what you get. However, in terms of editing, some of the jump cuts are fine but could be better. The camera angles were fine but not as active and urgent, like when Sklansky started writing on the marker board, it was hard to see from the shot shown on video. I thought that was poorly done. The video did show some cuts near the end, but as mentioned earlier, it ended too quickly without parting words from Sklansky. It was like the entire presentation was placed on VHS without care about the flow and the presentation overall. We understand given this was shown and shot on the fly, but we feel there would have been chances for improvement.

Another nice thing would have been a brief demonstration with the cards and the different hands in how to go about working with them. Seminars aren't necessarily "classrooms" nor are they live tutorials, but it would have also been nice to see some visuals along with Sklansky's talks and teaching of poker math.

We may not be poker players ourselves but some of the tips and the small math lesson should be enough to entice poker players of all levels wanting to boost their knowledge of the game. Because celebrities are also partaking and competing in such games, this makes poker even more fun! Nevertheless, there are key takeaways from this video, especially if you're someone wanting to learn or if you're a big casino gaming/poker media collector, and this video is no exception. Overall, it's okay at best.

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

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