07.13
Poker Player: Stu Unger
The primary reason for why Mr. Ungar switched from gin to poker was that Stu was a tiny bit too good at it. So good in fact, that no one was able stand up to him. Even the apparently champions who were supposed to be the greatest at gin were demolished when they competed against Stu. One of these gin rummy masters was Harry Stein, nicknamed, "Yonkie". Harry Stein suffered such a belittling blow at the hands of stu that he apparently stopped competing in it as a pro and never resurfaced at a gin tournament.
Accordingly, with a reputation like that it wasn’t long before gamblers became afraid of competing against Stu Ungar. He could not find any games and in his desperation he began doing something no one had attempted before. Stu offered beginning handicaps to likely adversaries in the high hopes that they might compete opposed to him if they thought they had an edge. He deliberately played from a disadvantageous arrangement and one story has it that he even played against a regular bad egg. Amid the match, he get advice that the cheater was at it once again but Stu Ungar stated that he was aware of the chicanery and he would still actually win, which of course, he did.
The same problem followed Stu Ungar into Las Vegas. He won so much that the casinos began asking him not to wager in their poker rooms anymore. The basis for it was that other casino players refused to be seated at the table if he were playing.
Stu Ungar is recalled better for his abilities in hold’em poker but he himself always said that he was far more skilled at gin rummy.
He defeated Doyle Brunson in the World Series of Poker in Nineteen Eighty to become the youngest world camp. Due to his looks that made him appear far younger than he was, he got the nickname, "The Kid".
