Stu Unger: Poker Player
Posted in Poker on 02/13/2010 01:21 pm by Caylee
The primary reason why Stu changed from gin to poker was that Stu was a bit too skilled at it. So skilled in fact, that no player was able equal him. Even the so-called champions who were supposed to be the most favorable at gin rummy were demolished when they played with Mr. Ungar. One of these gin rummy masters was Harry Stein, called, "Yonkie". Mr. Stein suffered such a crushing beating at the hands of mr. ungar that he evidently quit playing it as a pro and never resurfaced at a gin tournament.
Of course, with a honor like that it wasn’t long before people became weary of betting against Stu Ungar. He could not find any matches and in his desperation he started doing something no one had done before. He offered beginning handicaps to potential opposing players in the hope that they might just play against him if they thought they had an advantage. He deliberately began from a disadvantageous arrangement and one account has it that stu even played against a constant bad egg. Mid contest, he get a few words of wisdom that the cheater was at it one more time but Stu Ungar guaranteed that he knew of the chicanery and he would still actually win, which he did, of course.
The same trend followed Stu Ungar into vegas. He won so frequently that the casinos started requesting that he not to bet on their casinos anymore. The basis for it was that other casino visitors refused to sit at the poker table if he were seated.
Stu Ungar is recalled better for his accomplishments in hold’em poker but he always said that he was considerably more accomplished at gin rummy.
He beat Doyle Brunson in the World Series of Poker in 1980 to become the youngest world camp. Because of his features that made him appear far younger than he really was, he got the nickname, "The Kid".