9 Apr 10

The main reason why Stu switched from gin to poker was that he was a bit too good at it. So skilled in fact, that no player was able stand up to him. Even the apparently professionals who were meant to be the greatest at gin rummy were decimated when they faced Stu. One of these gin rummy masters was Harry Stein, called, "Yonkie". Harry was handed such a humiliating beating at the hands of mr. ungar that he apparently quit competing in it professionally and never showed up at a gin rummy tournament.

Accordingly, with a reputation like that it wasn’t very long before players became weary of competing against Stu Ungar. He could find no games and in his boredom he began doing something no one had attempted before. He provided starting handicaps to potential opponents with the high hopes that they might just play opposed to him if they believed they held an advantage. He at will started from a disadvantageous arrangement and one tale has it that stu even competed with a regular bad egg. Amid the game, he get a few words of wisdom that the absconder was at it once again but stu assured that he knew of the cheating and he would still win, which he did, of course.

The same trend followed Stu Ungar into sin city. He won so much that the casinos started requesting that he not to wager in their respective premises anymore. The reasoning behind it was that other poker room clients refused to be seated at the table if he were playing.

Stu Ungar is recollected more for his abilities in holdem poker but he always said that he was far more skilled at gin rummy.

He beat Doyle Brunson in the WSOP in 1980 to become the youngest world champion. Because of his features that made him seem far younger than he really was, he was nicknamed, "The Kid".


Filed under: Poker - Trackback Uri



Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.