Stu Ungar Poker Legend

Stu Ungar Pokers “Baddest” Boy

I first heard about Stu Ungar from a wsop film. The guy looked like a kid. In fact it was Stu Ungar sitting at the WSOP finals in 1981. That's along time before poker became the fad it is today. This guy was under 25 and he had just won his second WSOP already.

In today's world of poker madness he would be hoisted around the place as a complete miracle. Why don't you hear more about Stu Ungar? We'll first of all he's dead! Yeah one of the greats of poker died at the age of 42 (1998).

In those 20 years Stu Ungar won the WSOP 3 times and five WSOP bracelets, ten major No Limit Hold'em championship events. Amazingly he only played in 30 championships in this time. Making him the greatest poker player in my opinion to have played Texas Hold'em no limit.

Right, so he must have been rich right! The guy was a genius with a photographic memory.

That's where the party ended, he had a passion for gambling, drugs and sex. Making him pretty much the baddest boy of poker. In his poker career he had gone from zero to more than a million four times. It's said he never worked a proper job a day in his life, unless you call gambling work. In the end he had lost it all and died with $800 in his pocket. That's all the money he had left from his borrowings of $25,000 he had taken from a friend a week or so before his death.

Stu Ungar's Poker Story

Stuey Ungar, the son of a Lower East Side Jewish bookie, grew up in a New York of the 1950s and '60s. He had dropped out of high school and most of his time playing in under- ground card rooms. He was bankrolled by members of the Genovese crime family due to his talent. Because of his fame he had to traveled around the country to find opponents and this is where he learnt other card games, including poker.

He eventually had to leave New York due to gambling debts at the local race tracks. He moved to Miami, Florida to find more action. In 1976, he left for Las Vegas, Nevada where he and his longtime girlfriend (Madelaine Wheeler) got married and had a daughter (Stephanie). Ungar also legally adopted Madeline's son from her first marriage, Richie, who took Stuey's surname.

Ungar virtually destroyed anyone who challenged him in a gin match forcing him to move to the poker scene. Ungar regarded himself as a better gin rummy player, once stating, "Some day, I suppose it's possible for someone to be a better No Limit Hold'em player than me. I doubt it, but it could happen. But, I swear to you, I don't see how anyone could ever play gin better than me.”

In 1980 he entered the World Series of Poker. He won the main event, defeating poker legend Doyle Brunson, becoming the youngest champion in its history (he would later be surpassed by Phil Hellmuth). Ungar looked even younger than he was, and was dubbed "The Kid". He would defend his title successfully the next year.

Ungar had a genuis level IQ and an photographic memory, was able to keep track of every card in a six-deck blackjack shoe. In 1977 he was bet $100,000 by Bob Stupak, an owner and designer of casinos, that he could not count down the last three decks in a six deck shoe. Ungar won the bet.

His skill and reputation were so good that he was frequently barred from playing in casinos. He was virtually unable to play blackjack in Las Vegas or anywhere else.

Stu Ungar's is famous for his quote - "I never want to be called a 'good loser'. Show me a good loser and I'll just show you a loser." Many feel this quote sums up his competitiveness.

Ungar and wife Madeline divorced in 1986.

His drug problem escalated to such a point that during the WSOP main event in 1990, Ungar was found on the third day of the tournament unconscious on the floor of his hotel room from a drug overdose. However, he had such a chip lead that even when the dealers kept taking his blinds out every time around the table Ungar still finished 9th and pocketed $20,500.

In 1997 with Stu Ungar deeply in debt, a friend Baxter staked Stu the entry fee to the WSOP. Ungar was clearly showing physical damage from his years of addiction, most notably to his nasal membranes. However, he did show that his mental capacities were unimpaired. During this tournament, Ungar wore a pair of round, cobalt blue tinted sunglasses. This was to hide his cocaine drug abuse that had destroyed his nostrils.

After his win, which was taped for broadcast by ESPN, he showed the picture of his daughter to the camera, and dedicated his win to her. He and Baxter split the $1 million first prize evenly. Ungar was dubbed "The Comeback Kid" by the Las Vegas media because of the span (16 years) between his main event wins as well as his past drug abuse.

In the months following the 1998 WSOP, Ungar was spotted walking around various Las Vegas poker rooms begging for money. He often said the money was to get him back on the poker tables, but would instead use it to purchase crack. Not long after many pros, some Ungar's former friends, refused to stake him or give him any money until he cleaned himself up. Ungar was also arrested for possession of drugs during this time.

Ungar is still regarded by many poker insiders as the greatest pure talent ever to play the game; in his life, he is estimated to have won over $30 million at the poker table. Stu never kept a bank account preferring safety deposits in the casino's.

Stu Unger lost all his money to drugs, sports games and horse races.

The Film “High Roller”

The first thing I thought when I read about Stu Ungar was why hasn't there been a movie about this extraordinary man's life. It surely would make an amazing story. I wasn't alone in my thinking because there was a film about this and it was called “High Roller”.

The Movie, High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story, was made in 2003; he was portrayed by Michael Imperioli.

Quick word about this movies reviews. This movie has been slated by Stu Ungar's wife as fiction and other senior people who knew Stu said this movie did not represent the man. I personally have not watched the movie and probably never will.

The Book One of a Kind: Stu Ungar by Nolan Dalla

The book is a biography about Stuey Ungar. It has received good reviews from various sources. This is going to be on my Christmas wish list.