Stu Ungar: The Rise and Fall of the Great Gambler

Who Was Stu Ungar?

This is the story of a great gambler who unfortunately passed into oblivion. Perhaps, this happened because he had died almost many years ago. However, Stu Ungar is a famous character in the world of gambling. He had been an incredible card player until one rainy day in November 1998, his life was cut short.

In November 1998, Stu Ungar was found dead in a cheap motel in Las Vegas. He was lying in his vomit. The police discovered that Stu was drugged, and they did not consider it reasonable to investigate the circumstances of his death since they were obvious. No money was found in the hotel room or the Ungar’s account. His friends had to raise money to pay for the funeral.

According to some estimates, the prize funds earned during his short 38-year life reached $30 million. He won unofficial world championships of poker three times. His death at the Oasis Motel prevented him from achieving the next victory.

Childhood Spent in the Slums

Stuart Errol Ungar was born in 1953 in a family of immigrants. Stu had a 185 IQ and could choose a career in any field. He chose to gamble, and it became his sole passion in life. His childhood environment hardly contributed to the choice of more respectable professions.

He was the son of Hungarian Jews who had come to the United States before World War II. He lived in a cheap hotel with his father on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. At that time, it was a neighborhood full of local Italian and Jewish gangsters and criminals.

Stu was a small and lean boy with a hyperactive mind. He enjoyed listening to adults’ conversations in the hotel. His father was a loan shark and bookmaker. However, he was uneducated and read poorly.

Stu had amazing intellectual and mathematic skills. Soon he became his father’s accountant. At the age of 7 years, Stu started accepting bets from gamblers, calculating odds, and paying out winnings.

At the same time, Stu gained a reputation as a "magician." In the 1960s, gin, rummy, and poker were equally popular among gamblers. Stu mastered them, watching the players and noticing their mistakes.

• He started to play cards in his father’s bar when he was only 8 years old and immediately began to win money.
• He won his first professional gin rummy tournament at the age of 10.
• When he was 14, he beat the best player in New York.

People arrived from Canada and Las Vegas to play against the tiny child who was able to defeat professional gamblers.

Gambling Career

After his father’s death from a heart attack in his lover's arms, Unger, a tenth-grade student, abandoned his studies. He started playing gin rummy professionally to support his mother and sister financially. Some funds earned in this way were given to his mother. The rest was spent on horse racing betting.

Stu was hired as an ordinary member of the Genovese crime family. A previously convicted mafia member, Victor Romano, organized illegal casinos in Manhattan. He attracted Stu Ungar to professional gambling and protected him from the mafia. At that time, Stu was 13 years old. Yet, he looked young for his age. Soon Stu got the nickname "Kamikaze Kid" because he played without fear. But more often, he was called "The Kid" because he was small and lean and looked like a little boy. He never weighed more than 50 kg.

Stu Ungar talked about that time and his environment in the following way:

Even in the 1960s, I spent most of my time with the Italians. However, I also came across the Irish. And I assure you they were the most cruel and unscrupulous murderers I have ever met. They were malicious bastards. I was just a teenager, but I had to communicate and gamble with the bandits with whom most people did not agree to stay in the same room. I was the youngest at school but always had the tallest, strongest, and cruelest friends.

The Best Gin Rummy

Stu Ungar started his gambling career with gin rummy and used his remarkable talents and excellent memory to become the best. His opponents were sure that this "kid" had the sixth sense since Stu had developed the ability to understand his competitors. His memory and counting skills made him almost invincible.

Information from Casinoz about the rules for gin rummy:

From two to four gamblers may participate in this game. A standard 52-card deck without jokers is used. The aim is to collect a hand composed entirely of sets and runs. Three or four cards of the same value (e.g., 3 queens and 4 eights) are considered to be set. Three or more cards of the same suit in a row (for example, 3-4-5 of spades or 7-8-9-10 of diamonds) are supposed to be runs.

Ungar dropped out of school to play gin rummy constantly. He regularly won tournaments and was considered one of the best gin rummy players in New York in 1976. Nonetheless, he had to leave New York because of his debts and moved to Las Vegas in 1974.

Stu was able to beat any opponent. Harry "Yonkie" Stein had been regarded as the best gin rummy player until Ungar arrived. So, they played high-stakes games, and Stu won 86 to none. After this series of games, Stein finished his playing career and stopped visiting casinos. After this event, Ungar became famous, and nobody wanted to play with him. Stu started offering handicaps to his opponents, but it did not help. He still was victorious. His opponents even tried to cheat. However, it was useless. Unger’s bodyguard noticed that his opponent was cheating and told Unger about this fact. Stu said that he knew that. He ignored this fact and won anyway.

Stuart Ungar is better known for his achievements in poker, but many people believe he was more skillful in gin rummy than in poker. Ungar also confirmed that he was second to none in gin rummy. Since Ungar was too skillful and nobody wanted to gamble gin rummy against him, many casinos prohibited him from attending their tournaments. Stu had to finish his career as a gin rummy player and start playing blackjack.

Stu Ungar as a Blackjack Player

Owners of Las Vegas casinos quickly understood that it was necessary to prohibit Stu from playing in gin rummy tournaments. To satisfy his gambling addiction, Stu began playing blackjack and quickly won over one million dollars.

Due to his high IQ and photographic memory, Stu Ungar was a great card counter. This was the reason of the fact that casinos often prohibited him from playing blackjack. His counting skills can be evaluated by one episode from his life.

In 1977, Unger made an incredible $100,000 deal with Bob Stupak, a former owner of casinos. Stu ran out of money and invited everyone to bet he could not count the final two decks in a six-deck shoe. No one agreed to make such a bet. Bob Stupak offered Stu a 10:1 bet and challenged him: he had to count the three final decks instead of two. Stu Ungar won: to the audience's surprise, he predicted 156 cards without any mistakes! Soon afterward, Stu was banned from playing blackjack at almost each Las Vegas casino.

In 1982, Ungar was fined $500 by the New Jersey Gaming Commission for allegedly cheating while playing blackjack. Stu denied the accusation and said his card-counting skills were so good that he did not need to cheat. Stu Ungar won the trial. He avoided the $500 fine but had to pay roughly $50,000 in legal and travel costs.

Stu Ungar at Poker

Stu Ungar was regarded as the best No-Limit Texas Hold'em player. He had a photographic memory, a high IQ, and a competitive spirit. It is no exaggeration to say that Stu Ungar was "the Mozart of poker." Stu's mind was not suitable for ordinary life. If we use the analogy, his mind was more like a Formula 1 car intended for race tracks but not for ordinary roads. Stu was a great gambler but was not so successful in real life. Unger characterized himself in the following way:

An old proverb says that you are your worst enemy at the poker table. I can add that, in my case, it is impossible to say better. God gave me a unique gift, but I did not succeed in using it well enough. And let the bad things I've done, I've done mainly to myself, but I am very sorry that I have hurt those who are close to me and love me.

In 1980, he participated for the first time in the WSOP Main Event and beat the poker legend, Doyle Brunson. At the age of 26, Stu became the youngest WSOP winner. Thanks to this fact and his childish appearance, he received the nickname "The Kid" from the media. Ungar defended his title in 1981, beating Perry Green in the heads-up.

It is interesting to note that initially, Ungar was not allowed to defend his title. Benny Binion, the owner of Horseshoe Casino, which hosted the WSOP final round, prohibited Ungar from visiting his casino. This happened because a few days before the main event, Stu spat in a dealer's face after losing significant money. Only thanks to Jack, the son of Benny Binion, who pled for him and convinced his father to allow Unger to play, Stu became the two-time world champion.

In 1990, Stu Ungar could participate in the WSOP because his friend paid him a $10,000 entry fee. However, on the tournament's third day, he was found unconscious due to an overdose of cocaine in his hotel room. Even though "The Kid" could not continue participating in the tournament, his advantage was so great that he finished in the ninth position and won $20,500.

In 1997, after a 16-year interval, he won the WSOP Main Event for the third time. This is an incredible achievement. So, the mass media dubbed him "The Comeback Kid." Stu Ungar wagered the other people's funds. The $10,000 buy-in was paid by his friend Billy Baxter in few seconds before the beginning of the tournament. So, Stu was the last registered gambler.

Two decades of cocaine consumption destroyed his nasal membranes. His nose looked like a pug nose. He tried to disguise it with tinted sunglasses. Yet, everything was in vain. "The Kid" devoted this victory to his daughter Stephanie, whom he greatly loved. During the four days of the tournament, he kept a daughter’s picture in a shirt pocket and regularly called her during the breaks. Unfortunately, the earned funds were spent on drugs and betting.

In 1998, Stu Ungar could not participate in the WSOP Main Event. He did not have money and suffered from drug abuse. Unger was unable to play: his right nostril was ruined; the skin was gray; he was exhausted and looked like a prisoner of Auschwitz. Stu tried to borrow money from friends to participate in the WSOP events, but he spent it on drugs.

"The Kid’s" achievements in poker are indeed impressive.

• Ungar also won the currently non-existing Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker Main Events in 1984, 1988, and 1989. It was considered the second most prestigious poker tournament in the world. He is the only player who won it three times.
• Ungar won 10 major poker tournaments (with buy-ins that exceeded $5,000), even though he participated only in 30 major tournaments.
• Ungar was one of only two people who managed to win the WSOP Main Event three times (the second was Johnny Moss, but he obtained one of the titles by voting).
• Stu Ungar had 5 WSOP bracelets.
• Fifteen times he was a prize-winner in the WSOP tournaments.
• He earned $3,600,000 in the WSOP events.

What Person Was Stu Ungar?

How can we characterize Stu Ungar? He was generous to friends and gentle to his wife. However, he suffered from gambling addiction and drug abuse. Gambling was like a drug for him.

He won millions at the card table but lost them placing bets on horse racing because he could not use his unique skills while betting on races. He was kind and generous beyond the casinos and rigid and uncompromising at the table.

Stu Unger described his life in the following way:

They called me a monster. I was 15 years old, and I defeated people who had been playing professionally for 30 years. I mocked them. Perhaps I was a kind of monster.

Stu Ungar played non-stop, day and night. The kind of game did not make any difference. "I need to have tasks for my mind and constants risks. - He said. - This makes my heart beat."

Despite his lifestyle, Stu Ungar met a girl with a beautiful name Madeline, who fell in love with him. The couple had a daughter:

I really loved Madeline. It is a pity that she forced me to marry her. I will never forgive this. Nevertheless, I thank my lucky stars that Madeline bore me a child.

Unger was full of contradictions. He was a loving husband and caring dad to his daughter, but he could suddenly disappear for weeks when they needed him. The funds won while playing gin rummy, and poker were spent on sports betting or horse racing. At least four times, he lost his entire fortune and then became a millionaire again. His drug abuse led to his divorce in 1986.

Sports betting, horse racing, and golf were the black hole where Unger threw his money.

I used to play ping-pong against some Chinese in Tahoe, betting $50,000. I'm an addicted gambler. I would bet even on cockroach races.

When Stu did not gamble, he spent his money on bars, drugs, and women. He threw the cash around. Money was nothing to him.

In the 1990s, Stu Ungar dropped off the media’s radar for nearly 10 years. He struggled against gambling addiction and drug abuse. He underwent surgery to remove problems with his nose, which the long-term cocaine intake had destroyed. A few hours after the operation, he consumed cocaine again.

Incredible Stories about Stu Ungar

• Ungar never had a bank account. He preferred to keep his money in the safes of the Las Vegas hotels. It seemed ridiculous to him that you could not go to the bank at midnight to pick up your money (this was the pre-ATM era).
• Ungar did not even have a social security number until he won the WSOP tournament and could not collect his winnings for that reason in 1980.
• When he tried to travel outside the United States, he could not go through passport control because he ceased to use identity documents.
• Even though Unger had several expensive cars, he rarely drove. He preferred to take a taxicab even for a short five-minute trip from his home in Las Vegas to a casino.
• Ungar had a reputation as a very generous person. He always gave a big tip to taxi drivers and casino employees, regardless of whether he was winning or losing. Stu was always willing to help the other players and his friends who had financial problems.
• At the same time, Unger was arrogant and vindictive. Once at the bar, he was hit in the head with a chair by another gambler who had lost a lot. A few days after this incident, this man was found shot to death, although Unger had an alibi for the time of the murder.
• Ungar rarely washed his hair. Instead, he hired a professional stylist at Dunes Casino, who had to wash it twice a week and cut hair, if necessary.
• When Unger walked with Doyle Brunson Las Vegas, a stranger approached him and tried to ask for a little money. Unger held out 100 dollars and gave this money to an unknown man.
• Several times Ungar was offered to pay for the loss of a gin rummy tournament. However, Stu disagreed and said his pride prevented him from doing this because no one could beat him in this game.
• Stu Ungar used to say about his skills: "I was a monster. It was like Bobby Fischer. It did bizarre things. Some gamblers could teach me a card game I had never played before, and two days later, I was playing it better than those who had been playing it for 30 years. I was a monster."
• Ungar returned his Mercedes Benz and complained that the car was out of order. When the mechanic explained that his car had run out of oil, Stu replied angrily: "Why did not you tell me that I have to fuel it?"

During his short life, Stu Ungar participated in over thirty major poker tournaments, winning one-third. He won three WSOP bracelets and earned tens of millions of dollars. Stu Ungar was inducted posthumously into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2001.