Stu “The Kid" Ungar
Stu Ungar was the best No Limit Hold'em player of his time and arguably the best ever. He won 3 WSOP Main Event titles including back to back titles in 1980 and 1981. Hold'em was not even his best card game! Stu Ungar was the Undisputed Best Big Money Gin Rummy player of all time. Casino's in Vegas banned him from playing blackjack. Blessed with a photographic memory and an uncanny understanding of the 52 card universe, Stu Ungar was one of the finest card players to ever live.
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Early Days
Raised in New York's lower East Side, Stu was the son of an illegal book-maker with mob ties. He spent his formative years hanging around 'made men' and degenerate gamblers. He started to help his father with the ledgers at the age of eight, showing a genius for numbers. He excelled at school but was uninterested and dropped out by the tenth grade. By this time he was playing the highest stake gin rummy games in the world.and crushing them, soon growing bored of rummy. Stu Ungar was the ultimate action junkie and Vegas was the only place for him to be.
Driving that train, high on Cocaine...
Like the late, great John Belushi, Stu Ungar was a genius talent on a runaway pace, tormented by the sweet, sweet allure of cocaine. He stood 5’4” and was 135 lbs and could snort more coke than Sigmund Freud and Rick James combined. If it was not for the advent of smokable crack cocaine, his nose may have fallen off -not a joke. He told Doyle Brunson that it helped him play longer and better, so he needed it. None of his friends or family could help him.
Stu reportedly made over thirty million dollars gambling during his career. He lived in high roller suites and could draw million dollar markers by simply showing up and asking. Whales lined up to back him in any card game on the planet against any opponent. In 1998 Bobby Baldwin staked him $10,000 for the WSOP main event so he could defend his title. Stu got so high that he couldn't take the elevator down to the casino floor to play. Stu Ungar would be found dead four months later in a cheap downtown motel.
One of my favorite Stu Unger quotes is 'Fold and live to fold again'. Good luck out there friends. Mostly say no to cocaine, it's a helluva drug.
love!
b.
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If you ever get the opportunity to see it One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stu Ungar on ESPN is well worth a watch.
ooo, good call @jclark! thanks!
I saw that documentary. You are right, it is very informative.
"He stood 5’4” and was 135 lbs and could snort more coke than Sigmund Freud and Rick James combined." - this one cracked me up hard :) great read! thanks!
hahahaa, thanks! glad it gave you a good laugh!
Thanks for sharing. Its such an informative post. You are really a good author.
thank you very much, @multitalented!
Welcome :)
It was great knowing about Stu and are we betting SBD on lucksacks.com... gotta check the website out :D
check it out!
Although, cocaine lead to his ultimate demise, I wonder if Stu Unger would have been 'Stu Unger' without the drug?!
yes. see how he was a math genius before cocaine? it just helped.
Yes, but if it helped him be a better poker player, then...
cocaine is a helluva drug, P
the success of a work all begins with our own, success for you
back atcha, @ilhamnur80
Hello, nice post congratulations! I think Stu Ungar was one of the greatest players of all time! It would have been nice to see him confront the players of today! I follow you, congratulations again for the post!
hahaa, that would be something, wouldn't it? Thanks friend!
Thank you! Anyway, in my opinion, he would keep up with everyone, believing that the old school could have said his own, at least in live. Even if Grandpa Doyle also online if the sock ;-)
Stu was a legend
indeed! i can't believe his nose almost fell off. eeewwwww
The high high roller who couldn’t get down with the elevator.. well.
ahahahahahaaa!! right?? now THAT'S high!
;)
Lol
Learn poker with his history... skip the part of the drugs if possible and instead invest more time on your plays and study your game!
Stu was so far ahead of everyone else it was scary. He was fearless at the tables. And a cocky bastard too. Watch his interview with Gabe Kaplan after he won the 1997 WSOP. He told Gabe nobody has ever beaten him at poker, he was only defeated by himself. Such a shame he could never beat his personal demons.
I think he was the best ever.