The main basis for why Stu switched from gin rummy to poker was that Stu was a bit too good at it. So skilled was he, that no player possibly could equal him. Even the apparently champions who were supposed to be the most favorable at gin were decimated when they competed against Stu. One such gin player was Harry Stein, nicknamed, "Yonkie". Harry suffered such a crushing defeat at the hands of Stu Ungar that he allegedly stopped competing in it professionally and never resurfaced at a gin tournament.
Of course, with a notoriety like that it was not very long before gamblers became shy of gambling against stu. He couldn’t find any games and in his agony he began doing something no one had performed prior. He began offering starting handicaps to potential opposing players with the hope that they may play with him if they thought they held an advantage. He at will started from a bad arrangement and one tale has it that stu even competed against a constant cheater. During the game, he received a few words of wisdom that the cheater was at it again but Stu Ungar stated that he was aware of the dishonestly and he would still acquire a win, which of course, he did.
The same trend followed Stu Ungar into vegas. He won so often that the poker rooms began requesting that he not to compete on their casinos anymore. The reason was that other casino players refused to sit at the table if Stu was playing.
Stu Ungar is remembered better for his achievements in texas hold’em poker but he always insisted that he was much more skilled at gin rummy.
He beat Doyle Brunson in the WSOP in Nineteen Eighty and became the youngest world camp. Because of his looks that made him appear far younger than he was, he got the nickname, "The Kid".
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