Poker Strategies

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

The main basis for why Stu Ungar changed from gin to poker was that Stu was a bit too good at it. So skilled in fact, that no player could stand up to him. Even the so-called professionals who were meant to be the greatest at gin were crushed when they played against Stu Ungar. One such gin masters was Harry Stein, called, "Yonkie". Mr. Stein was handed such a belittling beating at the hands of Stu Ungar that he allegedly quit playing it as a pro and never resurfaced at a gin tournament.

Accordingly, with a honor like that it wasn’t long before people became afraid of wagering against stu. He could not find any matches and in his desperation he began doing something no one had attempted prior. Stu offered starting handicaps to likely opponents with the wish that they may play with him if they believed they held an edge. He deliberately started from a disadvantageous position and one account has it that he even competed with a consistent absconder. Amid the contest, he get a few words of wisdom that the cheater was at it again but Stu Ungar guaranteed that he knew of the cheating and he would still win, which of course, he did.

The same problem followed Stu Ungar into sin city. He won so frequently that the casinos began asking him not to play on their casinos anymore. The reason for it was that other casino clientele would not sit at the poker table if he were playing.

Stu Ungar is remembered better for his abilities in holdem poker but he himself always insisted that he was a whole lot better at gin rummy.

He defeated Doyle Brunson in the World Series of Poker in Nineteen Eighty to become the youngest world champion. Because of his looks that made him seem far younger than he was, he was nicknamed, "The Kid".