Stu Ungar
Stu Ungar’s nickname is "The Kid"
Birth Date:
1953
Birth Place:
New York
Date of Death:
November 22nd, 1998
Stu Ungar was born to Jewish parents became a great Poker player, perhaps one of the greatest players ever. Unfortunately, Stu is deceased as of November 22nd, 1998, he died at the age of 45 due to a heart condition caused by years of drug abuse. He was a talented and very intelligent; his skills got him three WSOP victories, and won him millions in his short successful poker career. His counting ability was legendary.
Stu is known as "the kid" because he was so young when he started winning gin rummy tournaments when he was only 10 years old. At 13, Stu’s father died; his dad was a bar owner and bookmaker, and young Stu become a professional gambler at age 14. At 15, Ungar quit school, and entered a $500 Gin Rummy tournament. He won every hand and went on to win the $10,000 pot. This was a sign of the boy’s
brilliance, and also a sign of his weakness: Ungar quickly lost his money at a horse track.
After success, Stu moved to Miami to play in the largest Gin games. He did well but his weakness for sports and track betting drained him of any success. In 1976 Stu reached Las Vegas, broke but was still able to enter the tournament, he won easily. However, by announcing his opponents losing hands, Ungar intimidated his rivals, few wanted to play against him, and he struggled to find
matches outside tournament play.
Stu Ungar became a blackjack player. His ability to read and countdown decks was well suited to the game. Legend has it that because of Stu’s ability to count cards that single-deck shoes are no longer used in play in blackjack. The incident is reported to have gone like this: Stu had won over $80,000 at Caeser’s Palace. When word reached the Casino manager, play was stopped immediately and Stu was asked to leave; in response he correctly counted down the remaining 18 cards in the deck, without a mistake. Ungar’s picture was posted in all the security rooms on the strip, and he was banned from Casino play.
Despite being banned from blackjack at many casinos, Stu Ungar had discovered his talent for card counting. Ungar well known for criticizing aloud the play of opponents he felt were beneath him Had no money left, Stu put out an open bet, he bet anyone willing that he could count down the last two decks of a six deck shoe. Nobody took him up on this offer.
Through an offer Stu met former casino owner named Bob Stupak. Stupak gave Ungar 10-1 odds, but challenged him to count the last THREE decks of a 6 deck shoe; if he succeeded, Ungar would collect $100,000, and if he failed, he would owe stupak $10,000 dollars. To the astonishment of the onlookers, Ungar forecast 156 cards without any misses. Stu Ungar then focused on Poker. In 1980 at the age of 24, he entered the WSOP for the first time, and won the title. He was 24 years old. He came back the next year and won again. Shortly after his win, he lost $2 million at Craps, and was quickly broke again.
Despite his troubles, Stu Ungar wasn’t done leaving a mark on the Poker world. In 1997, after years away from poker, Stu decided to play in the WSOP again. With two hours to go before showtime, he didn’t have the money, but miraculously, with an hour to go, an anonymous sponsor put up the money for Stu to play. Stu went on to win his 3rd World Series of Poker title, after 8 years away from big time Poker.
This was the end for
Stu Ungar. A few weeks later, he was broke again, having given in to his weakness for narcotics and gambling. With life in a downward spiral, his friend Bob Stupak offered to help him. Bob would look after his debts and help him clean up and get his life back together, but 2 days after signing an agreement with Bob, Stu was found dead in his motel room.
In 1998, Stu Ungar’s death marked the end of one of the most talented card players of all time. Of the 30 major poker tournaments Stu entered, he won 10 times. He still holds the record for most WSOP main event victories, with three.
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