Online Poker Smart

New York City, September 8, 1953, saw the birth of one of the best poker greats of all-time.  Stu Ungar was born from Jewish parents and known as Stuey the kid through his career.  Even today, Stu Ungar is regarded as the greatest pure poker talent to ever play the game.  So what makes the story of Stu Ungar far more captivating than those of other poker legends?

Stu was the only player to capture the titles at both the World Series of Poker and the Super Bowl of poker, and he won them 3 times each.  Stu had such an extraordinary talent that if used responsibly it could have taken him to greater heights!  However, unfortunately his addiction to action and drugs saw the most disappointing end to an amazing poker career.  Stu started playing cards in 1963.  At just 10 years old he won a local gin rummy tournament.  By 1967 he became one of the best gin players in New Yourk and even dropped out of High School to take up card playing full-time.  He definitely made no mistake there, as he started to win tournaments earning him $10 000 and more!

Being the action seeker that he was, Ungar then chased the game to Miami and eventually ended up in Las Vegas in 1976.  At this point he was already regarded as one of the best card players around.  He was so well known in Vegas that players refused to play gin against him and this was bad for business in the casinos, so they started asking him not to play anymore.

There was no such thing as building himself up from the bottom as in 1980 he entered the World Series of Poker for the first time, and won!  He became the youngest champion in the history of the tournament and was thereafter dubbed Stu “The Kid” Ungar.  Baxter mentioned that, because of Ungar’s small stature, they had to add a Coca-Cola crate for him to reach the table properly in the tournament.  With a photographic memory and an IQ of 185, Ungar used his talent to his advantage while at Caesers in Vegas, making sure that his name would go down in the history of many casinos.  He won over $83 000 at Blackjack after which the game was stopped.  In retaliation he then forecasted the remaining 18 cards in the deck.  This led to the end of single deck blackjack tables at casinos and the plastering of Ungar’s picture at all casinos, banning him from the tables!  His next feat was to bet any takers $10 000 that he could perform a memory miracle, to count out the last two remaining decks in a six-deck shoe.  There were no takers, however in January 1977 a former owner of Vegas World and designer of the Stratosphere Tower, Bob Stupak, stepped into Ungar’s life.  Stupak offered him $10 000 to count out the last three decks in a six-deck shoe.  If Ungar lost, he would have to give Stupak $10 000.  Memories of that day still remain clear in the minds of those who witnessed it.  Ungar did not miss a single call from a total of 156 cards!  When Stupak handed him the check for $100 000, it was the beginning of a lasting friendship.

Ungar never had a job in his life.  He was always a high-stakes gambler with interests in poker, gin, sports, horses and golf.  He had not respect for money and simply saw it as a tool for gambling.  The more he had, the more he would bet. 

He had an escalating drug problem that lasted for 20 years.  It consumed him to such a point that at the 1990 World Series of Poker, staked by close friend Billy Baxter, he was found on the third day, unconscious in his hotel room.  Ungar had such a chip lead that, even when dealers kept taking his blinds, he still managed to take ninth place and won a whopping $20 500.

After early success, Ungar squandered all his earnings on cocaine and other forms of gambling.  He went from broke to millionaire four times and was always looking for action.  He could not even sit down for a full meal before jumping up in fear of missing out. 

It was feared that Ungar would not see his 40^th birthday;  however he was kept alive by determination to see his daughter Stephanie, grow up.  Ungar and his wife Madeline, divorced in 1986.  Madeline’s son Richie, who was adopted by Ungar and took on his surname, committed suicide just after his prom and this devestated the couple and drove them apart.  In 1997 he was so deeply in debt, but still received the $10 000 buy-in (by Baxter) to the World Series.  He had a picture of his daughter in his wallet and regularly called her with updates on his progress.  He took the title and during the live broadcast on ESPN he showed the picture of his daughter and dedicated his win to her. 

Ungar was deteriorating and it was said that the blue-tinted sunglasses that he wore at his tournaments were used to hide the fact that his nostrils had collapsed from the cocaine abuse.  In 1998, he was broke again, however Baxter was still willing to finance his buy-in to the World Series of Poker.  Ten minutes before the start of the tournament, Ungar said he was tired and did not feel like playing. 

Seven months later he was found dead in his hotel room at Oasis Motel in Las Vegas with $800 on him.  The money was remnants of a $25 000 loan that Baxter has given him a week earlier to put him back in action at the poker tables.  An autopsy suggested that Ungar died from heart complications due to years of drug abuse.  He died at the age of 42…..

But his legacy lives on…….  Ungar is reckoned to have won $30 million at cards, well over $100 million in today’s currency, but “the cheapest commodity in his life was always money,” and he died penniless.  Stu was inducted posthumously into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2001

He won a total of 10 major no-limit Texas Hold’em events, still the most by anyone.  A movie titled:  High Roller:  The Stu Ungar story, based on his life story was released in 2003 and his daughter Stephanie called out the famous phrase, “Shuffle up and deal!” at the 2005 World Series of Poker.

It is sad that many confused his lifestyle, habits and addiction with his extraordinary talent.  To all those who never knew the truth….  Stu Ungar was a legendary poker player in a league of his own and will always remain that way.