If you want to read more about Stu Ungar read "One of a Kind: The Story of Stuie 'The Kid' Ungar, the World's Greatest Poker Player," by Nolan Dalla and Peter Alson.
It started out as an autobiography but Ungar's death occurred during the writing. The primary author, Dalla, interviewed Ungar many times and was able to get lots of primary source material that gives you a peek into Ungar's psyche.
Ungar's life was very fascinating. It was also sad and tragic in several ways. I think it was Doyle Brunson who said Ungar had no concept on the value of money. That made him fearless at the poker table.
Poker wasn't his only card game though, he played them all quite well. Nor was poker his best game. That would be Gin. He was so good, some underworld types in NYC ran Stuie in on one of the best high-stakes Gin players in the world. Not only was Stuie a relative unknown in the Gin world, he was only 14 years old at the time. Stuie not only beat him, he crushed him. It's said that Stuie literally ruined him. Stuie's success in Vegas Gin tourneys resulted in him being asked not to participate since it so hurt enrollment.
Stuie said his worst bad beat came not in poker but in sports betting. On March 17th, 1990,
WBC world champion
Julio César Chávez , and
IBF world champion
Meldrick Taylor fought in Las Vegas. Both were good fighters and neither had ever lost a fight. To Stuie, the fight going the distance was a good enough bet to risk his $70k (yes thousand)
bankroll on. Today that fight stands out for two things. Firstly because Taylor was ahead going into the final round and only had to survive yet appeared to be OK with going toe to toe with Chavez. The other thing it is remembered for is because referee Richard Steele stopped the fight with only 2 seconds to go. 2 seconds. It's on you-tube if anyone cares to see it.
If you find Ungar interesting I recommend the book.
Here is Ungar playing outside at a
wsop Main Event final table. This is the year before he died.
