The primary reason for why Stu Ungar switched from gin to poker was that Stu was a bit too skilled at it. So good was he, that no player possibly could stand up to him. Even the apparently experts who were supposed to be the best at gin rummy were decimated when they faced Stu Ungar. One such gin rummy player was Harry Stein, nicknamed, "Yonkie". Harry was handed such a humiliating blow at the hands of stu that he allegedly quit competing in it professionally and never showed up at a gin rummy tournament.
Certainly, with a notoriety like that it was not long before people became afraid of wagering against stu. He could not find any matches and in his boredom he started doing something no one had performed before. Stu issued starting handicaps to likely opponents in the wish that they might play opposed to him if they believed they had an edge. He deliberately began from a negative position and one account has it that he even played against a consistent bad egg. Mid game, he get warnings that the absconder was at it one more time but Stu Ungar assured that he knew of the dishonestly and he would still acquire a win, which he did, of course.
The same problem followed Stu Ungar into sin city. He won so much that the poker rooms began requesting that he not to play on their respective premises anymore. The reason for it was that other poker room clients refused to sit at the table if Stu was seated.
Stu Ungar is recalled better for his achievements in texas hold’em poker but he always said that he was considerably more skilled 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 appear far younger than he was, he was nicknamed, "The Kid".
