Biography Special: Stu Ungar

To date, Stuart Errol Ungar is regarded as the most exceptionally gifted poker player of all times. However, as unique as his performances at the table were, as self-destructive the warm-hearted legend acted in the game of life.

Growing up in difficult circumstances, 'The Kid', as Stu
was called due to his youthful looks, experienced a roller coaster ride of life. Countless highlights by the prodigy at the table alternated with constant excesses and low points in his life.

Drugs shaped Stu's life from an early age, as did an insatiable betting addiction which he lived out in horse racing and sports betting. At least four times, Ungar lost his whole assets, only to become a millionaire once more. And despite tournament winnings in the millions, his belongings at the time of his death only amounted to a few hundred dollars.

"I need the constant challenge. It is no challenge to fleece a bunch of losers at the cards game. Let me go to the races and bet on the winner, that's what makes my heart pound."

As torn and disoriented as Stu Ungar was, he was described by his contemporaries as warm-hearted, compassionate and generous. Nonetheless, he was unable to avoid the misery he brought to his surroundings because of his style of 'living against his own will'.

"There is an old poker saying which says that you are your own worst enemy at the poker table. I can only say that, in my case, no truer word has ever been spoken. I had a gift which nobody else had. Maybe I haven't used it well enough, and I am not a big personality, but the bad I did was only aimed at myself. Nevertheless, I know that I also harmed others with this, especially those who were close to me."

On one side a human failure, on the other the probably best poker player of all times. In 1980, in his first ever WSOP participation, he won the $10,000 Main Event straight away and defeated none other than poker legend Doyle Brunson in the heads-up. In the decisive hand, the hitherto unknown Ungar held 5-4 suited and hit the wheel on the flop of A-2-3, with which he won the first of five WSOP bracelets.

Already in the following year, Stu became a legend during his lifetime when he managed the seemingly impossible by defending his WSOP title, and also winning the $10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw
Championship. Stu Ungar had made it. He was at the pinnacle of his career, and the whole world was at his feet.

In poker, he also dominated the following years, but the drug abuse was soon almost impossible to conceal. A sad highlight in Stu's exorbitant drug abuse took place at the Main Event of the WSOP in 1990. On the third day, he was found unconscious in his hotel room. The reason was a cocaine overdose. Stu was hospitalised and wasn't able to finish the tournament. Nonetheless, he finished as 9th only by blinding out due to his immense lead, a demonstration of his skills, which would also remain the last one for the time being.

In the following years, Stu would be unable to return to the level of his prior successes. After 13 major wins in the decade of 1980 to 1990, it took another seven years for him to be all the way on top again in 1997 - at least for a short time.

After seven dark years, Stu dared to make a comeback at the WSOP in 1997. He borrowed the $10,000 buy-in, and actually managed to win the WSOP for the third time. With $1,000,000 in prize money for the win, it seemed as if everything could take a turn for the better. However, nothing changed in the life of Stu Ungar.

Only a few months after his triumphant return and the biggest cash ever, the life of the eccentric 'talent of the century' would end in a miserable way. On November 22nd 1998, the 45-year old Stu Ungar was found dead in a cheap hotel in Las Vegas - the cause of a death was a heart attack due to his year-long substance abuse.

In his short poker career from 1980 to 1997, Stu won at least 13 majors. 16 times he cashed at the WSOP, and his poker tournament winnings amounted to millions. Stu won five WSOP bracelets, four times at the America's Cup Of Poker, and three times at the Amarillo Slim's Superbowl Of Poker.

Chosen Tournament Wins
Year	Series	Tournament	Prize money
1997	WSOP	$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em	$1,000,000
1991	Queens Poker Classic	$5,000 No-Limit Hold'em	$190,000
1989	Amarillo Slim's Superbowl Of Poker	$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em	$205,000
1988	Amarillo Slim's Superbowl Of Poker	$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em	$210,000
1987	America's Cup Of Poker	$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em II	$55,000
1987	America's Cup Of Poker	$ 5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw	$55,000
1987	America's Cup Of Poker	$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em I	$150,000
1984	America's Cup Of Poker	$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em	$150,000
1984	Amarillo Slim's Superbowl Of Poker	$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em	$275,000
1983	WSOP	$5,000 Limit 7 Card Stud	$110,000
1981	WSOP	$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em	$375,000
1981	WSOP	$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em	$95,000
1980	WSOP	$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em	$365,000

Born on September 8th, 1953, the highly intelligent Stu grew up in Manhattan with his Jewish parents. In his father's bar in Manhattan's Lower East Side, which also served as a playing ground, he got in touch with the cards and the underworld rather early.

The game gin rummy especially fascinated the young Stu. At the tender age of ten, he won the very first tournament he had ever participated in. Already at the age of 14, he defeated the best rummy players in New York. With a photographic memory and an almost uncanny ability for numbers, he was unbeatable at the game.

After his father died from a heart attack, 'Stuey' abandoned school at the age of 15 and became a full-time gin rummy player to support his mother and sister financially.

In this quote, Stu described his first experiences as a professional card player. "They called me a monster. I was 15 when I mugged people who already played professionally for 30 years. But I made them laugh. Yes, maybe I was some kind of monster."

Despite the nice income from the rummy games, betting debts soon forced him towards Miami and the gambler paradise Las Vegas. In 'Sin City' as well, Stu played the High Stakes gin rummy games.

He played against any opponent and for any amount, with a success that was beyond description. No matter how good the opponents were, Stu defeated them all. He dominated the game in such an awe-inspiring way that he simply ran out of opponents at some point. The casinos even felt compelled to ask him to no longer participate in their games as the players stayed away - Stu had to look for a new income source.

In 1980, he found it in the WSOP. Despite having some poker experience, and friends from his childhood say that he could have beaten anybody in poker as well in his youth, it was still Stu's first contact with the professional poker game at the Series. The result is history. Stu won right away, and so laid the foundation for his unique career.

In the memory of the poker world, Stu Ungar has left a permanent mark. Together with Johnny Moss, they share the honour of being the only poker players who have won the WSOP Main Event three times to this day.

Meanwhile, several books are on the market, the most famous one being "One of a Kind",
as well as the film version of "One of a Kind" and the film "High Roller: The
Stu Ungar Story", which deals with his life.

Stu's
daily routine was rather disorderly. For the major part of his life, he didn't have a bank account, even less any health insurance. He played for nights on end, couldn't be found for days and was involved in the wildest tales.

Nevertheless, he married his long-time girlfriend Madeline in Las Vegas, who gave birth to a child. The relationship ended, like his whole life, in a heap of shards. In 1986, after nine years of marriage, Madeline filed for divorce with a heavy heart, but still remained close to Stu. Prior to the divorce, she had fought for years for a common life away from the drugs, struggling under the intense emotional burden. Their daughter would remain with Madeline, and Stu would be unable to get over the feeling that he failed in the upbringing of his child throughout his whole life.

An escape from his life situation seemed impossible for Ungar. At the pleading of his daughter and the advice of his friends - amongst them numerous poker legends -, he entered drug rehabilitation treatment on several occasions, only to leave the programs before he was clean. Thus, it was only a matter of time until the tragic end of an exceptional card player had to come.