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The main basis for why Mr. Ungar switched from gin rummy to poker was that he was a bit too good at it. So skilled was he, that no player was able equal him. Even the apparently experts who were meant to be the most favorable at gin were decimated when they competed with Stu. One of these gin professionals was Harry Stein, called, "Yonkie". Mr. Stein was handed such a humiliating blow at the hands of stu that he allegedly stopped playing it professionally and never resurfaced at a gin tournament.

Certainly, with a notoriety like that it wasn’t too long before players became weary of wagering against Stu Ungar. He couldn’t find any games and in his bleakness he started doing something no one had performed prior. He began offering starting handicaps to likely opponents with the high hopes that they might just play against him if they believed they held an advantage. He deliberately started from a disadvantageous position and one story has it that stu even played with a consistent bad egg. During the match, he received warnings that the bad egg was at it once again but stu guaranteed that he knew of the fraudulent activity and he would still come away with a win, which of course, he did.

The same trend followed Stu Ungar to Las Vegas. He won so often that the casinos started asking him not to bet on their respective premises anymore. The explanation why was that other casino visitors would not be seated at the poker table if Stu was playing.

Stu Ungar is recalled more for his accomplishments in holdem poker but he himself always maintained that he was considerably more skilled at gin rummy.

He beat Doyle Brunson in the WSOP in 1980 and became the youngest world camp. Because of his features that made him appear far younger than he actually was, he was nicknamed, "The Kid".

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