The main reason why Mr. Ungar switched from gin to poker was that Stu was a bit too skilled at it. So skilled was he, that no one could equal him. Even the commonly called champions who were supposed to be the best at gin were devoured when they faced Stu Ungar. One such gin rummy professionals was Harry Stein, called, "Yonkie". Mr. Stein suffered such a debilitating blow at the hands of stu that he evidently stopped playing it professionally and never resurfaced at a gin tournament.
Certainly, with a honor like that it was not too long before players became shy of gambling against mr. ungar. He couldn’t find any games and in his boredom he began doing something no one had done before. Stu began offering starting handicaps to potential opponents in the high hopes that they might play with him if they believed they had an advantage. He at will played from a negative position and one story has it that stu even competed with a regular absconder. During the match, he received warnings that the absconder was at it once more but mr. ungar stated that he deduced of the fraudulent activity and he would still actually win, which of course, he did.
The same problem followed Stu Ungar into vegas. He won so frequently that the poker rooms began asking him not to compete in their respective premises anymore. The explanation why was that other casino visitors refused to be seated at the poker table if Stu was playing.
Stu Ungar is remembered more for his accomplishments in texas holdem poker but he always maintained that he was a whole lot better at gin rummy.
He defeated Doyle Brunson in the World Series of Poker in 1980 to become the youngest world champion. Because of his looks that made him seem far younger than he really was, he was nicknamed, "The Kid".
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