The basic reason why Stu changed from gin rummy to poker was that he was a little too skilled at it. So skilled was he, that no one could equal him. Even the apparently champions who were supposed to be the best at gin rummy were defeated when they faced Stu. One such gin rummy masters was Harry Stein, nicknamed, "Yonkie". Mr. Stein was handed such a debilitating beating at the hands of stu that he evidently stopped competing in it as a pro and never showed up at a gin rummy tournament.
Accordingly, with a honor like that it wasn’t very long before gamblers became afraid of gambling against stu. He could not find any matches and in his agony he started doing something no one had performed prior. Stu presented starting handicaps to potential adversaries with the hope that they might play with him if they thought they held an advantage. He deliberately played from a disadvantageous position and one story has it that stu even played against a regular cheater. Mid match, he received a few words of wisdom that the absconder was at it again but Stu Ungar assured that he deduced of the fraudulent activity and he would still win, which he did, of course.
The same problem followed Stu Ungar into sin city. He won so often that the poker rooms started requesting that he not to gamble in their casinos anymore. The reason for it was that other casino visitors would not sit at the poker table if he were seated.
Stu Ungar is recollected more for his achievements in texas hold’em poker but he always said 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 camp. Due to his looks that made him appear far younger than he really was, he was nicknamed, "The Kid".
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