The Stu Ungar story is one of a great talent whose tremendous talent was not only underutilized but cut short by substance abuse and tragedy. Ungar was an incredible card player, one of the best of all time. The winner of three World Series of Poker championships, Ungar also suffered from a very serious drug addiction.
Stu showed a propensity for card playing early on. At the age of 10, he won a gin rummy tournament. As a fifteen year old, Ungar had already developed a reputation for being the best player in New York City.
Stu Ungar’s card playing prowess would eventually take him to Las Vegas. Not too long after his arrival, he was banned for card counting in blackjack games. Ungar’s photographic memory was causing the casinos to lose too much money. Soon after, Steve began to concentrate on poker. He experienced a great deal of success extremely fast, winning the first World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament he entered. Known as The Kid, because of his age, Ungar was only 24 when he won the aforementioned bracelet. At that time, he was the youngest player ever to win the WSOP Main Event.
Ungar would follow-up his first WSOP Main Event win with another one, repeating in 1981. In total, Stu would end up winning five WSOP bracelets, two by the age of 25 years old and three WSOP championships.
Sadly, the Stu Ungar story didn’t end on a positive note. Ungar was a gambling addict and a drug abuser. He would end up losing millions of dollars on a variety of debts, including on golf games, craps and whatever tickled his fancy at that time. Ungar would eventually be found dead in 1998 in a Las Vegas hotel room from a heart attack. This would be a terrible end for what turned out to be a tragic but brilliant figure.