Stu is considered by many to the very best NL Texas holdem Poker player ever.
The 3 time World Poker Champ was born in New York in 1953 and began playing poker before reaching his teens.
The young gambler started out betting gin and at the age of 10 had won his initial gin rummy tournament, while on holiday with his parents. By the age of 14 the little poker genius had become a pro and dropped out of school.
In 1954 Stu Ungar entered the record books by winning $10,000 in a gin rummy tournament without sacrificing a single hand, a record which still appears in New York these days.
The fast speaking superstar has been compared, in poker terms, to athletic superstars like Joe Namath and Kobe Bryant. Stu Ungar had a genuine talent for wagering poker except despite his successes in Holdem poker, he favored betting gin.
Stu once said that there may several day be a greater NL Holdem gambler than him but he could not see how anyone could ever be a greater gin gambler.
In 1980 Stu Ungar was put on the world map as one of the best Texas hold em Poker gamblers in the earth when he was crowned World Poker Champion for the first time. Astonishingly it was the very first time he had entered the tournament.
The subsequent year he put aside any suggestions that it had been luck, by successfully defending his title. And in ‘97 Stu set the record by succeeding his 3rd World poker championship.
Except this poker legend also fought with substance abuse and a year after winning his 3rd title Stu died in his hotel room. According to medical professionals, he had passed away from a cardiac event which was triggered by his lifestyle.
Stu Ungar had started with practically nothing but his skill and expertise for the game which made this poker good a millionaire quite a few times over.