The primary reason why Stu switched from gin rummy to poker was that he was a tiny bit too good at it. So good in fact, that no player could equal him. Even the commonly called champions who were supposed to be the greatest at gin rummy were crushed when they competed against Stu. One such gin rummy masters was Harry Stein, called, "Yonkie". Harry Stein suffered such a belittling blow at the hands of stu that he allegedly stopped competing in it professionally and never showed up at a gin tournament.
Of course, with a reputation like that it was not too long before people became shy of playing against mr. ungar. He could not find any games and in his boredom he began doing something no one had done prior. He presented beginning handicaps to likely opponents in the hope that they might compete against him if they believed they had an advantage. He deliberately began from a disadvantageous position and one account has it that stu even competed with a regular absconder. Mid match, he received warnings that the absconder was at it yet again but stu assured that he knew of the dishonestly and he would still acquire a win, which of course, he did.
The same problem followed Stu Ungar to Las Vegas. He won so often that the casinos started requesting that he not to gamble in their rooms anymore. The explanation why was that other poker room clients would not be seated at the poker table if he were playing.
Stu Ungar is recollected better for his achievements in hold’em poker but he always insisted that he was much better at gin rummy.
He beat Doyle Brunson in the World Series of Poker in Nineteen Eighty to become the youngest world champion. Due to his features that made him seem far younger than he was, he got the nickname, "The Kid".
