The primary reason why Mr. Ungar switched from gin to poker was that Stu was a little too skilled at it. So skilled was he, that no player could equal him. Even the apparently professionals who were meant to be the most favorable at gin rummy were decimated when they played against Mr. Ungar. One of these gin professionals was Harry Stein, called, "Yonkie". Harry was handed such a debilitating beating at the hands of Stu Ungar that he allegedly stopped participating in it professionally and never showed up at a gin rummy tournament.
Certainly, with a reputation like that it wasn’t too long before everyone became shy of wagering against mr. ungar. He could not find any games and in his agony he began doing something no one had performed before. He issued starting handicaps to likely adversaries with the wish that they might play opposed to him if they thought they had an advantage. He at will played from a negative arrangement and one tale has it that he even competed with a constant absconder. Amid the contest, he received advice that the absconder was at it yet again but Stu Ungar stated that he knew of the cheating and he would still actually win, which of course, he did.
The same problem followed Stu Ungar to Las Vegas. He won so often that the casinos began asking him not to gamble in their poker rooms anymore. The reason for it was that other casino clientele refused to sit at the table if Stu was seated.
Stu Ungar is recalled better for his abilities in texas hold’em poker but he himself always said that he was much better at gin rummy.
He defeated Doyle Brunson in the World Series of Poker in Nineteen Eighty to become the youngest world champion. Due to his looks that made him appear far younger than he really was, he was nicknamed, "The Kid".