Stu Ungar
Stu Ungar is one of the most recognized names in poker. He was the genius player who was nicknamed “The Kid,” and won the World Series of Poker Main Event three times. However, cocaine use and sports betting ruined his life, and he died broke on November 22, 1998.
Stu Ungar was born in New York City on September 8, 1953. His father was a loan shark who ran a gambling joint, and this exposed Stu Ungar to gambling, despite his father’s efforts to keep Stu away from gambling. Stu’s father passed away, and Stu Ungar quit school to support his sister and his mother, who was also sick. Stu Ungar did this by playing gin rummy, a game at which he said there would never be anybody better than him. However, he eventually had to leave New York because of the gambling debts he had incurred at the race tracks, he moved first to Florida, and then to Las Vegas. He was so good at gin rummy that opponents refused to play him, and casinos had to ask Stu Ungar not to play in their tournaments, because nobody else would play if he did. Stu Ungar started giving handicaps to his opponents, and would even play against cheaters, he still beat them all. While in Las Vegas, Stu Ungar met a girl who would later become his wife.
In 1980, he entered the World Series of Poker Main Event, primarily because he was looking for some more high stakes action. Stu Ungar defeated Doyle Brunson to win the 1980 World Series of Poker, becoming the youngest person to ever win the Main Event until Phil Hellmuth took the title in 1989. Stu Ungar would go on to win the 1981 World Series of Poker Main Event as well. Stu was also a great blackjack player thanks to his incredible memory, but he was banned from blackjack in almost every casino.
Stu Ungar legally adopted his wife’s son Richie, and together he and his wife, Madeline, had a daughter, Stefanie. Richie committed suicide soon after his high school prom, which hurt his parents deeply. Stu and Madeline ended up getting divorced in 1986.
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- Stu “The Kid” Ungar is considered the best No Limit Hold’em (and Gin Rummy) player that has ever lived down to pure natural raw talent and “card sense”. He won a total of 5 WSOP gold bracelets, placed first in a total of 10 poker tournaments with a buy-in of $5k or higher. He only ever entered 30 major tournaments.
- The story of poker legend Stuey Ungar. A gambler by the age of 10, Ungar won millions playing card games.
- Stu Ungar – Early Life. Stuart Errol Ungar lived a relatively short but famous life. Born to Jewish parents in Manhattan, New York, Stu learned the tricks of card games early on in his father’s social club called Foxes Corner. His father was against Stu getting into playing poker and rummy, but Stu managed to avoid any confrontations.
Stu Ungar started using cocaine, and it soon took over his life. At the 1990 World Series of Poker Main Event he was found unconscious in his hotel room. Despite having all of his chips taken away through the blinds and the antes, Stu Ungar had so much of a chip lead that he still finished in 9th place. Stu would frequently win a lot of money playing poker, but would lose it all on drugs and gambling. Stu’s good friend, Mike Sexton says that Stu went from millionaire to broke and back at least four times.
One of Stu’s friends staked him to the 1997 World Series of Poker Main Event. Stu won the event, and people started calling him “The Comeback Kid.” He would lose all the money he won from that event as well. His friend was going to stake him in the 1998 WSOP Main Event as well, but Stu backed out a couple days before the poker tournament, thinking that in the condition he was in, thanks to the drugs, it would be more embarrassing to show up. Stu Ungar virtually disappeared afterwards, and a few months later, on November 22, 1998, Stu Ungar was found dead in his hotel room with only $800 left to his name.
Many books and movies have been made about Stu Ungar, perhaps the best No Limit Holdem player to ever exist. At the 2005 WSOP, Stu’s daughter said the famous starting words of the Main Event, “Shuffle Up and Deal!”
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09:2329 Sep
The inspiration that propelled Stu Ungar to win his third WSOP Main Event championship in 1997 - his daughter Stefanie - became known to poker fans the world over when Stuey held and often looked at a photo of the then 14-year-old on his way to winning $1 million.
After disposing of the 312-player field that included runner-up John Strzemp, Ungar sat down for a brief interview with Gabe Kaplan, proudly displaying the snapshot of Stefanie and revealing what was said between he and his daughter in a phone call the day before.
'She said, 'Daddy, I'm going to disown you if you don't win the tournament,' Ungar stated, to which he responded, 'Stefanie, I love you too much for you to disown me .... I'm going to win the tournament so you'll go on loving me.'
Win he did, the only man to equal Johnny Moss' record of three WSOP Main Event championships, although the first of Moss' titles was due to a vote by his fellow players and not an actual tournament victory.
Unfortunately, Ungar would be dead less than 18 months later, succumbing to a longtime drug addiction that robbed the poker world of perhaps the best player ever. Stuey's rise and fall has been a well-chronicled story that often leaves one wondering what might have been had cocaine not taken over his life.
20 Years Later
Some may also be wondering whatever became of Stefanie, for whom Stuey won that third title 16 years after winning the WSOP Main Event back-to-back in 1980-81. It's been two decades since Ungar proudly presented that photograph of Stefanie for all to see and revealed exactly how much his daughter meant to him.
According to her Facebook account, Stefanie is married and recently had a second child. As is evident in the accompanying photos, the 'very beautiful young lady' as Kaplan described her in 1997, is even more beautiful in her mid-30s.
Stu Ungar Nose
Stefanie had this to say to her Facebook followers in August while posing with her newborn:
Stu Ungar 10 High Call
'I have loved every moment of spit ups, poopy diapers, loves & cuddles over the past 2 weeks. You have changed our lives forever! We love you so much! Happy 2 weeks to our baby boy!'
Madeline Finds Love
And what became of Ungar's ex-wife Madeline, after she and Stuey divorced in 1986 following four years of marriage? In 2015, Madeline shared her joy with her Facebook friends by posting the following:
'I wanted to share my happiness with all today. I have met the man I will marry. I have been single for 29 yrs. Time to tie the knot and not one bit nervous. God is good.'
It's great to see that both Madeline and Stefanie are doing well and are apparently quite happy.