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The primary reason for why Stu switched from gin to poker was that Stu was a bit too skilled at it. So good in fact, that no one was able stand up to him. Even the apparently experts who were supposed to be the best at gin were crushed when they competed with Mr. Ungar. One of these gin professionals was Harry Stein, nicknamed, "Yonkie". Harry Stein was handed such a crushing beating at the hands of Stu Ungar that he allegedly stopped participating in it professionally and never showed up at a gin rummy tournament.

Accordingly, with a reputation like that it was not very long before everyone became shy of competing against mr. ungar. He couldn’t find any matches and in his agony he started doing something no one had done before. Stu issued starting handicaps to potential opponents in the hope that they might just play against him if they thought they held an advantage. He at will played from a bad position and one tale has it that he even played against a regular cheater. Mid match, he received advice that the cheater was at it again but Stu Ungar guaranteed that he was aware of the chicanery and he would still actually win, which he did, of course.

The same trend followed Stu Ungar to Las Vegas. He won so much that the poker rooms began requesting that he not to gamble on their respective premises anymore. The reasoning behind it was that other casino players would not sit at the poker table if he were seated.

Stu Ungar is recalled better for his abilities in texas hold’em poker but he himself always said that he was a whole lot more accomplished at gin rummy.

He defeated Doyle Brunson in the World Series of Poker in 1980 to become the youngest world camp. Due to his looks that made him appear far younger than he actually was, he got the nickname, "The Kid".

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