Stuart Errol Ungar, better known as Stu Ungar, is a professional poker and gin rummy player who was born on September 8, 1953, in New York City. He lived in Manhattan’s Lower East Side with his Jewish parents. Stu Ungar was introduced to gambling at his father’s gambling club and started playing tournament gin, where he built a reputation for himself. He dropped out of school to support his mother and sister after his father’s death.
Though Stu Ungar was regarded as the best gin player, he took up poker as it promised more action and money. He made a mark in poker too by winning the World Series of Poker (WSOP) a record three times.
The first big result in his poker career came in May 1980, when he won the second prize and a good sum of $45,000 at the 11th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #5 –Limit Seven Card Stud. A few days later, he took the poker world by storm when he won the WSOP World Championship – Event #12 No-Limit Hold’em defeating poker legend Doyle Brunson. In the process he also became the youngest champion in its history, a record that was to remain unsurpassed till 1989. For this win Stu Ungar also took home an awesome $365,000 in prize money.
In May 1981, Stu Ungar finished first in the 12th Annual WSOP Event #12 –No-Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball and got $95,000. The same month he successfully defended his title by winning the first prize at the 12th Annual WSOP Event #13 – World Championship – No-Limit Hold’em, which fetched him $375,000.
In May 1983, Stu Ungar missed the first prize and got $24,800 for his second-place finish at the 14th Annual WSOP Event #5 –Limit Seven Card Stud. But he played brilliantly and bagged the first prize and a huge sum of $110,000 in Event #13 – WSOP Limit Seven Card Stud at the same tournament.
Stu Ungar made some cash winnings in 1986 but could only manage to finish within the first ten places. He finished tenth and earned $3,000 at the 17th Annual WSOP Event #6 –Limit Hold’em, which was held in May 1986. His seventh-place finish in Event #11 – WSOP No-Limit Ace to Five Draw W/Joker got him $11,800. Event #10 – WSOP Limit Seven Card Stud saw Stu Ungar finishing eighth and winning $6,000.
Stu Ungar was in a better form in the year 1990, for he got the third prize at the Superbowl of Poker No-Limit Hold’em and took away $48,000 in February. In May 1990, he finished 15th at the 21st Annual WSOP Event #13 – No-Limit Hold’em with $6,500 as cash prize. His performance fetched him the 9th place and $25,050 at the 21st Annual WSOP Event #15 – No-Limit Hold’em in May 1990.
At the 22nd Annual WSOP Event #7 – Limit Seven Card Stud in May 1991, Stu Ungar managed to finish 9th and earned $4,988. He also secured the 13th place at the 22nd Annual WSOP Event #16 – No-Limit Hold’em and earned a decent amount of $5,200.
After being out of the scene for nearly seven years, Stu Ungar made a remarkable comeback in 1997 by winning his third WSOP World Championship. He walked away with the first place at the 28th Annual WSOP Event #22 – No- Limit Hold’em and earned a huge sum of $1,000,000.
Despite his personal shortcomings and disturbed family life, Stu Ungar was brilliant when he played poker and is still regarded by many poker experts as the greatest pure talent ever to play the game. His extraordinary career was cut short when he died in November 1998 at the age of 48 due to coronary atherosclerosis. In 2001, he was posthumously inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
In 2003, his life was made into a movie titled High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story (with an alternate title Stuey) in which Michael Imperioli played the title role.