The primary reason why Stu Ungar switched from gin rummy to poker was that Stu was a bit too good at it. So good in fact, that no player possibly could equal him. Even the so-called professionals who were meant to be the best at gin rummy were defeated when they competed against Mr. Ungar. One such gin rummy player was Harry Stein, called, "Yonkie". Harry Stein suffered such a debilitating defeat at the hands of Stu Ungar that he allegedly stopped participating in it as a pro and never resurfaced at a gin tournament.
Certainly, with a notoriety like that it was not long before people became shy of wagering against mr. ungar. He could not find any matches and in his boredom he began doing something no one had attempted prior. He offered beginning handicaps to potential competitors in the high hopes that they may play against him if they thought they held an advantage. He deliberately started from a bad arrangement and one tale has it that stu even competed against a regular bad egg. Mid game, he get warnings that the absconder was at it once again but mr. ungar assured that he was aware of the fraudulent activity and he would still win, which of course, he did.
The same trend followed Stu Ungar to Las Vegas. He won so frequently that the casinos started requesting that he not to compete on their casinos anymore. The reasoning behind it was that other poker room players refused to sit at the table if Stu was seated.
Stu Ungar is recalled better for his accomplishments in texas holdem poker but he himself always maintained that he was much more accomplished at gin rummy.
He beat Doyle Brunson in the WSOP in 1980 to become the youngest world camp. Due to his looks that made him seem far younger than he was, he got the nickname, "The Kid".
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