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The primary basis for why Stu switched from gin rummy to poker was that he was a tiny bit too skilled at it. So skilled was he, that no player was able equal him. Even the so-called experts who were meant to be the greatest at gin rummy were beat when they competed against Stu Ungar. One of these gin player was Harry Stein, called, "Yonkie". Harry Stein was handed such a humiliating defeat at the hands of mr. ungar that he apparently quit participating in it professionally and never resurfaced at a gin rummy tournament.

Of course, with a notoriety like that it wasn’t very long before people became afraid of betting against stu. He could not find any games and in his agony he began doing something no one had attempted before. He began offering starting handicaps to likely opponents in the hope that they might compete with him if they believed they held an edge. He at will played from a negative position and one story has it that he even competed with a regular cheater. Amid the game, he received a few words of wisdom that the absconder was at it yet again but mr. ungar assured that he knew of the fraudulent activity and he would still win, which he did, of course.

The same problem followed Stu Ungar to sin city. He won so much that the poker rooms began requesting that he not to compete on their respective premises anymore. The reasoning behind it was that other casino clientele refused to sit at the table if he were seated.

Stu Ungar is recollected more for his abilities in texas holdem poker but he always said that he was much more skilled at gin rummy.

He beat Doyle Brunson in the World Series of Poker in Nineteen Eighty and became the youngest world champion. Due to his looks that made him seem far younger than he actually was, he got the nickname, "The Kid".