Alson Peter - One of a kind: the rise and fall of stuey , the kid, ungar, the worlds greatest poker player

I first met Stuey Ungar in 1978, at the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. Sadly, twenty years later, I was a pallbearer and speaker at his funeral. During my eulogy, I said, Lets forgive Stuey for his weaknesses and drug problems and remember him for what he wasthe greatest player to ever grace the green felt.

Forgive, but dont forget.

Stu Ungar was a legend in the gambling world. He had an aura and mystique about him that turned heads in every room he entered. Ungar craved action and bet on everything. Whatever he gambled on, whether it was poker, gin, blackjack (if they let him playhe was barred from just about every casino on the planet because he was too good), horses, sports, or golf, he was the highest of high rollers. Stu Ungar stories are legendary.

Physically, Ungar was small; but mentally, he was a giant. He had the quickest mind of anyone Ive ever known. When it came to cards, Ungar had no equal. He was a genius and had a photographic memory. His raw talent was overwhelming. I still smile when I think of some of the plays he made in big tournaments, with hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. And I have tears in my eyes thinking about what could have been.

Ungar was known for being fearless and aggressivetwo traits that are very easy to talk about but almost impossible to display on a daily basis. Simply put, Stuey Ungar was the greatest gladiator in poker history. He took command of every table he played at and dominated his opponents heads-up (the final phase of every tournament comes down to two players facing off mano a mano).

For years, the second-largest poker tournament in the world (behind the World Series of Poker) was Amarillo Slims Super Bowl of Poker. Only one player in history has captured the $10,000 championship event in both the World Series of Poker and the Super Bowl of Poker. That man was Stu Ungar. And he won each three times.

Remarkably, as great as he was at it, poker wasnt even his best game. Gin rummy was. He originally came to Las Vegas to play gin, not poker. Soon, however, after beating everyone, he couldnt get any games.

Unless you had seen Ungar play gin rummy, or talked to those who played against him, it would be difficult to imagine his artistry at that game. Ive never met or talked to any people who played him who didnt consider Stuey to be far and away the best player they had ever seen. After one or two discards, he could place virtually every card in your hand. As the Poker Hall-of-Famer Doyle Brunson once said about Ungars expertise at gin rummy, Its scary to watch him.

Not long before he died, Ungar said to me, Fifty years from now, I suppose its possible that a better poker player may come around, but I cant see how there will ever be a better gin player. I really mean it. Michael Jordan wonwhatfour or five MVPs? If they gave an MVP for gin rummy, I would have won it every year since I was sixteen years old.

I spent a lot of time with Stu Ungar and Nolan Dalla the summer before Stuey died. Ungar wanted to write One of a Kind for several reasons. He was hoping there was a chance that someone would read it and it might change that persons life by leading him away from the self-destructive path that he had taken. He could also see the possibility that this book might become a movie, and he liked to picture himself at the Hollywood premiere and the Academy Awards. But mostly he wanted to write it for his daughter, Stefanie, whom he worshipped. Stefanie never really got to see the beautiful person that was her father in his primebrilliant, daring, generous, kind, compassionate, and mesmerizing. Yes, Stuey was an addict, but he loved life and loved the people around him. And most of all, he loved and respected the game.

Stuey never got to finish his autobiography. But what you find here is the official biography of the Kid. Its a powerful and remarkable re-creation of one of the most fascinating lives ever lived. Enjoy.

MIKE SEXTON, LAS VEGAS,

APRIL 15, 2004

O ne of a Kind was originally intended to be Stuey Ungars autobiography. Before Peter Alson got involved in this project with me, I spent many sessions interviewing Stuey face-to-face, often under the most trying physical and emotional circumstances. Most of the interviews took place in various hotel rooms scattered throughout Las Vegas in the summer and fall of 1998. At times, Stuey was remarkably cooperative and was able to recount details of his life that had occurred decades earlier. At other times, he was aloof and unable to remember even the simplest of details. At still other times Stuey was nearly incapable of functioning in normal human ways.

Many of Stueys closest friends and supporters hoped this book project would be a catharsis for him, a purifying emotional exercise, which would allow him to come to grips with his drug problem. Stuey himself seemed to take great pride in reflecting back on his life and discussing the early influences that eventually made him an icon in the gambling world. Unfortunately, the temptations of that world and Stueys own self-destructive tendencies doomed him to his tragic and in many ways predictable fate.

His untimely death produced an ethical dilemma for me as an author as to how to tell his story. I decided that it was important to tell parts of the story in Stueys own words so that readers could grasp his streetwise vocabulary, his incessant vulgarity, his rough humor, and his deep passion for taking risks. I also realized that in shifting from a memoir to a biography I needed a coauthor who could help me tell a deeper story.

Peter Alson, a native New Yorker and acclaimed author, understood immediately both the significance of Stueys story and what was needed to bring it fully to life. Not only did Peter know the terrain from having written about poker and gambling for magazines like Esquire, Details, and Playboy, but he is a poker player himself, who has competed in the final event of the World Series of Poker. He also had a personal brush with Stuey in 1988, while covering the Super Bowl of Poker at Caesars Palace, an event that Stuey Ungar won.