The main reason why Stu switched from gin rummy to poker was that Stu was a tiny bit too skilled at it. So skilled was he, that no player could stand up to him. Even the apparently champions who were supposed to be the most favorable at gin rummy were defeated when they competed against Stu Ungar. One of these gin player was Harry Stein, called, "Yonkie". Mr. Stein suffered such a crushing defeat at the hands of stu that he evidently stopped competing in it as a pro and never resurfaced at a gin tournament.

Accordingly, with a image like that it was not very long before gamblers became afraid of betting against stu. He could not find any games and in his desperation he began doing something no one had performed prior. Stu began offering starting handicaps to likely opposing players with the hope that they might compete opposed to him if they thought they had an advantage. He deliberately started from a disadvantageous position and one tale has it that stu even competed against a regular bad egg. Mid game, he received a few words of wisdom that the cheater was at it yet again but stu stated that he knew of the cheating and he would still come away with a win, which of course, he did.

The same problem followed Stu Ungar to Las Vegas. He won so frequently that the casinos started asking him not to play in their poker rooms anymore. The reason for it was that other poker room players refused to sit at the table if Stu was seated.

Stu Ungar is remembered better for his achievements in texas hold’em poker but he always said that he was considerably more skilled at gin rummy.

He beat Doyle Brunson in the World Series of Poker in Nineteen Eighty to become the youngest world champion. Because of his features that made him appear far younger than he actually was, he was nicknamed, "The Kid".