The basic reason why Stu Ungar changed from gin to poker was that Stu was a tiny bit too good at it. So skilled in fact, that no one was able stand up to him. Even the so-called professionals who were supposed to be the best at gin were crushed when they played with Stu. One of these gin masters was Harry Stein, nicknamed, "Yonkie". Mr. Stein suffered such a humiliating blow at the hands of mr. ungar that he apparently stopped participating in it as a pro and never resurfaced at a gin tournament.

Accordingly, with a notoriety like that it wasn’t long before everyone became shy of gambling against mr. ungar. He could find no matches and in his desperation he started doing something no one had performed prior. Stu provided starting handicaps to potential opponents with the wish that they may play with him if they believed they held an advantage. He at will started from a disadvantageous position and one story has it that stu even competed with a constant bad egg. Mid contest, he received warnings that the bad egg was at it once again but Stu Ungar stated that he knew of the fraudulent activity and he would still acquire a win, which of course, he did.

The same problem followed Stu Ungar to sin city. He won so much that the casinos began requesting that he not to gamble in their casinos anymore. The reason was that other casino clients would not be seated at the poker table if he were playing.

Stu Ungar is remembered better for his abilities in holdem poker but he himself always insisted that he was considerably better at gin rummy.

He defeated Doyle Brunson in the WSOP in 1980 to become the youngest world camp. Due to his looks that made him appear far younger than he actually was, he got the nickname, "The Kid".