The basic basis for why Stu Ungar switched from gin to poker was that he was a little too good at it. So skilled in fact, that no one could equal him. Even the commonly called experts who were supposed to be the most favorable at gin rummy were demolished when they faced Stu. One such gin professionals was Harry Stein, nicknamed, "Yonkie". Harry was handed such a crushing defeat at the hands of mr. ungar that he evidently stopped playing it as a pro and never showed up at a gin tournament.
Accordingly, with a honor like that it was not too long before people became afraid of competing against Stu Ungar. He couldn’t find any matches and in his agony he started doing something no one had attempted before. He issued beginning handicaps to likely adversaries in the high hopes that they might play opposed to him if they thought they held an edge. He at will played from a disadvantageous arrangement and one account has it that stu even played with a consistent absconder. Mid match, he received warnings that the absconder was at it again but Stu Ungar stated that he knew of the cheating and he would still actually win, which of course, he did.
The same problem followed Stu Ungar to sin city. He won so much that the poker rooms started requesting that he not to wager on their respective premises anymore. The basis for it was that other casino visitors would not be seated at the table if Stu was playing.
Stu Ungar is recollected more for his achievements in texas hold’em poker but he always maintained that he was far more accomplished at gin rummy.
He beat Doyle Brunson in the WSOP in 1980 to become the youngest world champion. Due to his features that made him seem far younger than he was, he was nicknamed, "The Kid".