Anyone read "One of a kind" - Stu Ungar's biography?

Stu Ungar won the wsop three times. He was unbeatable in Gin and is (arguably) referred to as "the greatest poker player of all time".

The guy had a phenomenal talent for card games, but his tragic flaw (one that Shakespeare would have been proud of) was a powder cask-like self-destructive personality. His fate was sealed from birth, since his father was a bookie in NYC. There are millions of stories of people ruining their lives due to various addictions, but seldom any about a person who had such a genuine talent as "The kid", which I suppose is the books main deceit.

I'd call "One of a kind" the "Requiem for a dream" of poker literature.

Any comments?

saw the movie, but yet have to read the book.
I'm very interested in more about the late, great Stu Unger.....3 back to back to back WSOP champion and I don't think there will ever be anyone in this world that will ever have a 3-peat like Stu did.
And if there ever is anyone who does it I will personally shake his/her hand.

it wasn't b2b2b. He won in '80, '81 and then '97. But yeah, the guy could play cards alright.

before this, I didn't even know gin rummy was a game of skill! The guy (according to the book) was literally unbeatable.

I was thinking about ordering this book. The movie wasn't bad, but the book really seemed to hook me in the few parts I perused at the local Barnes and Noble while having a coffee.

The guy was simply amazing by all accounts. Even those that didn't like him still talk about the skills and card recollection he had for gin, blackjack, and poker.

Saw his biography on A & E. He was incredible. I will definitely check out the book now that I know it's out there.
By the way I didn't know there was a movie. Can someone please tell me the name of it? Thanks.

High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story is the movie I saw. It was really good.

Yes, the movie was great I saw it too. Phil Gordon, in his book "Poker the real deal", talks about "the kid" in the 1st chapter of this book, describing him as having a "photographic memory" and a "genius IQ".

The most interesting part is this one: "He dropped out of school at 15 to become a professional gin rummy player...destroying himself in the process with heavy drug use and heavier sports betting. By the time he got to Las Vegas in 1976, the 23 year old was dead broke. Ungar somehow scraped together the buy-in for a $50.000 gin tournament. He won, of course, but couldn't resist forecasting each of his opponent's cards on the final 2 hands in front of a crowd of gaping onlookers. A scary feat, enough to frighten anyone from playing gin rummy with the kid, or at least for any serious money. It would end his gin rummy career."

He then describes the wins at the WSOP and also his success in NLHE.

Overall he must have been some character besides being incredibly skilled, unfortunately his addictions ended up getting the better of him.

I'll definitely check out the book.

I want to conclude with a quote from Chip Reese, also found on Gordon's book: "If you think about what money can do for you, you're gone. That's what made Stuey Ungar such a great no-limit player: He never, ever, ever cared."

The movie was good considering its direct to video release. The book is probably more accurate and in more depth. I might consider reading it. There's this mystique about him.

Great book.. stu was a phnoem, gut those drugs, one of the best overalll card players ever..

The book (as usual) was much better than the movie. Nolan Dalla is a good writer.

loopmeister said:

it wasn't b2b2b. He won in '80, '81 and then '97. But yeah, the guy could play cards alright.

before this, I didn't even know gin rummy was a game of skill! The guy (according to the book) was literally unbeatable.

Click to expand...

I was thinking "umm when did he win 3 times back to back?"