Stu Ungar Strategy
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Despite being banned from blackjack at many casinos, Stu Ungar had discovered his talent for card counting, and it wouldn’t be long before he capitalized on it. With no money left, Stu put out an open bet- He would bet anyone willing that he could count down the last two decks of a six deck shoe. Amazingly, nobody took him up on this offer.
It was through this incredible offer that Stu would meet one of the few positive influences on his life, a former casino owner named Bob Stupak. Stupak gave Ungar 10-1 odds, but challenged him to count the last THREE decks of a 6 deck shoe; if he succeeded, Ungar would collect $100,000, and if he failed, he would add a $10,000 debt to Stupak to his growing tally. To the amazement of onlookers, Ungar forecast 156 cards without a single miss.
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When I first read this many years ago , I didn't really understand it , and I still don't.
Here's the part ( I think) I understand :
The 6-deck ( 312 card ) shoe was shuffled according to the casino technique , and then the cards were peeled-off and flipped over one-by-one as Ungar watched. This continued for 3 decks worth ( 156 cards ).
Next , for the remaining 3 decks worth ( 156 cards ) Ungar predicted something about each successive card before it was flipped over.
Here's what I don't understand :
Did Stuey actually predict each card precisely , including rank & suit ? To me, this would seem impossible -- well , not impossible , it could happen , but there would be a good deal of luck involved.
Even if
(1) Ungar had total recall of the cards that came off , so that for say jacks he knew that that only the Jd Js were remaining
(2) Ungar accurately maintained an advanced high-low count , so that he knew the relative probabilities of a high ( KQJT ) vs a medium ( 98765 ) vs a low ( 432A ) card coming out next ,
(3) the 6-deck shoe originally was in factory order , and Ungar had accurately peformed an advanced shuffle-tracking technique so that he knew where clumps of various high/low/medium cards were likely to be present
it still seems impossible based on skill alone for Stuey to have sequentially predicted 156 exact cards.
I suspect that what actually happenned indeed was mind-blowing , and indeed demonstrated that The Kid had total recall , and also the ability to maintain a number of advanced counts simultaneously. However, some crucial details have been left out of the story.
Anyone know what really happenned ?
When anyone talks about the greatest poker players of all time, Stu Ungar’s name will shine immediately. He is considered by many to be the greatest No Limit Hold’em player of all time. He was born and raised in New York city.
Stu Ungar, known as “The Kid” is a three-time World Champion (with five WSOP bracelets).
“Stuey” Ungar and Johnny Moss are the only two players in history to have won the WSOP Main Event three times. Ungar is also the only player to win Amarillo Slim’s Super Bowl of Poker three times, in 1984, 1988, and 1989.
Stu Ungar Strategy
- Stu “The Kid” Ungar is considered the best No Limit Hold’em (and Gin Rummy) player that has ever lived down to pure natural raw talent and “card sense”. He won a total of 5 WSOP gold bracelets, placed first in a total of 10 poker tournaments with a buy-in of $5k or higher.
- Whereas Stu Ungar was the cocaine poster boy of the 80’s, Mike Matusow fulfilled a similar role for meth during the poker boom. Matusow wrote in his biography, “Check Raising the Devil”, about his progression from ecstasy, to meth, and cocaine. He says the drugs have caused memory problems, and therefore, his poker game.
Ungar won ten major No Limit Hold’em championship events (in which the buy-ins were $5,000 or higher). His father was a bookie and gambler himself.
T.J. Cloutier (all-time leading money winner at the WSOP) and Johnny Chan (two-time World Champion), have won half that many. Amazingly, Ungar only played in about 30 of these championship events in his life!
To further understand Stu Ungar’s greatness, think about this: For years, the second largest poker tournament in the world was Amarillo Slim’s Super Bowl of Poker. At that time, every great poker player attended Slim’s tournaments. Like the WSOP, the main event at the Super Bowl of Poker was a $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em championship.
Only one man in history captured titles at both the WSOP and the Super Bowl of Poker, and that man was Stu Ungar. And he won them three times each!
At 15 he dropped out of school when a well known bookie staked Stu to the $500 buy-in in a big gin rummy tournament. He won $10,000 but lost most of it on horses in one week.
Stu Ungar Gin Rummy Strategy
Stuey’s main two problem were his drug abuse and sports betting.
Stu Ungar’s WSOP winning hands
| 1980 | 1981 | 1997 |
“High Roller, The Stu Ungar Story”, is the movie based on Stu Ungar’s life. Definitly worth having it in your poker movie collection. You can also read a review on the movie in the poker movies section.
One of my favorite scenes in that movie is when a bartender asks Stuey (as what they call him in the movie) for an I.D in order to get his drink. Without hesitation, Stuey says to him, “You want to see some I.D.? I’ll show you some I.D.” He quickly reaches both hands into his front pockets and pulls out two rolls of cash that were $10,000 each. He slams them on the bar, points at them and says, “There. There’s my I.D. Do you think any teenager would be carrying around that kind of money?” The bartender nodded, smiled, and said, “You know, you’ve got a good point there. What’ll you have?”
“The Man Behind The Shades” – The Rise and Fall of Stuey the Kid – is the book by Nolan Dalla based on Ungar’s life.
Ungar was (and has been) the greatest Gin Rummy player of all times. At age 10 in 1963, he won his first gin rummy tournament in a Catskill Mountain Resort while vacationing with his parents. Ungar never had a job in his life. He was always a high stake gambler. Ungar’s daughter Stefanie, who considers herself to be anti-drugs, called out the famous words “Shuffle Up and Deal!” at the 2005 World Series of Poker. Stu Ungar died in Novermber 22nd, 1998 at Oasis Motel, 1731 S. Las Vegas Blvd. He was 42 at the time and died of drug overdoes. There wasn’t only one drug that could account for the death Stuey. There were cocaine, methadone and the pain-killer Percodan in his system.
Stu Ungar Strategy Games
Nickname:
“The Kid
Birthday:
1956-1988
Origin
New York City, NY