[madmax155]

over the past weekend i was watching TSN on sunday, then came on a documentry on stu unger,the rise and fall. Now for you people who dont know who stu unger is he won the 1980,81 and 97 wsop main event. He is currently the only player with 3 main event victorys,but his life was anything from ordinary as was his presence at the poker table. after he had won back to back wsop titles in the early 80s stu got into the drug scene and high stakes gambling. By the mid 80s stu was broke and having trouble staying clean. Over his career he was belived to have spent over 34 million dollars on his addictions, leaving him broke in 97 when his friend put up the 10k buyin for the main event. He would shock the poker world and win earning a million bucks digging himself out of debt, and getting off drugs. Old habits died hard in the next year when the 98 wsop main event came around stu was again broke and in rough shape. He didnt even want to defend his title, and was back living on the streets of las vegas. He was found dead in a rough area of las vegas days after the wsop began. Many believe nobody ever saw the best of stu and how many titles he could have won. Good friend doyle brunson sums up stu's life. ''stu was a winner at the table, but a loser in life".

[evilintentions]

ESPN Classic had the 97 WSOP on the other night and Unger seemed to have the nuts in every hand he played. He played real loose too. Played alot of marginal hands (8 5 off) and they would hit and he would rake. It's impossible to go back to back ever again. Fields are just going to get bigger.

[money_maker]

He actually ended with 5 braclets

3 were the main event hold em ones but he also won in a Seven Card Stud event and a Deuce to Seven Draw.

In my mind the greatest ever poker player to walk this earth.

[jhpbutler]

You can see the footage after he wins the 81 WSOP and you can just tell he a drug addict, his eyes light up so big when they show him the money. And he is always scratching himself on his arm and neck

[Laurie]

I always wondered how you could tell a drug addict.

[SoGDsimple]

Hope that documentry was way way way better then the move I saw. HighRoller based on his life. His Character was played by Michael Imperioli. I suggest anyone who likes poker and is bored and sees this video at your local MovieRental place. DO NOT RENT. Well you can but you mine as well go buy a flipping smoothie. You will enjoy it 30x more. I don't know what it was there was just something very cheap about the movie. Hope I see that documentry your talking about.

[Ragecloak]

His life was certainly a sad one...it would have been nice to have seen what he was really capable of, had he stayed clean

[craigo111]

if he stayed clean he would have more than 10 bracelets beating doyle, hellmuth and chan. his life was sad but he was a good person.

[Jagrbst]

First of all I'd like to comment that his name was Stu Ungar, not Unger.

My father knew Stuey, you see he makes his living by playing gin rummy, just as Stu.
But when they played together Stuey won all the money, he's such a brilliant player.

[wptdreamer]

Originally Posted by money_maker

He actually ended with 5 braclets

3 were the main event hold em ones but he also won in a Seven Card Stud event and a Deuce to Seven Draw.

In my mind the greatest ever poker player to walk this earth.

He was a fantastic poker player, and an even better gin rummy player. He had a high IQ and an eidetic memory. However, I have to disagree with you that he was the best poker player ever. It's hard to compare older players to today's players. What was the field last year? Over 6k people? I doubt Stu Ungar ever played that many people in his whole lifetime. There are other players more deserving of your greatest player accolade. Ones that have been around many years, and have been forced to change their game to the times. They are still playing, and still winning.