The basic reason why Stu changed from gin to poker was that Stu was a little too skilled at it. So good was he, that no one could equal him. Even the commonly called champions who were meant to be the best at gin were defeated when they competed against Mr. Ungar. One such gin masters was Harry Stein, nicknamed, "Yonkie". Mr. Stein was handed such a crushing beating at the hands of mr. ungar that he allegedly stopped competing in it professionally and never showed up at a gin rummy tournament.
Of course, with a reputation like that it was not too long before everyone became afraid of competing against mr. ungar. He couldn’t find any matches and in his desperation he began doing something no one had performed prior. He presented starting handicaps to potential opposing players with the high hopes that they may compete opposed to him if they believed they held an advantage. He deliberately started from a bad arrangement and one tale has it that stu even played with a consistent absconder. Amid the match, he received advice that the absconder was at it once again but Stu Ungar guaranteed that he deduced of the dishonestly and he would still win, which he did, of course.
The same trend followed Stu Ungar to vegas. He won so often that the casinos started requesting that he not to play in their rooms anymore. The explanation why was that other poker room clients would not be seated at the table if Stu was playing.
Stu Ungar is recalled more for his accomplishments in texas holdem poker but he himself always said that he was much more skilled at gin rummy.
He defeated Doyle Brunson in the WSOP in 1980 and became the youngest world champion. Because of his looks that made him seem far younger than he really was, he was nicknamed, "The Kid".