Stefanie Ungar Opens Up About Her Poker Legend Father Stu

Stu Ungar as soon as mentioned, “It’s hard work, gambling… playing poker. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Think about what it’s like sitting at a poker table with people whose only goal is to cut your throat, take your money, and leave you out back talking to yourself about what went wrong inside. That probably sounds harsh, but that’s the way it is at the poker table. If you don’t believe me, then you’re the lamb that’s going off to the slaughter.”

Most folks inside the poker world are effectively versed on Stu Ungar’s legacy. The New York City gin rummy prodigy was so good that a few of his opponents truly believed he was clairvoyant. His skill for whole recall even received him a $100,000 prop wager after he was in a position to rely down a six-deck blackjack shoe. ‘The Kid’ beat his opponents so unhealthy that his motion finally dried up, forcing him to modify to poker.

Ungar shortly took to carry’em, and was finally thought of by a lot of his friends to be among the many greatest to ever play the sport. He not solely received the Super Bowl of Poker thrice, but in addition received 5 World Series of Poker bracelets. In reality, he stays the one participant to ever win the $10,000 buy-in most important occasion thrice, incomes back-to-back titles in 1980 and 1981, after which returning to win once more in 1997.

(Johnny Moss has three most important occasion titles as effectively, however one was earned by way of participant vote. Johnny Chan received the primary occasion in 1987 and 1988, and fell simply brief in 1989, ending runner-up to Phil Hellmuth.)

Unfortunately, he was additionally a person who battled with private demons. Although he would have undoubtedly been one of many early stars of the poker growth, Stu by no means noticed the sport explode in recognition. He died unceremoniously in 1998 on the age of 45 in a Las Vegas lodge room, the official trigger listed as cardiac arrest. He was only one 12 months faraway from his third most important occasion title.

“Everybody felt terrible, but it wasn’t a surprise,” Doyle Brunson was quoted as saying.

As somebody who discovered the playing world at a younger age myself, I’ve all the time been fascinated by Stu’s story. On a chilly day in November, I pulled up a chair to a small desk, espresso on the left and my cellphone set to document on the precise. Seated throughout from me was Stefanie, Stu’s daughter, now 38. Although he didn’t get to see her develop into an grownup, Stu would have been pleased with Stefanie, who arrived elegantly dressed, more than pleased to reply the seemingly limitless checklist of questions I had put collectively, and in addition share a aspect of him that maybe folks didn’t learn about.

Authors word: My dialog with Stefanie Ungar-Campbell lasted a number of hours and the tales have been never-ending. As a lot as I wish to expose the whole lot I realized, greater than two-thirds of the interview needed to be left on the slicing room ground due to house issues. If you’d like to listen to extra nice tales about Stu Ungar, please observe her on Instagram (StefanieUngar) as she continues to share his legacy. Stefanie is at present working in direction of opening a restaurant close to the Las Vegas Strip named after her father, and plans to earmark a portion of gross sales for habit restoration efforts.

Stuey The Kid

Although his father Ido was a bookmaker who ran a bar and social membership in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, it was his mom Faye that really sparked his curiosity in gin rummy.

“He had an insatiable appetite for action,” Stefanie mentioned. “The way he got into playing cards was by watching his mom play with her friends and make mistakes. She would be made fun of by the other players and he would watch as they openly laughed at her. That’s what started it off for him – his early quest for greatness within the game coupled with his desire for respect.”

Stu’s early gin prowess acquired the eye of the mafia, which frequented his father’s institution. After his father died, the mafia reportedly accepted the 13-year-old with open arms. You could write off these tales as fiction, however Stefanie confirmed these early connections.

“At Stuey’s bar mitzvah there were so many mobsters in attendance that the FBI was outside of the event writing down the license plate of every car in the parking lot,” she recalled. “They couldn’t fathom who the kid was and why there were so many Italian mafiosos at a Jewish kid’s birthday party. In reality, he was just a 13-year-old whose father had the respect of the mafia, who was able to make them a ton of money. He later joked that if the FBI was smart, they would have confiscated the guest book.”

Stu grew streetwise past his years, however his official training fell by the wayside. The extra concerned he grew to become in gin to help his mom and sister, the much less it mattered to do his homework, and even present as much as faculty. Although he had been good sufficient to skip two grades early on in his tutorial profession, by highschool, he was usually taking part in gin via the night time. The double life as a card shark and a scholar finally proved to be an excessive amount of to juggle, and he dropped out in tenth grade. By this level it didn’t matter, as he was too ingrained inside the playing world to contemplate another avenue in life.

His wits have been in playing cards and hustling, not in books and grades. Stuey was as soon as taking part in a high-stakes gin match for the mafia, and the unlawfulness of the sport grew to become obvious the second the FBI kicked within the door and rushed the parlor. The sudden flood of legislation enforcement would catch most individuals off guard, however Stu shortly hopped up from the desk and onto a barstool, grabbing a bartender’s rag within the course of. In a flash, Stuey remodeled from a high-stakes unlawful gambler into an underweight child who was simply there to shine sneakers for free change. It wasn’t the final time that Stu’s fast considering acquired him out of hassle.

The Hardest Of Gamblers

Upon arriving in Las Vegas, Stu shortly realized that it had the whole lot he ever needed: booze, ladies, fancy vehicles, good dinners, and most significantly, an never-ending provide of motion. At first, he plied his commerce as a gin aficionado and paid off some former connections to make sure his security, however his need to show himself didn’t cease there. It didn’t matter the sport, Stu sought out a wager, playing as excessive and quick as anybody would let him.

“Stu’s first-time playing golf, he left the course owing over $77,000. I don’t know what he was chasing, if it was an adrenaline rush or something more, but he was always pushing how far he could go,” Stefanie recalled. “At one point he lost the Mercedes that he had arrived to the golf course in. He was a horrible golfer and honestly a horrible sports bettor. If he had stuck to gin and poker his life would have been easier, but that wasn’t who he was.”

Poker professional Mark Gregorich battled with Ungar on the tables throughout his waning years, and confirmed that Stu not solely misplaced the $77,000 taking part in 9 holes of golf, however had managed to lose a further $300,000 on the observe placing greens earlier than he even acquired out on the course. Stop and take into consideration that for a second. He’d by no means even picked up a set of golf golf equipment earlier than in his life, however he was prepared to wager a fortune on it in his quest for motion.

Always brash and overconfident about his talents, Stu acquired into greater than his justifiable share of confrontations. While it’s recorded within the annals of poker historical past that he was virtually banned from the 1981 WSOP most important occasion after spitting on a supplier, Stefanie identified that he additionally had a delicate coronary heart and would usually attempt to make amends.

“At his funeral, my mom pointed out several dealers that were in attendance and told me how big of a deal that was, because he didn’t always treat them the best. When we talked with one of them afterwards, he said not everyone understood, but Stu tried to make it a point to come over after the game and apologize while leaving a sizeable tip. He would just get so frustrated when playing for giant sums that he couldn’t control himself. But when his anger subsided, he usually tried to make it right.”

Dealing With Tragedy

Stu married Stefanie’s mom Madeline in 1982, shortly earlier than Stefanie was born. He needed to ‘do the right thing’ and never have a toddler out of wedlock. Stefanie recalled the numerous nights that they might spend collectively, cuddling on the sofa, taking part in footsies whereas speaking, or spending hours taking part in Monopoly. The marriage additionally got here with a step baby for Stu. Richie was a 12-year-old boy who idolized him as a father and a person. Stefanie acknowledged that they might always be connected on the hip, all the time betting on foolish issues.

Ungar’s mom suffered a stroke and needed to be positioned in a nursing residence earlier than her demise in 1979. The burden of guilt weighed closely on Stu, and it was an excessive amount of for a few of his “friends” to witness. He was supplied cocaine and informed it might assist him really feel higher. Stu by no means drank or smoke as his urge for food was all the time geared for motion, however this time he readily accepted any treatment to assist together with his overwhelming unhappiness. In the blink of a watch, he did really feel higher, refreshed, and able to go. This one-time cocaine bump shortly turned in to the belief that the surprise drug may assist him play longer on the tables. What had began as a need to blunt his personal ache had as an alternative develop into a device to induce ache on the tables.

Stu’s on-again, off-again drug behavior induced strife inside the Ungar family, and the couple divorced in 1986. Richie opted to stay with Stu as an alternative of his mom, however dedicated suicide shortly after his highschool commencement in 1989.

“I had never seen my dad cry, but after Richie died, he was still crying himself to sleep at night ten years after his death.”

The tragedy, coupled with Madeline and Stefanie leaving Las Vegas for his or her household community in Florida, drove Stu over the sting. The medicine have been now not there for partying or all-night periods on the desk. They have been as soon as once more used as a device to uninteresting the anguish.

When Stu performed within the 1990 WSOP most important occasion he infamously made day three as a monster chip chief however overdosed and couldn’t present as much as play the ultimate day. His unmanned stack nonetheless managed a closing desk look earlier than it busted in ninth place for $25,050.

Remembering Her Father

Stu was a tremendous gamesman, however he was so utterly targeted on playing that he usually lacked the fundamental skill to operate as a human. For occasion, he as soon as ran a Mercedes dry of oil and returned it to the dealership complaining that nobody had informed him his automotive wanted upkeep. He even paid a neighborhood boy $20 to take out his trash. He didn’t belief banks and paid the whole lot in money. But when it got here to time with Stefanie, he was all in and targeted.

“He had a Jaguar, that was his car, and he’d constantly trade in the older model for an updated version,” she mentioned. “Whenever I flew in from Florida to visit for the summer, he would pick me up himself at the airport. He’d come right up to the gate, you were allowed to back in those days, and then we would jump in his car and drive off. When we would go out to dinners together it was an affair. We would be out for hours, just talking at the table. He always loved Chinese food and Italian food and it became our thing. I’ve heard it from the players before, that he was completely different around me.”

The world by which Stu inhabited every day was continuous adrenaline, kill or be killed, and overwhelming machismo, and he needed no a part of that for his daughter. Not solely did he not need Stefanie to be taught poker, however he was additionally overprotective.

“I couldn’t go out of our cul-de-sac because he was scared that I would get kidnapped,” remembered Stefanie, who now has two children of her personal. “He wouldn’t let me wear makeup or nail polish, and I couldn’t shave my legs because he would tell me I wasn’t old enough. If I said something ‘sucked,’ he would chastise me and tell me it wasn’t ladylike. When we would go out to a movie together and I had to go to the bathroom, he would find the sweetest old lady he could and ask her to make sure I was okay.”

“He had seen another world that fortunately most people never see, and [it affected him]. I wasn’t completely blind to the world he lived in, though. I knew he always had women around, but when I would come to town for three months during the summer, I never saw one. Not one lady. Imagine that, changing your life so much for your daughter. It was out of love.”

It is commonly mentioned that Stu Ungar died alone in a lodge room with out a dime in his pocket, not leaving a single factor to his household. The actuality of that’s a lot farther from the reality. He left his daughter with many joyous reminiscences, he taught her to be loyal, to be respectful, and to behave with class. He confirmed the right way to love and the right way to function in a world that may chew you up and spit you out. It’s the identical love that Stefanie passes on to her youngsters as she tells them of the person her father was and the way pleased with them he can be. ♠

Nathan Gamble is a local of Texas the place he realized to play maintain’em from his father. He is a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, having received the 2017 WSOP $1,500 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better occasion, and 2020 WSOP Online $600 PLO eight-or-better occasion. He is a fixture of the combination sport neighborhood and may usually be discovered taking part in $80-$160 combine video games on the Wynn. Gamble is energetic on Twitter underneath the username ‘Surfbum4life.’ He can also be lead commentator for the Galfond Challenge which he streams together with mixed-game content material on his Twitch channel. You can take heed to his poker origin story on Card Player’s Poker Stories Podcast.