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The primary reason for why Stu Ungar changed from gin to poker was that Stu was a bit too skilled at it. So good was he, that no player possibly could stand up to him. Even the commonly called professionals who were meant to be the most favorable at gin rummy were demolished when they played with Stu Ungar. One of these gin rummy masters was Harry Stein, called, "Yonkie". Mr. Stein was handed such a humiliating blow at the hands of Stu Ungar that he allegedly stopped playing it as a pro and never showed up at a gin tournament.

Certainly, with a notoriety like that it was not long before everyone became afraid of playing against Stu Ungar. He couldn't find any matches and in his bleakness he began doing something no one had done before. Stu issued starting handicaps to potential adversaries in the high hopes that they might just compete against him if they believed they had an advantage. He deliberately began from a disadvantageous arrangement and one story has it that stu even played against a constant bad egg. Mid game, he get a few words of wisdom that the absconder was at it once again but Stu Ungar guaranteed that he was aware of the chicanery and he would still actually win, which of course, he did.

The same trend followed Stu Ungar into sin city. He won so frequently that the poker rooms started requesting that he not to gamble on their poker rooms anymore. The reason was that other casino customers refused to sit at the table if he were playing.

Stu Ungar is remembered more for his abilities in holdem poker but he always maintained that he was considerably more skilled at gin rummy.

He beat Doyle Brunson in the WSOP in Nineteen Eighty to become the youngest world camp. Because of his looks that made him seem far younger than he really was, he got the nickname, "The Kid".