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 player possibly could equal him. Even the so-called champions who were supposed to be the best at gin rummy were demolished when they faced Stu Ungar. One such gin player was Harry Stein, nicknamed, "Yonkie". Harry suffered such a crushing blow at the hands of mr. ungar that he evidently quit playing it as a pro and never resurfaced at a gin rummy tournament.
Certainly, with a reputation like that it wasn’t very long before gamblers became weary of competing against mr. ungar. He couldn’t find any matches and in his bleakness he began doing something no one had performed before. Stu provided beginning handicaps to likely competitors with the hope that they might play against him if they thought they had an advantage. He at will began from a disadvantageous position and one story has it that stu even competed against a consistent cheater. Mid match, he received warnings that the absconder was at it once more but mr. ungar stated that he deduced of the fraudulent activity and he would still actually win, which he did, of course.
The same problem followed Stu Ungar into sin city. He won so often that the poker rooms started asking him not to compete on their respective premises anymore. The explanation why was that other poker room visitors would not be seated at the poker table if Stu was seated.
Stu Ungar is remembered more for his accomplishments in texas hold’em poker but he always maintained that he was considerably more accomplished at gin rummy.
He beat Doyle Brunson in the World Series of Poker in 1980 and became the youngest world champion. Because of his features that made him seem far younger than he really was, he got the nickname, "The Kid".