Stu Ungar didn't have much going for him in most areas of life. In fact, it could very well be argued that he was downright inept in most areas of existence. He also had a self destructive streak that manifest itself in heavy drug use and other behaviors. Ungar, however, had one great gift--he was a prodigy with a deck of cards. He would become one of the first superstars of poker before it became a fixture on ESPN, but wouldn't live to enjoy the 'boom'. Ungar would eventually be done in by his baser elements, and would be found dead in a Las Vegas hotel room in November,'88.

Stu Ungar didn't have much going for him in most areas of life. In fact, it could very well be argued that he was downright inept in most areas of existence. He also had a self destructive streak that manifest itself in heavy drug use and other behaviors. Ungar, however, had one great gift--he was a prodigy with a deck of cards. He would become one of the first superstars of poker before it became a fixture on ESPN, but wouldn't live to enjoy the 'boom'. Ungar would eventually be done in by his baser elements, and would be found dead in a Las Vegas hotel room in November,'88.

For those unfamiliar with the big guns of high stakes poker, the only way to describe Ungar's abilities is a metaphorical comparison to sports. With a green felt table and a deck of cards involved, Ungar was 'Jordan-esque'. With Ungar, his greatest accomplishment was undoubtedly three World Series of Poker victories-a feat not unlike MJ's six NBA titles. Texas Hold-em poker, the game of choice for the cognoscenti, is a seemingly simple game that belies its deceptive complexity. The successful player needs to be able to instantaneously plan strategy based on a number of ever shifting variables. Countless volumes have been written on the subject, but Ungar was able to perform complex analysis and strategy with amazing speed-almost instinctively. Between his three WSOP victories, and countless more informal victories and profitable poker room sessions, Ungar won millions of dollars playing poker. The amazing subtext to Ungar's sheer mastery of Texas Hold'em was the fact that it was the third card game he had mastered. Ungar first came to Las Vegas as a gin rummy prodigy; he had beaten all of the good players on the East Coast and moved to the desert mecca in search of new opportunities. He had soon run the table of Nevada's gin players, and then turned to blackjack out of necessity. He was quickly barred as a card counter at a number of Southern Nevada casinos. Needing a new vocation, he took up poker.

The cruel irony of Ungar's life, however, was that masterful as he was at the poker table he was equally as inept at life beyond the casino walls. He was addicted to drugs for most of his life, and gambled away millions betting on sports and golf (a game he played despite being horrible at it). After his WSOP win in'97, he was nearly broke and wasted away from drug use by the time the'98 tournament rolled around. Vegas casino owner Bob Stupak bankrolled him, but as the games began Ungar cowered in his darkened hotel suite at Binion's unable to pull himself together enough to play.

There are countless other Ungar stories that evoke the same theme: he once paid cash for a new Mercedes and drove it until it simply fell apart from lack of basic maintenance. He signed his mortgage paperwork at the table in the Dunes poker room and was taken aback that he couldn't make his down payment in chips.

Ungar's death came as something of a shock as he'd shown signs of cleaning up his act. Longtime friend Bob Stupak and helped pay off his debts and staked him in the major poker tournaments. Ungar was found dead two days after the two had drawn up a formal contract. Ungar also left behind an ex-wife and a teenage daughter, who still live in Las Vegas. Though the official cause of death was listed as a 'heart attack', there were a mixture of drugs found in his system including cocaine and methadone.

Many of the famous gamblers of Las Vegas legend such as Puggy Person and Doyle Brunson have been tough, larger than life individuals with a healthier than normal dose of self-preservation skills. In this respect, Ungar was an anomaly among gambling greats-he was physically frail and almost completely helpless away from the poker table. At the table, however, he became an almost unbeatable adversary. His story is certainly not one that the modern day, publicity conscious Las Vegas will celebrate. He will be remembered, however, as part of the tradition that gives the city its unique character. From the mobsters that pioneered the city, to the Rat Pack that civilized it, to the corporations that cleaned it up, characters like Stu Ungar have provided Las Vegas with its unique character.