Stu Unger is one of the biggest superstars to have immerged from the professional poker world. Besides being a true poker genius and a three time World Series of Poker champion, Stu Unger had a fascinating life story. It was not surprising that after his death Stu was the subject of a biography and a biopic.

Stu Unger lived the life of a rock star including the quick rise to fame, the drugs, the comeback and the unavoidable death at an early age. Here you can read about the life story of the legendary poker player Stu Unger.

The Beginning

Stuart Errol Ungar was born in 1953 to a Jewish family who lived in Manhattan on the Lower East Side. Stus father was a well known bookmaker and his mother was too ill to fight against her sons fascination with gambling. After the death of his father, 13 years old Stu had found a father figure at his neighbor Victor Romano, one of the infamous Genovese family soldiers.

Stu and Romano had at least one thing in common: they both had an incredibly sharp memory, which was mainly used in poker and gin games. By that time, Stu was already an accomplished gin player who had gained vast experience in winning gin tournaments. Stu dropped out of school to become a full time gin rummy player. The Genovese family had benefited from Stus talent. In return, they provided him protection from other gamblers who found themselves offended by his harsh and arrogant playing style.

The Rise

As a professional gin player, Stu had managed to beat all the professional gin poker players around. According to the rumors, Stu caused Harry Yonkie Stein, one of the best players around to stop playing gin completely after beating him in a gin match. Since he was out of proper competition, Stu decided to focus on playing poker professionally. In 1976, he and his girlfriend relocated to Las Vegas where they got married and had a girl, Stephanie.

In 1980, Stu won the World Series of Poker Main Event after beating experienced poker pros such as Doyle Bronson. Stu was the youngest WSOP champion in history and was nicknamed The Kid. Even though Stu won the 1981 WSOP Main Event, he still considered himself more a gin and rummy player than a poker player. After winning his first WSOP championship title, he was quoted saying that the poker world would meet better no limit players than him, but no one will ever be able to play gin rummy better than he does.

At the same time, Stu had tried to use his skill to grab money at the blackjack table. Nevertheless, the casinos were not happy with Stus presence around the blackjack tables and he was constantly barred. In 1982, he was fined by the New Jersey Gaming Commission for cheating, although Stu has not done anything illegal but using his natural skill and phenomenal memory.

The Fall

In 1990, Stu made another appearance to the WSOP. This time, he was heavily into drugs. He was a chip leader for the first three days of the event and then disappeared. He was found lying at his hotel room, unconscious from a drug overdose. However, it did not stop him from finishing ninth and earning enough money for his future cocaine supply.

The Comeback

After seven years of disappearing from the professional poker circle, Stu had returned to the WSOP. In 1997, he was broke, with damaged nostrils from cocaine abuse, addicted to horseracing and sports gambling, but still in shape to beat all the new contestants and gain back his WSOP Championship title. The local media was happy to embrace The Comeback Kid, but his success did not last long.

The Death

Stu Unger did not attend the 1998 World Series of Poker since he could not get the money to pay the entry fee. Seven months after Scotty Nguyen won the 1998 WSOP, Stu Ungar was found dead at his motel room in Las Vegas with 800 pounds in his pocket. Apparently, he died of a heart condition caused by years of drug abuse.

The Biography

Read: One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey The Kid Ungar, The Worlds Greatest Poker Player written by Nolan Dalla, Peter Alson, Mike Sexton.

Watch: High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story directed by A. W. Vidmer and starring Michael Imperioli, Christopher Moltisanti of The Sopranos, as Stu Unger

Live Poker: Pros and Cons of Participating in a Tournament

If you have had enough of playing poker with friends or with playing it online and winning some money and then losing some money to only win that money back again, then you have reached the stage in your poker playing experience where you need to start entering live tournaments. That is the real deal. No more long hours in front of the computer, no more feeling guilty for taking your friends’ money: you are now ready to turn pro.

But, before you do, here are a few things you must consider:
1) One of the big differences of playing in a tournament is that you need to pick you hands carefully. Spend most of your time throwing your cards away at the right beginning. If you see that your cards won’t amount to much, fight the urge to exchange most of them, and just hand them all in. This is what most tournament players do anyway. If you don’t believe me, watch the others play.

2) Money you take with you to tournaments lasts for a much lengthier period than when playing with friends or online. This is one of the advantages of not playing every hand you are dealt. (Hint: You should do the same thing when playing with friends even though that then becomes boring.)

3) Do not sit to the left of the dealer. Ensure that there are at least two players between the dealer and the players to the left. Why? Only the first 2 players seated on the left of the dealer have to place the ante. Since, most of the tournaments involve ten players on each table, you save this much each time you play. This also means that each hand that you fold will mean that you have spent only half that of the lower limit. This amounts to three pounds in a two to four pound rake tournament.

4) Take into consideration that the mere fact that you are away from home means that you will spend money on food and drinks. Try and get your own, but in any case keep it light.

5) Tournament dealers are not paid much, and so it’ general practice to give them about three percent of whatever you win. Consider that all gambling halls and poker rooms also take a certain percentage but at least this comes from the money you win and so you don’t feel it.

6) One of the other advantages of playing in a tournament is that you can use more money than you had. For instance, for a hundred pound sit-in, many www.gambling-portal.comonline-gambling-casino-reviews.htmlcasinos and poker rooms will give you about five hundred in tournament chips to bet with.

7) If high odds and high risk is not what you are looking for you can take advantage of the late night satellite tournaments. These generally begin at one in the morning and since the number of players won’t be high, you stand a bigger chance of winning.

Conclusion:
Playing poker requires tremendous skill as well as come luck. While you cannot depend on luck, improve your skills and your online casino or other kind of betting account will show a profit.

Dream Job – Earning Your Daily Bread from Online Poker

If you spend most of your work day daydreaming behind a desk of getting home to play a few rounds of online poker, how would you feel to know it is possible to cut out that boring day job interference and play poker full time, while paying your bills? It is possible; many people support themselves and their families by heading to off to a hard days work at the online poker table. Going from poker amateur to full time poker player who brings home the bacon through their card playing is not for everyone, though. Making a living from poker requires skill, commitment, and patience.

Before you consider making a living at online poker, be realistic with yourself about your abilities. How well do you really know the game? Can you play all varieties of poker? Can you play well enough to play multiple games at once? Many full time poker players are playing up to four hands at any given moment. Do you have the ability to know when to walk away from a hand? Poker professionals only play an average of 50% of the hands that they are dealt; do you have the self control to make responsible and calculated decisions about the financial risks involved in poker and not get caught up in the excitement/emotion of the moment and blow the bank?

If you think you have the knowledge and the self-control needed to play effectively, then it is time to be realistic with yourself about the realities of life as a full time online poker player. Most poker pros will tell you this is not a get rich quick scheme. Your commitment to poker will have to take up more of your time than a normal, 9 to 5 kind of job to make the kind of money needed to support yourself, and even with a lengthy time commitment, the rewards of playing poker for a living are more about personal satisfaction than personal wealth. The financial rewards of playing poker are also up and down. Sometimes, youll be riding high and cashing in left and right. Other times, you wont be able to catch a break. Youll need to be careful during the good times to put aside some money to see you through the bad. You should also be sure you are emotionally prepared to go to work every day and lose over and over and over again without giving up.

If youre ready to deal with all of this, then the only thing you need to get started is a bank roll and a computer. The size of your initial investment doesnt have to be huge, but remember that the more money you have to play with, the more money you can win. If you start out with a small bank roll, make sure to reinvest some of the winnings into your career until you have a comfortable balance to work with. When youre just getting started, playing lots of small stakes games, instead of a few high stakes one, is the best way to go to protect your investment and keep the cash flow manageable. When your career is more stable, you can wade into the higher stakes games.

One important thing to keep in mind when you start your online poker career: like any self-employment opportunity, playing poker for a living can become all-consuming. Make an effort to keep a balance in your life with plenty of time away from the poker table. Keeping that balance in your life will keep your stress in check and make your game better.