He became by the age of 18 a brilliant player of gin rummy and poker. And he put his talent to work in casinos and game rooms. I loved the history because it was so different about whatever I read or lived or heard before.īorn to bookmaker father, Stuey Ungar developed from an early age a talent for numbers. He was found dead in a Vegas motel-with $800 in cash on his person, the only money he had left-at the age of forty-five.Īn intimate, authorized biography-Nolan Dalla was commissioned by Stuey in 1998 to pen his story, resulting in hundreds of hours of taped interviews and conversations -One of a Kind illuminates the dark genius of one of poker's most memorable figures.Īn interesting story of a talented man. Though he had won an estimated $30 million in his lifetime, Stuey had no bank account, not even a home address. Whether tossing away his winnings at the racetrack or on a single roll of the dice, Stuey was notorious for gambling every single dollar in his pocket.

One of a Kind is the startling tale of a man who won at his game and lost control of his life. He would go on to win the World Series of Poker a record three times. Bankrolled by the Genovese crime family, Stuey would soon travel around the country in search of new opponents and opportunities-including poker. Stuey Ungar, the son of a Jewish bookie on Manhattan's Lower East Side, dropped out of high school to become an underground card-table sensation, eventually taking out every top gin-rummy player on the East Coast. He was the Jim Morrison of the casino, a legend before he was of legal age. Now in paperback comes the first and authorized biography of Stuey Ungar, the greatest card player of all time, who was backed by the Mob in New York before moving to Las Vegas where he won the World Series of Poker three times, then died mysteriously in a seedy motel on the Vegas strip at the age of 45.

One of a Kind by Nolan Dalla