They knew his name, or at least, they kind of did. When Stu Ungar walked into Binion’s Horseshoe Casino for the 1980 World Series of Poker, he was an afterthought for the field. They knew him as ‘the Kid’, a prodigious bridge player who’d taken out all comers. That well dry, he’d recently turned his attention to poker. Nothing would ever be the same.
Ungar had played one tournament in his life prior to the 1980 Series. Two months earlier, he’d entered Amarillo Slim’s Superbowl of Poker and finished thirty-fourth out of forty-one. When the odds were posted, his were the longest in the field, not really a surprise considering he was essentially still learning the rules.
The transformation Ungar underwent through the Series was a remarkable one. “If someone had knocked him out on day one” Doyle Brunson recalled, “I don’t think I could have lost that tournament.” Each day, Ungar’s game improved, enough that it was noticeable. Doyle would say later he’d never seen anything like it before or since.
Doyle and Stuey would eventually get heads-up. Ungar had a 6:5 chip lead, but Doyle was listed as the 6:5 favorite. Both men liked their side of the action, and they made a $50,000 wager on the outcome. To win the bet, Ungar would make one of the more brilliant reads in poker annals.
The final hand of the tournament started with Doyle limping on the small blind to make the pot almost T13k. The flop came A-7-2, giving Doyle top two while Stuey had only a gutshot. Ungar checked and Brunson bet T17k. Against most players, he’d have taken the pot down there, but Ungar made the call.
The turn brought the Kid’s miracle three, giving him the straight. He immediately bet out for 40,000, knowing if Doyle were staying in the hand at this point, it would be for a lot more than T40K. Brunson paused for a moment, Ungar goaded him and declared himself all in, pushing T270k into the pot. Ungar pointed out Doyle still had another T5K in hand, and Doyle flipped them in too. Stuey called and won.
Poker world, meet Stu Ungar.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
