Stu Ungar was the best. And worst.

It is completely beyond doubt that the greatest poker player ever - and it's not even close - was Stu Ungar. What is even more remarkable, is that poker was not even his best game - he was far better at Gin Rummy, or "gin", which was a very popular game indeed in the USA back in the day.

He was so good at gin that he offered opponents a handicap start, allowing them to see the bottom card in the deck, and giving them the button (position) which is a big advantage. Challenged to play a series of gin games the acknowledged best gin player of his era, a chap who went by the wonderful name of Yonkie Stein, Stu won 86-0. Not a typo, 86-zip. Yonkie never received from that mauling and retired soon afterwards, a broken man.

Soon, there was no high stakes gin action left, as Stu had cleaned up, and nobody would play him.

For that reason alone, he turned to poker. Doyle Brunson, observing Stu's first attempt, observed he had never seen a poker player learn so fast.

He was to go on to win five World Series of Poker bracelets, including back to back Main Event wins in 1981 and 1982. He then departed the scene, only to return 16 years later and win it again. By then Stu was in a big hole, and had no money, despite winning some $30 million by playing poker. So poker pro Billy Baxter, a 7 times WSOP bracelet winner himself, staked Stu, and they split the $1,000,000 first prize. In all, Stu played 30 major poker tournaments, and won 10 of them outright.

Just over a year after winning his last WSOP bracelet, and barely 45 years old, Stu was dead.

Which brings us to the other side of Stu, and it's also beyond doubt that in many ways, he was the worst.

He grew up in Manhattan, the son of a loan shark, and soon found himself in the company of organized crime figures, Mafiosi and mobsters such as Victor Romano, and Las Vegas based mob enforcer Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro.

Sports Betting was his big leak, he won millions playing poker, gin rummy and blackjack (he was a master at card-counting, and was soon banned at all casinos) only to blow it all on the horses, and drug abuse.

He was ridiculously arrogant and rude to other players who he deemed to be beyond contempt. Benny Binion threw him out of Binion's Gambling Hall after he spat in a dealer's face, only for son Teddy Binion - hardly an angel himself - to overturn the ban, much to Benny's displeasure. 

Eventually, abandoned by his friends and backers, he resorted to begging on the streets. Various poker pros tried to rescue him, and a chap by the name of Bob Stupak (if the name is familiar, he was the chap that originally owned and built the Las Vegas Stratosphere) loaned him $25,000 to get back on his feet. 

Days later, Stu was found dead in a cheap, Downtown Vegas motel. He died of a heart attack due to years of drug abuse. Just $800 of Stupak's $25,000 loan remained.

Fellow poker players arranged a collection to pay for his funeral.   

What a man, he was the best, and the worst.

We are not here to promote other people's books, but there is a great biography of Stu Ungar written by Peter Alson and Nolan Dalla. Nolan is the WSOP Media Director, and writes beautifully. The book is called "One of a kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar, the world's greatest poker player".

If you enjoy a ripping yarn, especially if it involves poker and sports betting, you must read that book. It's equally beautiful and dreadful at the same time. Just like Stu Ungar.