The book is pretty poorly written, with plenty of errors in grammar and poor organization overall. But it’s also written without the use of any big words, and y’all know I love that. But rather than kill the messenger, I’ll talk about the message itself — the story of Stu Ungar.
I’d known a little about Stu Ungar just from following the world of high-stakes poker for the last few years. He won the main event at the World Series of Poker three times (including back-to-back wins in 1980 and 1981, when he was only 27 and 28 but looked like he was fourteen), and he was known as a brilliant high-stakes player who could read his opponents’ minds. I also knew that he was found dead in a hotel room in Las Vegas one day in 1998. This book fills in the story of Stu’s life before he burst on the scene in 1980 and fills in the blanks between that time and the time of his death.
I didn’t know that Stu got his start as a teenage gin prodigy with backing from the mob in New York City. Apparently his photographic memory and good card sense made him an unbeatable gin player at a very early age, and through associates of his father (a bar owner and small-time bookie), he got financial backing and played in games against the best players in the world for big money, crushing all of them.
As his story progresses and his killer instinct (vs. the con-man attitude of a hustler) basically makes it impossible for him to get a gin game against anyone, he takes up poker and learns that he can beat the best in the world at that game, too. However, the overriding storyline in this book, much like the last book I posted on, A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey, is one of addiction. Stu’s personality and need for “action” led to addictions to gambling and drugs, which combined to lead to his downfall. It’s a sad (pathetic?) story, in that this man earned upwards of $30 Million playing gin and poker and died penniless because he blew every penny he earned on incessant sports betting and crack.
I don’t know that I’d recommend this book to anyone who didn’t have a specific interest in the world of high-stakes poker and the story of Stu Ungar, but I also wouldn’t let the poor writing get in the way of suggesting it to someone who did.
January 1st, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Maybe you should become our official Poker book reporter. You are the de facto correspondent on these matters, might as well make it official. Maybe you can get the poker press to start sending you these things for free.