Stu Ungar Final Hands WSOP 1997

[ConteStinis]

Texas Holdem No-Limit WSOP 1997

$10,000 Main Event: A mistake or a great play? GREAT PLAY!!!

Stu Ungar: :Ah :4c

John Strzemp: :As :8c

Best hand percentage Pre-Flop

Stu Ungar 34.8%

John Strzemp 65.2%

The Flop : :Ac :5d :3h

34.8%

65.2%

The Turn :3d

42.0%

58.0%

The River :2s

Action:

When the last hand came up between two-time World Champion Stu Ungar and John Strzemp, Ungar held a 4-to-1 chip advantage. Ungar raised to $40,000 with the :Ah :4c and Strzemp called with the :As :8c . The flop came :Ac :5d :3h , giving both players top pair. Strzemp had the lead with the better kicker but Ungar had a gut-shot straight draw to go with his pair. Strzemp bet $120,000 on the flop and Ungar thought for a while before he moved all-in. Strzemp called all-in. The turn brought the 3 , giving Ungar 20 outs for a split pot and 7 outs to win. The 2 fell on the river, giving Ungar a 5-high straight, his third title and $1,000,000 in prize money.

Analysis:

When Ungar moved in on Strzemp he must have been thinking that Strzemp could have had a better ace than him, since there were no likely draws on the flop. But it wasn't likely to have been a great ace like AK or AQ since he wasn't reraised pre-flop. Because he had the chip lead he decided to move in hoping that Strzemp would fold a weak ace. If he was called and Strzemp held a hand like A8 or A7, Ungar still had about a 35% of drawing out. He didn't risk too much here since they would be about even in chips had he lost the hand. Strzemp just got unlucky that Ungar drew out on him. This is how Ungar himself thought of his play in the tournament, "I played a perfect tournament. I'm not kidding you. If every hand from start to finish was filmed "every bet, every raise, even every fold" players would witness a classic performance. It was a no-limit hold'em clinic."

Stu Ungar The Great

[ConteStinis]

Texas Holdem No-Limit WSOP 1997

$10,000 Main Event: Slow-playing a marginal hand

Stu Ungar :Qd :Jc

Mel Judah :Th :9c

Best hand percentage Pre-Flop

Stu Ungar 65.8%

Mel Judah 34.2%

The Flop :Jh :3h :Td

76.4%

23.6%

The Turn :2c

88.6%

11.4%

The River :Kc

Action:

When the final table was down to three players (Stu Ungar, Mel Judah and John Strzemp) the following hand came up. Mel Judah made a $60,000 raise on the button with the 10 9 , Stu "The Kid" Ungar called from the small blind with the Q J and Strzemp folded in the big blind. The flop came J 3 10 , giving Ungar top pair and Judah second pair. Ungar checked and Judah checked behind him. On the turn the 2 hit and Ungar bet $80,000 at the pot. Judah called the $80,000 and raised it another $162,000, putting himself all-in. Ungar thought for a while but called the $162,000 raise. When the hands were turned over everyone could see that Judah was drawing to 5 outs with only one more card to come. On the river the K hit and sent Judah out in third place. Ungar eventually went on to win the tournament and his third $10,000 WSOP title.

Analysis:

Ungar set this hand up beautifully by gambling in a spot were he had a lot to win and not too much to lose. His check on the flop made Judah think there was a reasonable chance that he was either bluffing or drawing when he bet on the turn. It was this play that made Judah move in on the turn, although Judah might have done the same thing on the flop if Ungar had bet, but it is unlikely. Since Ungar had a lot of chips and knew that he had set up Judah to move in on the turn, his call on the turn was correct. Had Judah bet on the flop he most likely would have been able to get away from the hand without losing his whole stack.

Stu Ungar The Best

[ConteStinis]

Texas Holdem No-Limit WSOP 1997

$10,000 Main Event: A stone cold bluff

Stu Ungar :Qs :Tc

Ron Stanley :7d :9d

Best hand percentage Pre-Flop

Stu Ungar 63.0%

Ron Stanley 37.0%

The Flop :As :6s :9h

25.4%

74.6%

The Turn :8c

22.7%

77.3%

The River :Kd

Action:

It was down to the final four players in the tournament when the following happened. Ron Stanley limped from the small blind with the 9 7 and the late poker legend Stu Ungar checked from the big blind with a Q T . The flop came A 6 9 , giving Stanley a pair of nines and no help for Ungar. Stanley checked and Ungar checked behind him. On the turn the 8 hit giving Stanley an open-ended straight draw to go with his nines and Ungar now had a gut-shot straight draw and two overcards to Stanley's pair. If a T hit on the river Ungar would make a better pair than Stanley, but this card would also give Stanley a straight. In short Ungar needed a Q or a J to make the better hand. Stanley bet $25,000 and Ungar reraised him $60,000 on a semi-bluff, hoping Stanley would fold. Stanley went into the tank but finally called. The K hit on the river, not helping either player but it was a scare card for Stanley since there were now two overcards on the board to his pair. There was about $200,000 in the pot after Stanley's call. Stanley checked and Ungar bet $220,000 into the pot. Stanley thought for a while and then reluctantly folded. Ungar decided to show his bluff as he was collecting the pot. This made Stanley lose his confidence along with the chips lost in the pot. Stu Ungar eventually won the tournament and became the only player ever to win the Big One three times.

Analysis:

Had Stanley bet on the flop it is likely that he would have won the pot right there. Instead he decided to trap Ungar with a weak hand or he didn't know what to do with the hand. When Ungar raised on the turn Stanley should have moved all-in or folded. Either Ungar has him beat and then Stanley must try to outdraw him or he is bluffing. With so many straight draws and a flush draw on the board almost any card is a scare card for Stanley, so a call here is a bad move. It is worth to mention that Ungar had checked top pair on the flop a few times before this hand came up and then bet/raised on the turn. He had set Stanley up for this play. Ungar must have smelled weakness in Stanley on the turn and realized that he had a chance to bluff him on the river in case Stanley would check to him.

[ConteStinis]

• Name: Stu Ungar

• Nickname: The Kid, The Comeback Kid

• Current Residence: Deceased

• Birth Date: September 8, 1953

• Birth Place: New York, New York, United States

While most people consider the late Stu Ungar to be one of the greatest poker players of all time, few can dispute he was absolutely, hands-down, the greatest No-Limit Hold'em player in the history of poker.

A virtually unstoppable force in his early days in the poker world, he collected five World Series of Poker bracelets, was a three-time World Champion, and won ten major $5,000 or higher buy-in No-Limit Hold'em championship events. Furthermore, he was the only man to ever win both the WSOP and Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker, the second biggest poker tournament on the pro circuit at the time of Ungar's reign. He won a record three titles in each tournament.

In 1978, when Stu Ungar was just 22 years old, he arrived in Las Vegas to play high-stakes gin rummy, which he did against anybody for any amount. His success was phenomenal. For all his later fame as a No-Limit Hold'em champion, his record in gin rummy was unsurpassed; he once told an interviewer, "Someday, I suppose it's possible for someone to be a better No-Limit Hold'em player than me. I doubt it, but it could happen. But, I swear to you, I don't see how anyone could ever play gin better than me."

Stu started playing poker in Las Vegas in 1980. Though he had little experience with No-Limit Hold'em, he entered the $10,000 buy-in World Championship event at Binion's Horseshoe, and won. His youth and success earned him the nickname Stu "the Kid" Ungar. He played in the No-Limit Hold'em championship for the second time in his life the following year, and defended his title. The last time he played in the event, in 1997, he won again.

Stu was famous for his quick and nimble intelligence. His No-Limit Hold'em play displayed a relentless determination, fearlessness, grace and intense focus, and his card counting skills were so legendary, no casino would allow him to play blackjack on its premises.

"The Kid" was also known as a big spender and a high roller. He went totally broke at least four times, and won millions of dollars countless times. Those who knew him say he was hyper-energetic, constantly on the move, looking for more gambling action. He was infamous for his abusive treatment of dealers, in the days when dealer abuse was expected and went unpunished. Stu did not express remorse for this defect; indeed, he once said: "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser."

A legend in his own time, Stu struggled with and ultimately died of drug addiction in 1998 at the young age of 42. His memory lives on, however; Stu's huge talent and infectious energy are recalled with reverence and awe by all who witnessed his unprecedented ability and style.

Stu Ungar passed away on November 22, 1998.

Trivia

• Had great success gambling on the streets of the Lower East Side as a youngster

• Considered the greatest No-Limit Hold'em player in history

• Had huge success playing high-stakes gin rummy

Stuey was a relentless force. He played in and won more than twice as many hands as anyone else in any game in which he played. At the end of each session he was invariably either the big winner or he was broke. If he detected weakness in an opponent, he would take the pot away.

He was a hard player to bluff, since he was an expert at figuring out when his opponent was on a draw that didn’t get there. There are stories about great calls Stuey made, but I haven’t heard any about great laydowns.

He wasn’t much of a poker player when he won the first of his three WSOP final event bracelets. As Doyle Brunson commented, “If Stuey ever got top pair beat, he would have been knocked out.” Actually, Stuey picked up enough pots along the way that he could withstand occasional losses incurred against his short-stacked opponents.

Stuey was a hopeless steamer. Over his playing career he may not have been an overall winner in the side games and he often needed to be staked when he played. Towards the end, he was so messed up as a result of drug use that he was scared to play his own money.

Stuey was generally regarded as the best in the world at gin rummy and he may have had the best record in No-Limit Hold’em tournaments. He supposedly won 10 of the 30 No-Limit tournaments he entered that had a buy-in of $5,000 or more.

There is no doubting the talent Stuey possessed, but the big question is how good he would have become if he hadn’t been ravaged by drugs.

LAS VEGAS LEGEND