REVIEW
Genius
is an overused word, but in the history
of the game if there is one poker player
to whom the term could be fairly applied,
it is Stu Ungar. In a relatively brief
tournament poker career, Ungar amassed
a staggering record of success. Part and
parcel with his great proficiency for
card games, however, were serious personal
problems which led to his untimely death
in 1998. His story is chronicled in the
much anticipated book, One of a Kind,
by Nolan Dalla and Peter Alson.
The
seeds of this work were planted in interviews
with Dalla before Ungar's tragic death.
Initially intended as an autobiography,
events forced the authors to completely
recast this book. Because much of the
information they compiled came from Ungar
himself, as well as the recollections
of his family and closest friends, One
of a Kind presents the story from
a personal angle that no other source
will be able to match.
The
authors trace Ungar's life from his upbringing
in New York to his arrival in Las Vegas.
The authors reveal to us his domination
in the game of Gin Rummy and his quickly
acquired prowess in the game of poker.
We learn a great deal about what shaped
Stu Ungar through the formative events
of his youth. Through these pages we are
told not only about his well-known exploits
as Ungar the legendary card player and
his antics as a self-destructive drug
addict, but we also see Ungar the family
man. He is an archetype for many of he
best and worst aspects of humanity trying
to coexist as a 5'5" bundle of energy.
Many
biographical works quickly develop into
hyperbole in an attempt to glamorize their
subjects. I greatly appreciated the fact
that Dalla and Alson felt comfortable
enough with the story they had available
to them to forgo such excesses. It is
quite clear that their interest was in
doing justice to all aspects of Ungar's
character. They obviously felt confident
enough in the intrinsic power of their
narrative to let the events of Ungar's
life speak for themselves, and this confidence
is well placed.
How
much insight do we gain into Stu Ungar's
character from One of a Kind? The
book provides considerable context for
both the subject's remarkable successes
as well as the ruinous lifestyle he led.
At the same time, I don't think anyone
ever really understood either what it
was that made him such a proficient card
player or what prevented him from interacting
in a healthy manner with any other part
of the world. Moreover, I don't believe
that at any time Ungar himself could have
provided much insight on this subject.
The reader is left to ponder this issue,
and I believe that any attempt to unravel
this mystery on the authors' parts would
have been misguided.
The
serious poker players out there who have
marveled at the amazing prowess he displayed
at the table might be disappointed that
less detail regarding Ungar's gambling
exploits is provided here than they might
hope. One has to remember, though, that
Ungar's poker career ended years before
reporters routinely recorded final table
hand histories and hole-card cameras brought
us a complete record of the play of major
poker tournaments. Dalla and Alson have
elected to provide these sorts of details
only where they are certain they can substantiate
the events as they actually happened.
As a consequence while there may not be
much in the way of strategy for serious
poker students to learn from this book,
we can at least be confident that the
events as they are transcribed here actually
did occur.
Do
we admire Stuey or revile him? Do we praise
his skill or decry his behavior? I believe
the conclusion everyone must come to is
that nearly all the extreme reactions
to this person are appropriate, and all
of these aspects are represented in this
book. Undoubtedly, One of a Kind
will be considered the definitive story
about poker's most enigmatic figure. This
is much less a book about poker than it
is a real-life dramatization of the archetypical
battle between humanity's best and worst
aspects. I found it to be a well-written
story about a fascinating personality,
and I highly recommend it.
Capsule:
It
could easily be argued that Stu Ungar
was the most enigmatic personality in
the colorful world of poker characters.
Using many of his own words, Nolan Dalla
and Peter Alson do a remarkable job of
revealing the contradictory nature of
this troubled prodigy in their book, One
of a Kind. While the reader will learn
a great deal about Ungar's life from this
book, the authors do a fine job of revealing
all sides of its subject's complexity.
I found the book to be entertaining as
a fascinating study of a tortured genius,
and I recommend it as such.
Nick
Christenson
Gambling
Book Reviews
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