Stu Ungar: Bio of 'The Kid' rocks

A scrawny kid from New York's Lower East Side, the son of an illiterate bookie, is blessed with enough natural card sense to attract the attention of mobsters who begin to sponsor him in high-stakes gin games.

When no one will play him at gin anymore, he lights out for a new frontier: Las Vegas. Poker. "The Kid" stuns the gambling world by winning consecutive poker championships at Binion's Horseshoe in 1980 and 1981, but blows his winnings by betting recklessly on sports and horses, and snorts the rest up his nostrils.