One Of A Kind: The Rise And Fall Of Stuey "The Kid" Unger, The World's Greatest Poker Player - Hardcover

Dalla, Nolan; Alson, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743476581 ISBN 13: 9780743476584

Publisher: Atria Books, 2005

Synopsis

Traces the rise and fall of poker champion Stuey Ungar, offering insight into his meteoric career as one of the game's most feared tournament players, the factors behind his tragic change of circumstances, and his early death at the age of forty-five. 35,000 first printing.

About this title

Review

"A fascinating, cautionary tale."

-- "Chicago Tribune"

"A fascinating, cautionary tale." -- Chicago Tribune

"A fascinating, cautionary tale."-- "Chicago Tribune"

"If you want an 'education' in the old-time gambling underworld, you can't do better than One of a Kind. Although you'd never want to live it, Ungar's life, as drawn by Dalla and Alson, is riveting, haunting, and compelling. Ungar's legacy of genius, destroyed by indulgence, would seem absurd as fiction; as truth it is a gripping epic tragedy."

--Brian Koppelman and David Levien, screenwriters of "Rounders" and "Runaway Jury"

"I knew Stuey Ungar well and played with him many, many times. He was one of the most remarkable characters to ever sit down at a poker table. Reading One of a Kind not only brought him back to life for me, it vividly re-created a time and place that we'll likely never see again. For anyone interested in understanding and unraveling the legend of poker's most creative thinker and tortured soul, this is the real deal!"

--Doyle Brunson, two-time world poker champion and author of the legendary bestseller "Doyle Brunson's SuperSystem: A Course in Power Poker"

"A well-written and well-researched study of the most naturally gifted and emotionally stunted card genius in the history of poker."

--A. Alvarez, author of "The Biggest Game in Town"

"Even though Stuey Ungar was perhaps the greatest poker player ever to live, his talent at card playing wasn't close to being his most compelling characteristic. Stuey was a little bit of a gangster, genius, madman, tragic hero, and cardsharp. Add it all up, as Dalla and Alson have done in captivating style, and you get one of the most unusual characters to ever appear on the Vegas scene."

--Andy Bellin, author of "Poker Nation"

"A fascinating, cautionary tale." -- "Chicago Tribune"

"A fascinating, cautionary tale." -- Chicago Tribune

"Reader beware the seductive blue flame. To illuminate the triumphant yet scorchingly hideous forty-five years Stuey Ungar spent among us, Dalla and Alson have produced an acetylene torch of a book. There was no other way to write a story like this. One of a Kind is a lesson in no-limit hold'em as well as a terrifying pleasure." -- James McManus, author of Positively Fifth Street

About the Author

Nolan Dalla is the lead sports handicapper for Casino Player and has written for Gambling Times, Card Player, Poker Digest, Poker Pages, Poker Player, and The Intelligent Gambler. He was the head of public relations for Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas and is now media director for the World Series of Poker. A native Texan, he currently resides in Las Vegas.

Edition details

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0743476581
• ISBN 13: 9780743476584
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 316